Saving yet another Fluke 189

[joeqsmith]

Whole meter is far from perfect    I would rather have the OEM block but I guess this expensive knockoff is about as good as it gets. 

[bdunham7]

So the new terminal block arrived from FlukeUSA.  I'm not impressed.  It looks like a Chinese knockoff rather than the quality I see with the OEM parts.

It would be surprising and disappointing if the seller fluke-usa was shipping knock-offs.  I'll try and find my replacement from Newark and compare.  I know the bodies are all-red now, but what else seems bad about it? 

[joeqsmith]

Did you notice the machine marks in the mold?  Similar to what the other eBay store had.  The other thing I noticed is the OEM boots are a very soft plastic or hard rubber.  You can squish it easily between your finger tips.  This red one is a very hard plastic.  Will it crack or split in short time like I see with cheap Chinese meters?   I can't comment on the contact itself. 

***
Squeezed the OEM a small amount, then more.  As soon as I release my grip, the part returns to normal.  The rest of the OEM terminal block is hard plastic.

[bdunham7]

Did you notice the machine marks in the mold?  Similar to what the other eBay store had.  The other thing I noticed is the OEM boots are a very soft plastic or hard rubber.  You can squish it easily between your finger tips.  This red one is a very hard plastic.  Will it crack or split in short time like I see with cheap Chinese meters?   I can't comment on the contact itself.

Yes, I saw that.  If the OEM part is NLA from Fluke, we'd accept a Chinesium knock-off.  But the fluke-usa description specifically warns us about knock-offs!  I don't know.  One possibility is that Fluke is having them made in China now, or has switched vendors to some US-based barbarian.  I've seen much worse things come from US automotive suppliers, so bad that in many cases the Chinese knock-offs were an improvement.

Did you call Fluke about that part, using the updated part number?  If it is NLA from them, you have to wonder what is going on.

[joeqsmith]

I never called Fluke as the meters are so old I wasn't expecting any service.   See my attached photos in my previous post to get some idea how the OEM part will flex.  Its easy enough to try and squeeze the new part with needle nose pliers at the tip.  These are totally different materials.  My guess is the original designers had a reason for this. 

[bdunham7]

The other thing I noticed is the OEM boots are a very soft plastic or hard rubber.

My 189 has squishy boots as well, but my much newer 289 does not, they are hard.  My older i1010 current clamp has flexible shields, my newer (and cheaper) i400e is totally rigid.  Maybe that flexibility depended on some additive that was expensive or bad for the environment.  Short of buying a new 789 just to fondle its boots, I'm not sure what to say. 

[daisizhou]

This is what I mean by "imperfect"。Maybe Fluke has outsourced the production to a counterfeit company.Because this instrument has stopped providing after-sales support.

And for your plastic material itself,Looks like it has no flexibility，If you use it for a long time or use it violently,I reckon it will break soon.

So I always recommend repairing it and not replacing it as much as possible.

[bdunham7]

This is what I mean by "imperfect"。Maybe Fluke has outsourced the production to a counterfeit company.Because this instrument has stopped providing after-sales support.

Fluke wouldn't do any such thing for a product that is out of support, they simply list the part as NLA and tell you they don't have it.  The only reason they would continue selling this particular part is that it is still used in some current products.  It may simply be updated and redesigned.  Perhaps flexible is not better, IDK. 

[Shock]

While I did show photos of the broken pins, I'm guessing you did not see them.  No cleaning is going to help this meter.

I did read the thread, in part it was a response to what daisizhou said. I was pointing out soldering pins would more likely exacerbate a contamination problem should it exist, rather than directly cause it.

The integrated holsters and low set sockets near the bottom edge on the Fluke 189 aren't my favorite features. Here are some high res photos of the legitimate ones. I'm leaning towards your replacements being chinese knockoffs.

Could be a problem with too flexible sockets when non shrouded banana plugs are used. Less rigidity to prevent the internal contacts moving and transfer stress to solder joint or pin at the pcb.

[daisizhou]

While I did show photos of the broken pins, I'm guessing you did not see them.  No cleaning is going to help this meter.

I did read the thread, in part it was a response to what daisizhou said. I was pointing out soldering pins would more likely exacerbate a contamination problem should it exist, rather than directly cause it.

The integrated holsters and low set sockets near the bottom edge on the Fluke 189 aren't my favorite features. Here are some high res photos of the legitimate ones. I'm leaning towards your replacements being chinese knockoffs.

Could be a problem with too flexible sockets when non shrouded banana plugs are used. Less rigidity to prevent the internal contacts moving and transfer stress to solder joint or pin at the pcb.

Cleaning requires great care,I always stress the need for a practical syringe to flush the bottom,and needs to be soaked in ethanol.
Many people don’t understand what I say, so they will fail.
I have a 187 myself, and this is how I repair it.
When I have time I will shoot a video, maybe it will make everyone understand better

[joeqsmith]

Perhaps flexible is not better, IDK.

Could be a problem with too flexible sockets when non shrouded banana plugs are used. Less rigidity to prevent the internal contacts moving and transfer stress to solder joint or pin at the pcb.

Possible.  This is now the fifth 18x in my collection.   It's the only one with fractured pins.   Three of the meters, including this one, were used in harsh conditions.  Two of them, including this one have a lot of damage to the plastic and rubber.     I would say all five have lived far beyond what I would expect.  So from my small sample size, the soft insulators were not much of a problem.  I wonder if they helped form a seal around the connector or base.     

[Shock]

I have 3 but one of them needs work. As long as they can run in spec and have repeatability I'm not too worried about age. Have your Brymen BM869s drifted yet at all? Any outstanding bugs/flaws?

If you have a set of four, your next task is to make them all agree.

[joeqsmith]

I have 3 but one of them needs work. As long as they can run in spec and have repeatability I'm not too worried about age. Have your Brymen BM869s drifted yet at all? Any outstanding bugs/flaws?

If you have a set of four, your next task is to make them all agree.

I recently posted comparing my 7YO BM869s with my HP34401A using 500mVDC and measured 50uV 30uV (typo) difference.   My Fluke 18x measure -50uV to 70uV (new meter lower left).   But again, none of my equipment is in cal and I don't track their drift.   J-R was also suggesting aligning my BM869s using some of those cheap calibrators.   You can read about that here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/brymen-bm789-360289/msg5031622/#msg5031622

As far as bugs with the BM869s, nothing off the top of my head.  I did change the firmware (IC replacement) on one of them to increase the backlight timer.  Hardly a bug.   You would need to search my posts.  If I ran into a problem or attempted to replicate someone else's test, I would have posted about it. 

[Veteran68]

I've always wanted a 189 to add to my collection of DMMs. Not that I need it for any practical purposes, I have some excellent meters, many of which are safely tucked away unused. But collecting DMMs has become an obsession/addiction/illness, and the 189 just checks a lot of boxes for me. I hate they discontinued it. Conversely, I have no interest in the 28x series at all, and really fail to see their attraction, the price:performance ratio just doesn't interest me.

I'm watching a 189 on eBay now that ends in a few hours -- someone please bid it way up and buy it so I have a good excuse for passing it up.  I've bought too damn many DMMs in the past few months.

[joeqsmith]

I've always wanted a 189 to add to my collection of DMMs. ... I hate they discontinued it. ...

Targeted more the electronics side than electrical.  Maybe it wasn't a big profit maker.   Then again, the one my old friend had given me was owned by a company and assigned to a friend of his who had passed away.   This company had written custom software for their field techs that supported this meter.   When that company was bought out, the new company continued to support that software.   Eventually they could no longer get these meters from Fluke and they changed brands.  So maybe it wasn't that there was a lack of demand but maybe a part obsolescence. 

The 189 is just a nice basic meter.  Easy to program from the PC.   If I had to buy a new meter today, it would still be the BM869s.   

[Fungus]

I've always wanted a 189 to add to my collection of DMMs.

Get a 187, it's the same meter (apart from internal datalogging) but no pesky supercap to fail and ruin it.

[Veteran68]

I'm watching a 189 on eBay now that ends in a few hours -- someone please bid it way up and buy it so I have a good excuse for passing it up.  I've bought too damn many DMMs in the past few months.

Missed it by that -->||<-- much! Was outbid with 4 seconds to go. Good, LOL.

[joeqsmith]

I've always wanted a 189 to add to my collection of DMMs.

Get a 187, it's the same meter (apart from internal datalogging) but no pesky supercap to fail and ruin it.

Or, maybe just replace the old parts before they fail?  Mine are all new (see 1st post).

[daisizhou]

I think the most attractive thing about 187 is the AD chip specially designed by FLUKE,Many modern instruments 17x, 87, etc. use M430 microcontroller to replace the AD chip.

I always feel that hardware AD chips are more refined than general-purpose MCUs.