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Old Fluke Multimeters

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rodcastler:
It's 2022 and the 8060A is still alive and kicking, Mr. Taylor.

My father served as a field technician for 35 years at IBM in Chile. The first multimeter I ever interacted with was the analog IBM 1749231 (sort of a re-branded Simpson 160).
Even though it was my dad's daily job tool, I used to borrow it from him every single weekend and every time I could, which was very frequently. I was 9, and boy that meter and I went a long way.

When IBM upgraded my dad's meter from that one to the fluke 8060A, he brought it home and showed it to me. I was amazed beyond belief: until that day I had never seen a digital multimeter with LCD display. That Fluke was a thing of beauty. Naturally, being top notch technology I didn't get to play with it until several years later (and I was not too dissapointed since I immediately inherited the Simpson meter I had been borrowing for so long, becoming my very first own meter).

Fast forward to 2022, my dad is in his late 70s and he doesn't get to do hands-on electronics anymore as he just lost interest. Me however, I have a full blown electronics bench, far beyond my dad's dreams as a young tech and I DO care for that 8060A since I got to use it plenty as a teenager and I do recognize its value and quality. So yesterday, I asked the old man if I could take his meter for a ride, and brought it home with me (trust me, I tried that move a few times years ago, without success but I was on a lucky roll this weekend).

The Fluke was in good shape but quite dirty. So I took it apart and gave all the love and care I could to it. I probably spent an hour cleaning it very carefully. I removed a bit of corrosion from the battery input cap -where the batt wires meet the main board-, and this thing of beauty shines again.

Yes, next step is a complete cap replacement, at a later time. Right now, it seems to be as calibrated as the day it was born. I'll find a cheap meter for the old man so he has one if he ever needs it.


Excavatoree:

--- Quote from: rodcastler on January 31, 2022, 02:08:01 am ---Yes, next step is a complete cap replacement, at a later time.

--- End quote ---

Don't delay that cap replacement too long.   I thought some of mine were fine, but the capacitors in these meters tend to leak at the bottom, where you can't see it. 

One of our forum's meter repair experts told me to "go ahead and replace them" after I said they were fine.  I thought it was unnecessary, but he insisted.  I was dismayed to find significant trace damage.   One of the two brands of capacitors used tends to leak worse than the other, so I wouldn't hesitate to go ahead and replace them to preserve the meter, especially since it has so much value to you.

med6753:
I recently purchased this dingy 8060A off Ebay for restoration.

Original Ebay pix.



Clean up and tear down for re-capping. I did not find any capacitors leaking but be aware that the + screening on the circuit board for one of the capacitors is backwards. I forget which capacitor it was. Install the capacitors as you currently found them.


rodcastler:

--- Quote from: Excavatoree on January 31, 2022, 03:29:06 am ---
Don't delay that cap replacement too long.   I thought some of mine were fine, but the capacitors in these meters tend to leak at the bottom….

--- End quote ---

I followed your advice and got it started today.
Interestingly enough, none of the caps show signs of leakage. I’m replacing them regardless.

I am also puzzled about the C19 cap installed backwards that was discussed before in this thread. Did anyone come out with a reasonable explanation to that? I’m concerned about the inconsistency not so much with the silkscreen as I am with the schematics.

AVGresponding:
I'm mostly puzzled by the fact that I can't find a C19, either in the schematic, or the parts list. There are 7 electrolytic caps in my 8060A, which matches the parts list. All the silkscreen polarities seem to be correct, though I can't see the polarity or silkscreen for C16, the 1uF tant without sucking it off the board.
The build date for my meter is going to be late 1999 or early 2000 judging by the IC date codes, with the date of the PDF 2000 or later.

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