Products > Test Equipment
Did i destroyed my Fluke 179 by measuring resistance on 220V live wire
RiRaRi:
About 15-20 seconds. Also beeper/continuity. I mean everything works but i dont know if i messed accuracy.
Fungus:
--- Quote from: RiRaRi on August 11, 2023, 09:25:50 pm ---About 15-20 seconds. Also beeper/continuity. I mean everything works but i dont know if i messed accuracy.
--- End quote ---
No, you didn't.
Relax.
BeBuLamar:
--- Quote from: Njk on August 11, 2023, 04:10:23 pm ---Just recalled the case when one guy from the other team bought a used luxury car. Soon he'd noticed that the battery is discharging faster than it should, to his assumption. He was young and well educated SW guy. A good guy, but those usually knows about everything and he asked me for multimeter to check the leakage current. I gave him my Fluke 189 and he'd managed to blew the fuse inside. No problem, but the fuse is of special type, it must be made of platinum and diamonds. It's quite expensive and it's not wise to blew it in such a stupid way. But again, no problem, I'd just charged the shareholders a bit more for the operational expense. But it was not good and to prevent this from happen again I bought him Uni-T UT61 multimeter (AFAIR) and showed how to make that measurement properly. That was not successful as very soon he blew the fuse again. Fortunately, that fuses are cheap and easy to find. Form that point, Uni-T is definitely better. Flukes are not for everyone.
--- End quote ---
I have done it enough time with the Fluke when I was in a hurry tried to measure voltage (120V to 480V) with the test leads plug into the current measurement jack. It blewd the fuse but I am glad that it blew the expensive fuse because the cheap fuse may explode.
Njk:
--- Quote from: BeBuLamar on August 12, 2023, 11:06:05 am ---I have done it enough time with the Fluke when I was in a hurry tried to measure voltage (120V to 480V) with the test leads plug into the current measurement jack. It blewd the fuse but I am glad that it blew the expensive fuse because the cheap fuse may explode.
--- End quote ---
No argument, sometimes a blown fuse can be a huge bargain. But generally, electricity is not something that is intentionally trying to kill you. Human beings are more dangerous in that regard. Flukes are a nice toys, no doubt and sometimes they can be of very high value. Imagine you gave to someone a tool to do the work and the shit happened. I doubt the lawyers will consult with Charles Darwin about the root cause of the accident. They likely will demonstrate their professionalism trying to make you responsible. At that time, Fluke can protect you very effectively.
But I'm not sure it's the best brand for casual use. Once I was preparing to long distance car trip and bought a couple of cheap rugged multimeters of random brand (see the image). One for myself and one for use at work by all, to check power supply voltages before connecting the boards. I was considering it an expendable thing, but it continues to work fine for many years, to my surprise. Never blown the fuse so not sure what will happen, but a lot of mechanical abuse, winter work outside, etc. Still works and I'm using it for occasional LV repairs and in car. It displays something that looks plausible and that's all I need. Anyway a serious work is done in the lab so I'm not sure a handheld device needs to be of high accuracy.
BTW, based on the bright pictures at the Uni-T site, it seems I was wrong. It was UT71 multimeter, not UT61. The guy was very proud of himself and I was afraid of insulting him with a cheap gift. UT71 looks more professionally, it's something comparable to Fluke 189 so no one could say that mine is better so all were happy.
Fungus:
--- Quote from: BeBuLamar on August 12, 2023, 11:06:05 am ---I have done it enough time with the Fluke when I was in a hurry tried to measure voltage (120V to 480V) with the test leads plug into the current measurement jack. It blewd the fuse but I am glad that it blew the expensive fuse because the cheap fuse may explode.
--- End quote ---
a) Always put the leads back to the voltage socket after measuring current. NEVER store it with the leads in the current jack, it's guaranteed way to blow a fuse.
b) Get a meter with beep-alert on the current jacks. I personally wouldn't buy an expensive meter without that feature, but many Flukes don't have it.
PS: I've deliberately plugged $13 meters into the mains on resistance mode and they survived.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version