Products > Test Equipment

Old Fluke Multimeters

<< < (27/192) > >>

SoundTech-LG:
We have many 189's around here, and I love using them. This old 8060A though still works great! Rotary knobs are nicer, but the measurements on this meter are quite accurate.

vinlove:
Hi All

I am a newbie in Electronics, so please excuse my ignorance in the field.

My question about these old DMM is how long will they keep on working accurately and be useful. I mean they are all more than 20 years old, so will they not need recapping if they use any capacitors in the circuit inside these DMM?

Or are they OK in this respect, and will last much longer without having to get serviced? Thanks in advance.

Jay_Diddy_B:

--- Quote from: vinlove on February 18, 2014, 10:58:25 pm ---
My question about these old DMM is how long will they keep on working accurately and be useful. I mean they are all more than 20 years old, so will they not need recapping if they use any capacitors in the circuit inside these DMM?

Or are they OK in this respect, and will last much longer without having to get serviced?
--- End quote ---

I can speak from my experience. I believe that my experience is typical based on what other people have written.

1) There are electrolytic capacitors in these meters. And yes the electrolytic capacitors can leak after about 20 years, depending on how the meter was stored.

2) The good news is that most of the time, replacing the capacitors and very careful cleaning of the board. I scrub the board with a small brush and 99% Isopropyl alcohol (IPA).

3) There are also issues with LCD displays. The display can be fuzzy or have bleeding.

4) The other issue is that the zebra strips in the LCD connections may have to be cleaned with IPA and re-assembled.

5) The other issue that I have seen is a shorted zener diode which is parallel with the DC jack / battery. The Zener is to protect from reverse polarity and over-voltage.

So if you are buying one, check for a nice clear LCD display. Check the battery compartment for corrosion.

Remember the HRC fuses are expensive around $10.00.

When they are restored, these meter are remarkably accurate.

[ I had one very tricky repair. At some point in its life it had been overloaded causing failure of the MOVs on the input. This contaminated the board with carbon. You tell this if you set the meter to read the highest ohms range and it doesn't read OL. I had almost given up. Then I cleaned the board in a ultrasonic cleaner for 1 hour at 50C. Then 1 more hour with clean water. I tried the board. This fixed the problem. ]

The performance of the meters did not happen by accident. Fluke engineers, including Dave Taylor the designer of the 8060A, put a tremendous amount of effort into choosing the best components for the application. The protection circuits in these meters is also very good.

I have about 6 8060A, including one of the Blue IBM units. I also have an 8024B.

You should have at least 1.

Jay_Diddy_B

vinlove:
Thank you Jay_Diddy. Great answer.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/icon_smile_thumbsup.gif
Would it be better off buying new DMM if one is not prepared or able to restore these old DMMs?

Marvin:
This was my 4th Fluke - I'd say it's more of an advanced tool today. In general for example the 87V beats it hands down in general use and has more general features like capacitor test and analog graph. The 8060A is nice to do audio stuff as it has dB conversion mode but it is not autoranging, so it's a question of preference. I got the 8060A for audio use, joins the family of my first and the most "useless" made in China Fluke 17B, my second was 87V that has been the most useful. My third is 27/FM that I got for outside use, already put it to use repairing my car. Technically by spec the 8060A is more precise than the 87V but that is 1 year from the calibration - my 8060A was calibrated in 2010 and is still spot on/or a few last counts "different" (I will not say out) comparing it to 2 years old 87V - so I would not be surprised if it is even more precise than 87V. It is not a mandatory tool but it is a nice tool for the money it is going for in eBay.

Just a comparison of VDC on 87V in high precision mode (have to multiply the general precision +digits by 10) where by spec the 8060A is better:

--- Code: ---87V 3.5 digits 87V 4.5 digits 8060A
600mV 0.1mV ±(0.1% + 1) 200mV 0.01mV ±(0.1% + 10) 200mV 0.01mV ±(0.04% + 2)
6.000V 0.001V ±(0.05% + 1) 2V 0.1mV ±(0.05% + 10) 2V 0.1mV ±(0.04% + 2)
60.00V 0.01V ±(0.05% + 1) 20V 0.001V ±(0.05% + 10) 20V 0.001V ±(0.05% + 2)
600.0V 0.1V ±(0.05% + 1) 200V 0.01V ±(0.05% + 10) 200V 0.01V ±(0.05% + 2)
1000V 1V ±(0.05% + 1) 1000V 0.1V ±(0.05% + 10) 1000V 0.1V ±(0.05% + 2)

--- End code ---

And for audio use 8060A has spec until 100kHz measurment, 87V is specced for 20kHz.

I'd say that if you want to go Fluke way on a budget today and don't mind used tools go for the 27/FM as an autoranging and general day to day use and the 8060A for the infrequent precision measurements. If your budget permits go for a brand new 87V or even more expensive ones that have data logging etc.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod