Author Topic: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!  (Read 28410 times)

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Offline CustomEngineerer

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #25 on: April 28, 2017, 12:36:05 am »
I'm now selling genuine ASTM fuses in a mixed pack.

At a genuine price?
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #26 on: April 28, 2017, 12:41:05 am »
How about cutting open a few samples of suspected counterfeit fuses to see what's inside them? I'd be curious to see just how junky they are. I'm sure someone could make a reasonable quality approximation of the real deal for a lot less but I'm betting most of the fakes are just a cheap fuse element inside a cardboard or plastic tube.
 

Offline joeqsmith

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #27 on: April 28, 2017, 12:52:47 am »
I'm now selling genuine ASTM fuses in a mixed pack.

I remember you mentioning it and I looked at your Amazon store but did not see them listed. 

How about cutting open a few samples of suspected counterfeit fuses to see what's inside them? I'd be curious to see just how junky they are. I'm sure someone could make a reasonable quality approximation of the real deal for a lot less but I'm betting most of the fakes are just a cheap fuse element inside a cardboard or plastic tube.

I bought a few and as I mentioned I plan to check the filler of the one after I check the trip current.   I think depending what I see there, I may hook one up to the transient generator.  Not very scientific but if there is no filler we may get a small bang. 

Even Asia Fuse are filled...

Offline Fungus

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #28 on: April 28, 2017, 01:08:05 am »
if there is no filler we may get a small bang. 

Not impossible, but ... they'd have to be total cheapskates to not put filler in them. You can get sand for free almost anywhere in the world.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2017, 01:10:55 am by Fungus »
 

Offline joeqsmith

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #29 on: April 28, 2017, 01:47:16 am »
if there is no filler we may get a small bang. 

Not impossible, but ... they'd have to be total cheapskates to not put filler in them. You can get sand for free almost anywhere in the world.


Nothing is free.  First they have to dig, sift, clean, dry and then install it.  That's a lot of cost... 

Offline joeqsmith

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #30 on: April 28, 2017, 02:13:41 am »
Picture showing what I believe is a real SIBA and the one I just bought.  All of the SIBA fuses that have came in meters I have, have this same LOGO.  Someone had posted the SIBA now has a factory in China.  Did the logo change for that factory?

Offline Fungus

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #31 on: April 28, 2017, 09:06:31 am »
Looking closely, I'm fairly sure mine are fake. The printing is well below German standards.

Oh, well.



It would be interesting to know how the fakes perform. There's no reason why they can't do a reasonable job - it's just meltable metal and sand.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2017, 09:16:29 am by Fungus »
 

Offline Alex P

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #32 on: April 28, 2017, 10:54:02 am »
 

Offline joeqsmith

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #33 on: April 28, 2017, 12:21:50 pm »
I think I may have acquired some fake SIBA branded fuses.  I was thinking to make some sort of video comparing what I believe is a real one showing the following:

I bought some SIBA fuses on eBay recently for an old Fluke I picked up for $20.

I'm not intending to use the meter on AC mains but it would be interesting to know if the fuses are fake.  :popcorn:

I have to believe you are not alone in your idea that if you don't use the meter on mains that there's no problem.  I can see this actually being the majority. 

I have enough data to say that the fuse is a counterfeit or SIBA has no quality control.  I think rather run the second fuse on the half cycle transient generator where most people will think, that's not something I will ever do, I will run a low current time test on it.  Something that hobbyist's could experience.     

The OEM parts have time rating curves.  Say the real fuse will blow in a maximum of 10ms with 4X over the trip current applied and the cloned fuse takes 100ms to open.  The circuit the fuse is protecting may become damaged.

So no half cycle line test. 

Offline Fungus

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #34 on: April 28, 2017, 01:58:45 pm »
I'm now selling genuine ASTM fuses in a mixed pack.
Shameless plug: https://www.eevblog.com/product/multimeter-fuse-pack/

Is there any way to get just a couple of the big ones?
 

Offline joeqsmith

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #35 on: April 29, 2017, 02:22:52 am »
 
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Offline SeanB

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #36 on: April 29, 2017, 01:20:25 pm »
Years ago at the RS distributors i was shown a Fluke 77 meter they had recieved back from the Corporation, simply marked as "Faulty". Now, with the leads missing the probes on both, and being simply bare wire ends,  you might be suspicious, given that the meter case looked like a truck had driven over it a few times, in mud, on a concrete road, and it was missing the holster completely.

However, it did power on, and the display simply showed some random segments, and faded away. Shop owner took it apart, and we both looked inside. Never seen a copper coated case before, and even odder was this was on top of the foil shielding there as well, Battery was fine, checked on another meter and load tested with battery tester, and it passed with flying colours. Fuses were both perfect, and original ones as well. PCB however was slightly different, the entire copper track area around the input side was totally missing, leaving only components there on the landings, and with clear PCB where the traces were.

Turned out that some sparktrician had tried to use this meter to measure the primary side of an 11kV substation transformer, and this had blown the 30A fuse in the supply line. Sparky survived mostly undamaged ( well, no more damage added), but this 2 month old meter was not covered under warranty. Never Done Correctly simply put in a purchase order for a new one.
 

Offline Jester

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #37 on: April 30, 2017, 12:58:08 am »
IMO, it depends what you are using the meter to measure. If your working with a high energy circuit, for example a 600V industrial distribution circuit, you would be foolish to use anything but the originally specified fuse. On the other hand if all your work is limited to repair of 3.3V, 15A power supplies and you blow a fuse once a week one could argue your foolish to spend $37 on a fuse when a $1 fuse will suffice.
 

Offline joeqsmith

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #38 on: April 30, 2017, 01:04:20 am »
Years ago at the RS distributors i was shown a Fluke 77 meter they had recieved back from the Corporation, simply marked as "Faulty". Now, with the leads missing the probes on both, and being simply bare wire ends,  you might be suspicious, given that the meter case looked like a truck had driven over it a few times, in mud, on a concrete road, and it was missing the holster completely.

However, it did power on, and the display simply showed some random segments, and faded away. Shop owner took it apart, and we both looked inside. Never seen a copper coated case before, and even odder was this was on top of the foil shielding there as well, Battery was fine, checked on another meter and load tested with battery tester, and it passed with flying colours. Fuses were both perfect, and original ones as well. PCB however was slightly different, the entire copper track area around the input side was totally missing, leaving only components there on the landings, and with clear PCB where the traces were.

Turned out that some sparktrician had tried to use this meter to measure the primary side of an 11kV substation transformer, and this had blown the 30A fuse in the supply line. Sparky survived mostly undamaged ( well, no more damage added), but this 2 month old meter was not covered under warranty. Never Done Correctly simply put in a purchase order for a new one.

That  job would be dangerous enough, but I imagine the life span is pretty short when you are untrained and stupid.  What's a little strange is I would have thought in most counties you would not just walk up and make a measurement like this. 

« Last Edit: May 20, 2017, 03:39:03 pm by joeqsmith »
 

Offline joeqsmith

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #39 on: April 30, 2017, 01:49:16 am »
IMO, it depends what you are using the meter to measure. If your working with a high energy circuit, for example a 600V industrial distribution circuit, you would be foolish to use anything but the originally specified fuse. On the other hand if all your work is limited to repair of 3.3V, 15A power supplies and you blow a fuse once a week one could argue your foolish to spend $37 on a fuse when a $1 fuse will suffice.

If were only using the meter on the bench with the voltages and currents you mention and I knew that that meter would never be used by anyone but me, I would rather buy a fuse from a major brand with the same or faster trip times and not an HRC counterfeit.  The cost should be reasonable.   

If this was for a disposable meter I may not care if a counterfeit fuse damaged it.  There is no way I would risk damaging a $100+ meter to save $5 to $15 on a fuse.   

Then again if I was blowing a fuse in my handheld meter once a week, I would most likely find a hobby that better suited me.

Offline rsjsouza

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #40 on: April 30, 2017, 02:02:49 am »
I know fluke did offer a 5 pack of fuses for about $25.
Digikey sells 5-pack of 440mA and 11A for US$25.30 and US$46.50 respectively.

1) Sometimes you're an idiot and measure Volts while the meter is connected in Amps. Flukes will beep at you. But you won't hear that in all use cases. This will cause a plant-wide blackout when you're fixing the 10kV load sharing.
2) When you're doing repeated work. This will be a point of mistakes.
(...)
Not all Fluke meters beep at you. I am that kind of idiot that do this from time to time - thus this is one of the reasons why I now prefer meters that at least beep - otherwise I yank the fuse out of them.
Vbe - vídeo blog eletrônico http://videos.vbeletronico.com

Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 

Offline biggerpizza

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #41 on: December 11, 2023, 01:11:15 am »
I am so happy to know Digikey sells 440mA fluke fuse for 9USD only. However 1minutes later, I figured out it's for US market only.
Digikey Australia sells the same thing for 119AUD.
What a rip off.>:( >:( >:(
 

Offline Whales

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #42 on: December 11, 2023, 01:57:49 am »
I can't see any 440mA fuses on Digikey, can you share a link?

It's probably worth going for a similar fuse (+/-20% or so from the 440mA original is probably fine) from a good brand and similar time rating.

Offline J-R

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #43 on: December 11, 2023, 05:10:18 am »
Come on guys, think before you post!  I typed "440ma fuse" into the DigiKey search box, hit Enter, then clicked the first Top Result and got all the links being discussed.

Double whammy, the two DigiKey links in rsjsouza previous post still work!

But to answer the question, the 119AUD listing states Bulk Package and if you scroll down it's for quantity 10.
 

Offline boggis the cat

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #44 on: December 11, 2023, 06:49:59 am »
Digikey Australia sells the same thing for 119AUD.
What a rip off.>:( >:( >:(
Also try RS and Element14.  Usually one or the other will have them at a lower price.
 

Offline Whales

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #45 on: December 11, 2023, 07:00:16 am »
I got zero hits earlier, now the search is finding them under speciality fuses  :-//

Offline BeBuLamar

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #46 on: December 11, 2023, 10:55:41 am »
Some here said that don't use the precious Fluke meters on the main then what do you use to measure 480VAC if you don't use the Fluke?
 
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Offline rsjsouza

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #47 on: December 12, 2023, 01:51:10 pm »
Some here said that don't use the precious Fluke meters on the main then what do you use to measure 480VAC if you don't use the Fluke?
They probably use the M830B...

YOLO, right? :-DD
Vbe - vídeo blog eletrônico http://videos.vbeletronico.com

Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 
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Offline SteveLTN

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #48 on: March 23, 2024, 04:16:37 pm »
I'm trying to buy some fuses here. And I'm in China. Certainly I want to avoid fake ones.

Interestingly though, I found Fluke China is actually selling the 11Amp ones at 55 CNY each, which is about 8 USD. Other sellers (Fluke authorised sellers) are selling them cheaper, tapping $3.5-$5 range.

Now I'm curious. If the cheap sub $10 fuses are counterfeit ones, how would Fluke themselves be selling them? Maybe the cheaper ones on Ebay aren't counterfeit ones after all.
 

Online wraper

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Re: Fluke fake multimeter fuse WARNING!
« Reply #49 on: March 23, 2024, 10:45:32 pm »
I'm trying to buy some fuses here. And I'm in China. Certainly I want to avoid fake ones.

Interestingly though, I found Fluke China is actually selling the 11Amp ones at 55 CNY each, which is about 8 USD. Other sellers (Fluke authorised sellers) are selling them cheaper, tapping $3.5-$5 range.

Now I'm curious. If the cheap sub $10 fuses are counterfeit ones, how would Fluke themselves be selling them? Maybe the cheaper ones on Ebay aren't counterfeit ones after all.
$10 is just a normal price you can get them for. $3.5 most likely is fake. You can get genuine stuff for a bit more than $5 though https://item.szlcsc.com/5734030.html?mro=1
 
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