Old Fluke Multimeters

[bd139]

Oh that’s very cool. Thanks for posting. 

[retiredcaps]

Closer inspection looks like C36 has leaked a bit. Next step is get caps and replace them.

If you haven't read through the entire thread or other 8060A threads on eevblog, the caps leak from the bottom bung so it won't be obvious by looking for the traditional obvious bloated vents at the top.

The recommendation is to replace all the caps in a 30+ year old meter if you find one bad cap based on the cockroach theory.

A good IPA bath with clean tooth scrub or ultrasonic bath after you remove all the caps helps as well to remove all the cap juice that might have wicked into surrounding areas and components.  Also check the main IC sockets as per

http://mrmodemhead.com/blog/fluke-8060a-repair/

[rsjsouza]

(...)based on the cockroach theory.

Huh?

[mansaxel]

(...)based on the cockroach theory.

Huh?

You might see only one, but you can be guaranteed there are more of the same species nearby.

[5618]

A Fluke 32 was another interesting meter that came with the clear 8060A. Here it is compared to another Fluke 32.

[precaud]

Is there a source for the 8060A MAC chips? I could use two or three of 'em.

[Cesar_D]

Hello. I recently bought a third-hand Fluke 8060A and I would like to have the operator's guide (digital, any shipment to Argentina is economically prohibitive ) I found one on the web but it was scanned in monochrom (https://archive.org/details/FLUKE_8060A_Operator/mode/2up)
Could someone who has an original guide scan it in 2 color pages?
I upload my Fluke 8024A guide in case someone needs it
Thank you!

[Martian Tech]

Hello. I recently bought a third-hand Fluke 8060A and I would like to have the operator's guide (digital, any shipment to Argentina is economically prohibitive ) I found one on the web but it was scanned in monochrom (https://archive.org/details/FLUKE_8060A_Operator/mode/2up)
Could someone who has an original guide scan it in 2 color pages?
I upload my Fluke 8024A guide in case someone needs it
Thank you!

My Operator's Guide is not in the best condition, but here is a scan until you can get a better one. 

[drtaylor]

Do you still need an 8060 MAC? I may have a few in my collection (I'll have to see if I can find them), but they are >30 YO. They've been in conductive foam and might still work. If I find them, I'll put them in a known good 8060 and see if they work.

[precaud]

Do you still need an 8060 MAC? I may have a few in my collection (I'll have to see if I can find them), but they are >30 YO. They've been in conductive foam and might still work. If I find them, I'll put them in a known good 8060 and see if they work.

Yes, please, that would be great! I could use a couple if you have 'em.

[Cesar_D]

Thank you Martian!!!!

[precaud]

Any progress on testing those MAC's?

Do you still need an 8060 MAC? I may have a few in my collection (I'll have to see if I can find them), but they are >30 YO. They've been in conductive foam and might still work. If I find them, I'll put them in a known good 8060 and see if they work.

[djadeski]

Another fix-up story to add to the list here.

I picked up a Fluke 8060a on kijiji (like craigslist) here locally recently. It was cheap but really dirty and the LCD initially looked bad but I took a chance.  Its a 3333 serial and those are reported to be super leaky so once I checked the screen to see if it could be fixed I would look at the caps. 

The screen turned out to have been assembled in the wrong order to once wiped off and assembled correctly it was okay.  Someone had opened it up and lost the green power switch but that was the seemed to be the extent of that. 

Next step was to clean it up and see how it performed, basically it worked pretty well, was a little unstable and slow to settle and the negative n terms of other issues only the negative voltage showed low at 4.924.  From this topic and mrmodemhead's blog posts I was pointed to cap C21.

At that point I ordered caps using a combination from the list here from drtaylor and mrmodemhead’s blog based on availability and swapped them out – first time really taking on something like this.  Once I replaced the caps I cleaned up with lacquer thinner and iso alcohol (with ventilation and gloves etc) , put it back together and fingers crossed – it powered up and appeared to be just fine.

The negative voltage on TP2 was now -5.099, the unit settles quickly and once I adjusted it, it seems to be working very well.

Before and post removal pics attached  - I was in too much of a rush and didn't take an after new installed caps pic but you can see the result and the bad caps from the pics hopefully attached at the end. Its clear that they had started leaking and but hadn’t really destroyed too much of the surrounding material, mostly affected the pads immediately below.   

I will have to see how it fares over the long haul.

Thanks for all the help and great insight provided on this board, could not have attempted it otherwise.


Dave

[rsjsouza]

Congratulations on your restoration! These meters are incredibly good and hopefully this lasts you a very long time.

[ogdento]

Glad to see so many 8060s still going!

When trying to bring one of these back to life I've mixed up a cap or forgotten a critical step, so here's a quick and dirty diagram I use to keep my head straight... maybe it'll help somebody else with their first (or 10th) re-cap.  Thanks to Dave Taylor/Fluke/et al for the original diagram from the awesome manual 




**The red arrows on the 40-pin socket and the dc power jack are to remind myself of two things:

• Depending on the 40-pin socket used, if it isn't pushed forward toward the front of the board it can interfere with the the display bracket's "third leg"/post and it won't set into the hole on the pcb... so I push it forward, tack a pin or two, and test fit the display bracket
• I remove lots of parts during a re-cap so I can clean the board well... I once re-installed the dc input jack too close to the 40-pin socket and couldn't seat the mac chip   Don't do that!

[jh15]

I see two C21s

[ogdento]

hey good catch!  Probably a copy/paste error.  The "C21" in the lower left should be "C28" which seems to only be in older 8060s.

Actually, my "C28" is VR2 from the parts layout (c28 would be right next to it) but there wasn't a C28 on the later diagram I used... I just wanted to indicate that there might be a cap there that needs replacing.

[langlv]

I could not resist to bring home an extremely dirty Fluke 8860A. After an intensive cleanup, it looks much better. The control keyboard has been cured for bouncing keys.

So far I figured to run some very basic sequences.

==> PROG
        Clear_PROG

   10   
   STO 01   // loop
   0
   STO 02   // AVG value

LBL 10
   RCL 02
   SMP   // get new measurement
   +   // accumulate
   STO 02
   DSZ 01   // decrease loopcnt, skip next instruction if Zero
   GTO 10   // not yet

   RCL 02   // compute AVG value
   10
   /
   RTN

==> RUN
   GTO 00   // label 00 seems to be hard coded
   R/S

I don't have the hard to find '8850A calculating controller user handbook'. I will be more than happy of someone can give me a scanned copy.
Lang

[bitslip]

Does anyone have an 8060 *case* that's in good condition they're willing to sell, or know a good source? 

My meter is fine but the case is yellowed heavily I suspect from the bromine content.  I can try to "regenerate" it as people have done using hydrogen peroxide gel + UV/Sun but figured I'd try the easy route first.

15+ years ago I asked this on a usenet group and someone who worked at Fluke told me the cases were still available for purchase but stupid me didn't purchase it at the time!

[ogdento]

I recently cleaned up a heavily browned 8060 with brasso and while it doesn't look brand new, it's much much better.  I can get a pic next week.

[yo0]

four different fluke meters, now i need find the 8010M-05 model for the complete serie


best regards


Pio

[ehobby]

Just a quick follow up on the earlier discussion about C19 polarity. I just went through the cap replacement on my 8060A and noted that the factory install for C19 on my 8060A was correct per the silkscreen (- away from the display). This was an earlier model with the single chip TRMS converter and from factory there was no C28 loaded. I was lucky in that only three caps had started to leak and had no PCB/component damage. Had this thing since new and it has worked flawlessly the whole time.

I have over a dozen Fluke meters/counters. All continue to work and hold cal very well. Only run into two problems in the last 40 years. One 8000A had one 7 segment display fail, which I replaced with a similar display. Pretty easy fix and you can't tell from the outside.  One of the 45s developed a low resistance measurement error, after about 20 years, which turned out to be a cold solder joint on a resistor pack. Again an easy fix.

Regards

[scopeman]

Hello DR Taylor,

On the subject of the 8860A. I have one of those where the metal can transistor has come loose from the A1 hybrid module for the ohms converter. Do you happen to know if that part was soldered to the substrate or was conductive silver epoxy used? I have some 3.5%Ag solder that I could use to attempt to fix this module if it is in fact soldered.

I found out that it is soldered. I resoldered it with some low temp solder that I had as a sample from Indium Corporation. Worked like a champ!

Do you have any suggestions in that regard as I would like to get this unit fully functional again. I doubt that there are any sources for these ceramic hybrid modules anymore.

The calculator function or GPIB would be nice but I have not seen them anywhere either.

Thank you,

Sam
W3OHM

[mansaxel]

(The downside of reading this thread is that I now want 8060.)

Yes, you do. Come to the dark side. We have cookies. And somewhat large collections of vintage multimeters.

[Rita]

Tack.

It sounds like an EEVblog fika.