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Old Fluke Multimeters
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bd139:

--- Quote from: GregDunn on September 12, 2018, 04:08:00 am ---Sounds like auction site purchases for this instrument come down to "do you feel lucky, punk?" and willingness to dive in and fix odd failure modes.  I guess that's why I like hamfests - if you can actually find something you have hands-on right away and an honest seller will let you power it up first.

--- End quote ---

Hamfests are just as bad usually. Most of the ones here don't bless you with power so you have to take a gamble. Last one I got very lucky though. Some of the sellers were probably more dodgy than eBay however.


--- Quote from: bitseeker on September 12, 2018, 05:25:58 am ---Next step: Buy half a dozen of them and Dr. Frankenstein a good one or three from that DMM morgue.  :-DMM

--- End quote ---

TEA pimp in action :)
bitseeker:
At your service. ^-^
GregDunn:

--- Quote from: bd139 on September 12, 2018, 06:03:27 am ---
--- Quote from: GregDunn on September 12, 2018, 04:08:00 am ---Sounds like auction site purchases for this instrument come down to "do you feel lucky, punk?" and willingness to dive in and fix odd failure modes.  I guess that's why I like hamfests - if you can actually find something you have hands-on right away and an honest seller will let you power it up first.

--- End quote ---

Hamfests are just as bad usually. Most of the ones here don't bless you with power so you have to take a gamble. Last one I got very lucky though. Some of the sellers were probably more dodgy than eBay however.


--- End quote ---

I agree you need to be wary, but generally around here you get the "tailgaters" (people who bring dodgy gear in the back of their truck and sell it in the parking lot) as well as the "insiders" (table space inside a building, often commercial vendors or small businesses).  The indoor spaces are usually furnished with power and the sellers are more likely to be accommodating; you just have to size them up carefully.  When I bought my 8600A, the guy pretty much insisted that I let him power up the DMM and the HP power supply before taking my money.  The Keithley 197A was bought from a known commercial dealer in the area who was selling it for a friend he called on the phone to verify the price.  I plugged it into a convenient wall outlet to make sure it at least powered up.  I'll deal with people like that all day in preference to the unknown quantity eBay sellers.  If only there was a good fest more than 2-3 times a year in this area.

And then there are shady vendors like the one a few years ago who had a nasty looking pile of used radio parts stripped from who-knows-what, trying to sell me a "matched" pair of EL34 tubes for $120.  Pull the other one, dude.   :-DD
elecdonia:
I'm another person who loves old-fashioned red LED displays.  I use both the Fluke 8600A and the 8800A on a daily basis.  Currently I own 5 8600A units and 3 8800A units.  All were obtained from ebay at prices ranging from $20 to $50 each.  I also have a big box full of spare parts taken from additional units that weren't easily repairable.

Over time I've learned how to fix these meters and calibrate them.  My recommendations:
When you first get an 8600A or 8800A I recommend checking the ESR of every electrolytic capacitor in the power supply.  Or just replace them if you don't own an ESR meter.
For the battery powered version of the 8600A you should immediately replace the old NiCd D cells.  There are 4 of them.  The battery powered 8600A won't work unless the NiCd cells are good.  I recommend using NiCd batteries.  NiMH won't last very long due to the extremely primitive charging circuit in the 8600A.  NiCd cells handle continuous overcharge much better than NiMH.  Also take great care to totally clean off all bits of battery goo from the PC boards when you have a battery powered 8600A.
Do not switch on the 8600A with any of the small plug in PC boards removed -- doing so may cause failure of the IC chip that controls the relays.

For calibration I have a good quality 10V reference voltage source and a HP 3456A 6.5 digit DVM.  I've found the stability and long-term calibration of my 8600A and 8800A units to be excellent.

GregDunn:
I have a non-battery 8600A; but perhaps it's a good idea to check/replace the caps anyway.  I'm doing a voltage reference comparison right now, but when that's done I can pop it open.  Looks like the electrolytics are easily available values.  Is there any value to replacing tantalum caps too?  I know older HP gear has a problem with them.
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