Fluke 87V owners, can you check something for me?

[turbo!]

I'd like to ask a favor from Fluke 87V 87-5 owners. I hope to get some input on one of the newer versions and older ones.

Can someone post a picture of the dial that shows where it meets the body?
Mine's not flush with the case and I'm wondering if it's normal. 

Turn the dial right a bit past uA. I don't mean FORCE it, but just with amount of force you might hit the stop with normal turning. Mine shows "- - - -".

Does your dial have an even feel going back and forth between each step and a good clicky feedback?

[Fsck]

mine only does to the bottom of the u in the mu. can't get your " -  - - -". it just stays on the uA setting.
mine feels perfectly even between steps and definitely smooth and clicky.

and yes, I know I suck at taking photos and I also don't have a "real" camera.

[jimjam]

My dial feels perfectly good. It stops to the right and the dial points to the bottom of the "u" on the micro symbol. I can turn it past that by only a tiny bit. The dial would point to the bottom of the leg of the "u". It feels normal and doesn't feel like it's gone past the point it is supposed to be. It certainly doesn't show ------ it stays at uA measurement on the screen with no flicker whatsoever.

As to where the dial meets the body, mine looks exactly like Fsck's.

[dfmischler]

Mine is the same as the others.  Have you opened yours up yet to see if anything is obviously broken?

[Tom D]

My dial feels perfectly good. It stops to the right and the dial points to the bottom of the "u" on the micro symbol. I can turn it past that by only a tiny bit. The dial would point to the bottom of the leg of the "u". It feels normal and doesn't feel like it's gone past the point it is supposed to be. It certainly doesn't show ------ it stays at uA measurement on the screen with no flicker whatsoever.

As to where the dial meets the body, mine looks exactly like Fsck's.

Ditto, both of my 87's feel pretty much the same as jimjam has described when turning the dial. The one on the left is my first release 87 I bought back in 1989, and the one on the right is my 87V.




Tom 

[BravoV]

My dial feels perfectly good. It stops to the right and the dial points to the bottom of the "u" on the micro symbol. I can turn it past that by only a tiny bit. The dial would point to the bottom of the leg of the "u". It feels normal and doesn't feel like it's gone past the point it is supposed to be. It certainly doesn't show ------ it stays at uA measurement on the screen with no flicker whatsoever.

Ditto, when in uA, a light force turn the dial at the right will not make the display turns into "-----" as yours, also the pointer tip only can move 1 or 2 mm on the right past the uA notch, not much.

Regarding the dial placement, attached below the close up shots of the 87 V dial's distance to the dmm body, looking at the jaggies surface at the dial protruding out from the dmm body, I think the dial is almost flushed completely into the body leaves only maybe 0.5mm or even less, almost unnoticeable.

Hope this helps.

[jmoreland79]

Can't reproduce the "----" here on the right side of the dial.  Both knobs are flush with the body.

[retiredcaps]

My 87V, with firmware 3.01, displays ---- when switching between rotary functions, but only for about 0.5 seconds.  It does not display ---- when trying to turn past uA function.

I would examine the rotary switch/contacts/pads for debris, dirt and corrosion.  See

http://mrmodemhead.com/blog/fluke-83-iii-rotary-switch/

http://mrmodemhead.com/blog/fluke-83-dmm-repair/

http://mrmodemhead.com/blog/fluke-77-iv-copper-corrosion/

[jimjam]

Ditto, both of my 87's feel pretty much the same as jimjam has described when turning the dial. The one on the left is my first release 87 I bought back in 1989, and the one on the right is my 87V.




Tom 

I like how the old one defaults to DC rather than AC for current measurements!

[TMM]

What everyone else said. Sounds like the OP's has a problem. You can pull it apart pretty easily without voiding the warranty. Should be pretty obvious if something is broken.

One thing that always annoyed the OCD in me is the alignment of the silkscreen around the jacks is off on a lot of them. The "A mA COM" etc on the one up there^ is off to the right. Mine is off to the left and below the jacks is is down a bit so the 'ground' symbol is aligned with the rubber case. Now that you've seen it, you can't un-see it haha.

[Tom D]

I like how the old one defaults to DC rather than AC for current measurements!

Same here, jimjam.  I'd gotten so used to using my old 87 over the years, every time I use the current function on the 87V, I keep forgetting to hit the yellow button to switch over to DC.  It must be "old-timers disease," huh? 

Tom

[turbo!]

Thank you bravo.

I noticed that the dial didn't quite feel right and the knob isn't quite flush after I got it back from Fluke service department. I just wasn't sure if it is abnormal or a normal individual variation in components they use.  I'll post a picture when I get a chance.  I can't open it up, because they sealed the case with a sticker.

[turbotemp]

I lost my log-in with my old PC so using a new account.

I figured it out. It was reading "- - - -" when I turned the dial all the way to the right, because the dial was not seated all the way. It was floating up far enough to cause the stopper to cam out and go beyond the stop.

I knocked the knob loose from the spider.
In between the top case and dial was a tiny o-ring with powder of plastic and rubber from them rubbing up. On the rear-side is plastic spider that is fitted onto the hex key shaft by friction. The spider has flexible spring arms that lines up the dial to the proper positions.

I reassembled it by relocating the o-ring to the back side so the o-ring is behind the top cover and I put the spider back on. The dial flush with the case and it doesn't cam out anymore. So, Fluke service department definitely screwed it up. I'm guessing the worker tried to put the two halves together without lining up the board rotary switch and the dial together caused the knob to forced out. Hopefully the leaf-spring contacts weren't damaged.

They also screwed up my 189 somehow. The jacks were in perfect conditions, but they replaced the assembly for some reason. The new one is looser and came back slightly off center. I have no idea why the terminal block was replaced. My guess is they broke it. I'm not really happy with the workmanship of their Everett, WA service center. Not only did they screw it up, the final inspection was shoddy to enough to pass improperly assembled meter.

So, don't send things back there unless you absolutely have to.