Products > Test Equipment
Decided to Buy Brymen 869s - Help Me Avoid Buyers Remorse
<< < (9/10) > >>
temperance:

--- Quote ---I dare to assume that your usage pattern hasn't been quite like the tests that mr. Smith performs :)
--- End quote ---

Of course not. The Fluke is a very simple yet practical with the push buttons, well build, easy to operate, doesn't eat batteries and does what a DMM has to do for many simple troubleshooting tasks.

I don't know how you use your meters. For a a simple bench meter for troubleshooting daily low power low voltage electronics, excluding ESD protection the test performed by Mr. Smith are not so relevant. If your job is taking measuring on a mains grid on a daily basis in large factories with extreme transients from switching heavy loads with mechanical means I agree that some descent over voltage protection isn't a luxury item. Those mechanical switches are the best transient generators on the planet with pico second rise time specifications. The same goes for ESD in large factories with machines winding up plastic foil at 150 m/s with sparks shooting trough concrete floors as if someone firing a gun next to you. Those sparks are deadly. Other parts of those machines can become charged as well and discharge into whatever comes near including wiring going into PLC's to operate those machines.

In comparison to that most people work with potato power and extreme protection isn't required. With respect to ESD one can hope that people in here know that you shouldn't operate a lab sitting on a glass chair dressed in sheep's wool. At least that's not what I prefer.

I do like the tests performed by Mr. Smith. Nonetheless my requirements some interesting stuff can be learned from those tests.

Do I still have to turn in my EEVblog membership card?
shapirus:
That's all true -- the average user will very likely never expose the meter to anything near the conditions of those tests.
I was just commenting that the fact that a 30 year old Fluke still works and measures correctly today is not necessarily relevant to what you quoted in that message, that is, that the newer Flukes withstand harsh transient testing better than the old ones.
joeqsmith:

--- Quote from: temperance on March 26, 2024, 10:29:12 pm ---
--- Quote ---The newer Fluke meters I have looked at have held up well to my tests.   I can't say that about their older products.
--- End quote ---

It is a Fluke 11, about 30 years old and still correct when compared with a DMM6500.

--- End quote ---

My first DMM was a Fluke 8000A.  It's much older, was very expensive and also very sensitive to any transients.

Recently I found a Fluke 77 in the trash bin that was electrically functional.  While it proved to be more robust than my original Fluke, it was no match for their more modern meters.   

A friend gave me their Fluke 189 which I really like.  They got it from a friend of theirs who had passed away.  Since I have owned it, my friend also passed away.  I'm next in line....  I wanted to see how well that meter would hold up and bought a non-working one for little cash for the sole purpose of testing it.  Turned out to just be missing some parts and worked fine.  I ran a full set of tests on it and it held up fine.   Fluke now makes some of the most robust (electrically and mechanically) meters I have looked at.  This includes the meters they are having made in China.   

My testing has nothing to do with 61010 AC mains safety tests.  Those tests are performed with what is known as a combo generator.  These generators are spec'ed for and open circuit voltage waveform and a short circuit current waveform.   My generators do not produce any where near the energy required.  It's never been a goal to test them for safety.   Rather, I run very low energy transients more inline with what I may expose the meters to.   
Majorassburn:
UPDATE:

Well, I hate threads where you never know what happened to the OP's question, etc.
I had originally decided to buy a Brymen 869s to hold me over until my DMM6500 arrived.

Well, after all the GREAT advice and experience that everyone shared with me here, I decided to put the 869s on hold.

Instead, after much research (EEV threads, u-tube vids and speaking with Sig Sales), I bought a Siglent SDM3055 instead. It will be shipped today from Siglent factory. They just got a new boatload of them in last week - hopefully, they'll have the latest firmware, bug fixes, etc.

Why did I?  Because this value-priced DMM will probably always live on the prototyping bench where the Brymen was going to reside. I gave up portability and a few features for about the same $$$ outlay and I don't have to change batteries. Both great options but practicality prevailed because we have several new Fluke 87V's for portability.

That's it. I'm like a woman in a shoe store. I have trouble choosing my final pair because all the others look so good, too. Besides, I suffer from pre and post purchase anxiety even when at the grocery store trying to decide whether to get the small size or the large size box of Cheerios! I tremble with Decisional Insecurity Syndrome!  :-DD :-DD :-DD

Thanks for all the input.  I'll report on my experience with the new Siglent after I get some time on it.
Major.  :-DMM
shapirus:

--- Quote from: Majorassburn on March 27, 2024, 03:42:10 pm ---Instead, after much research (EEV threads, u-tube vids and speaking with Sig Sales), I bought a Siglent SDM3055 instead.

--- End quote ---
Its specs look quite good. Unless it has some stupid bugs and poor UI choices that could spoil user experience, it should work, especially since you seem to have needed a bench multimeter after all, not a hand-held one.


--- Quote from: Majorassburn on March 27, 2024, 03:42:10 pm ---I gave up portability and a few features for about the same $$$ outlay

--- End quote ---
This is curious. I bought my BM869s locally for about $180 IIRC, and it can be had today, still locally, for below $250. The SDM3055 sells for no less than twice that price (actually more like x2.5). Sounds like Brymen's pricing is very flexible in terms of taking geography into account :).
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod