Author Topic: Vichy VC99 Multimeter Review and Teardown (Read 94367 times)

Simon · « **Reply #50 on:** October 30, 2012, 08:41:51 pm »

so you used one potentially inaccurate machine to calibrate another - the blind leading the blind....... You need a voltage source that is known to be at least one order of magnitude better than the meter, so if you can read down to 10mV you need a voltage source accurate to 1mV

Salas · « **Reply #51 on:** October 30, 2012, 09:12:38 pm »

I have ordered AD581LH for rechecking. Correction, 3 blind mice it is, UT61E agrees well too.

Rick · « **Reply #52 on:** October 30, 2012, 10:36:27 pm »

Quote from: T4P on October 30, 2012, 10:09:02 am

TrueRMS converters have a fair bit of noise that's for sure and if you say the last digit on 50k mode is insignificant, well, doesn't the fluke 289/289 have almost the same specs?

So if we want real 5-6 digits accuracy we need to buy an accurate bench multimeter, is this the conclusion?

T-23lol · « **Reply #53 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:00:06 am »

Hello, I have a little problem with my Vichy VC99. I have damaged my temperature measurement part of multimeter by high AC current. I have been measuring temp while my probes for voltage measure was conected to the multimeter and circuit with 230V. I know ... i have been stupid.

Now It displays only OL .

I have changed transistors Q1 and Q2 whitch was exploded but i have also damaged rsistor R39. This resistor is absolutely cooked and I don't know value of this one. Please can somebody help me and tell me value of resistor R39 ?

Thank you very much for your help and sorry for my bad english.

Bored@Work · « **Reply #54 on:** November 16, 2012, 06:43:47 am »

I think this is the IC used in the meter http://www.ic-fortune.com/upload/Download/FS9922-DMM4-DS-11_EN.pdf Maybe you can find the equivalent of R39 in the datasheet, and maybe Fortune recommends a particular value in the datasheet or provides information how a designer should derive a value.

Simon · « **Reply #55 on:** November 16, 2012, 08:24:36 am »

Quote from: T-23lol on November 16, 2012, 12:00:06 am

Hello, I have a little problem with my Vichy VC99. I have damaged my temperature measurement part of multimeter by high AC current. I have been measuring temp while my probes for voltage measure was conected to the multimeter and circuit with 230V. I know ... i have been stupid. Now It displays only OL .

I have changed transistors Q1 and Q2 whitch was exploded but i have also damaged rsistor R39. This resistor is absolutely cooked and I don't know value of this one. Please can somebody help me and tell me value of resistor R39 ?

Thank you very much for your help and sorry for my bad english.

A good opportunity to dump that piece of junk and get something safer and more reliable.

Rick · « **Reply #56 on:** November 16, 2012, 04:43:21 pm »

Yeah it's not good. Very slow... I am hating it now.

T-23lol · « **Reply #57 on:** November 17, 2012, 02:14:16 am »

Thank you for your help Bored@Work. But my VC99 have R39 100R value. In scheme in that PDF it is 180R but this is too much and my meter have been showing to me 190°C in 22°C room :-D . So I put there potentiometer and tried to find good value of R39.

for Simon and other: I don't have money to have multimeter or even 2 like fluke for example. For my purposes (hobby, education and little works) is this perfect machine. I am student and I don't have money for expensive multimeters. I am using this Vichy and other 2 multimeters like Excel DT9205A and china RE830B and they are fine.

I know, I can kill myself when I will be measuring high Voltake like 1000V and multimeter explode but i will not measure somethink like that. Maximal what can happen to me is that I will make some idiocy like that one with measuring temperature without disconnecting previous measuring and i will damage my multimeter. But it is not so horrible and it is not so frequent.

I think that if I buy something like Vichy VC99 and I don't need make measurements 8-10 hours in day every working day in year and if I will not make money with my equipment, then buying something like fluke for example for 200€ it is too luxury and it is only throwing money out of window.

For Rick: Yeah, I know, the worst is that delay when I am waiting for beep when I have been controlling short circuit. But for that I am using my cheap excel multimeter ant that beeps immediately. Delay in other functions is not so bad I think and I don't have problem with that.

Again, this is great multimeter for hobby and so. Enough reliable, accurate and for very good price.

(Sorry for my bad English, I believe that you understand what I wanted to say) Thank you

Rick · « **Reply #58 on:** November 17, 2012, 02:50:44 am »

You can buy a Fluke 27/FM for as low as $25 on ebay. I have bought one (for $35) recently it is spot on for Volts, Currents and resistances, except that it is 3200 count but the great advantage is Fluke 27/FM is true rms (the full grey one, sometimes misleadingly the yellow ones with charcoal front are also presented as True RMS by sellers). As pointed out by people in this thread earlier, VC99 is not true rms. You can buy a fluke 83 (I believe this one is not trms) for about $60-$70 if you find the right opportunity. Recently they have sold even a Fluke 87 for $48 (with some scratches on the lens but there are apparently products such as Novus 1 2 3 that I haven't tried myself yet, to polish the lens), a fluke 83 was sold for $38 a few days ago. Really, you need to watch and jump on the good opportunities. Yesterday a brand new Agilent U1272a was sold for $191, it costs $390 on amazon or more if you buy from an authorized dealer... May be people know something about it and can tell us. I don't know.

VC99 is also slow on voltage and other measurements I noticed, not only the continuity test. Or is it just mine???

T4P · « **Reply #59 on:** November 17, 2012, 06:24:08 am »

yes, the VC99 is slow in every imaginable way.
Anyway, the fluke 83 is NOT true-rms

Simon · « **Reply #60 on:** November 17, 2012, 06:53:56 am »

You can buy an amprobe 220 for the same price as the VC99, that's what I did.

Rick · « **Reply #61 on:** November 17, 2012, 02:57:41 pm »

After all we said if there are still people who are interested in the VC99 I can sell my second VC99 for $25 (yes I have been stupid enough to order 2) when I receive it. But shipping by registered mail may cost as much as the multimeter itself (Turkish post is not China post). I shall forward it without opening the nylon bag. I have bought it on aliexpress which turned out to be another horror story. Still waiting to receive it...

T4P · « **Reply #62 on:** November 17, 2012, 05:42:05 pm »

Seriously ... there are better meters for 25$ of my currency, like the UT90D or the UT61A or the ET-997 (not the TR version, that's TrueRMS)

Simon · « **Reply #63 on:** November 17, 2012, 08:37:01 pm »

the VC99 cost me £30, the AM220 also cost me £30 !

Rick · « **Reply #64 on:** November 17, 2012, 09:26:15 pm »

Actualy when VC99 is already connected to a power supply, it follows fairly quickly the voltage and current changes. The problem is when you connect it to a device for the first time. Then it spends a lot of time till it updates the display (1-2 seconds?).

Simon · « **Reply #65 on:** November 17, 2012, 09:31:38 pm »

no the meter is just plain shit, to defend it just makes one look like and idiot

electronupdate · « **Reply #66 on:** November 18, 2012, 01:19:27 am »

Quote from: T-23lol on November 16, 2012, 12:00:06 am

Hello, I have a little problem with my Vichy VC99. I have damaged my temperature measurement part of multimeter by high AC current. I have been measuring temp while my probes for voltage measure was conected to the multimeter and circuit with 230V. I know ... i have been stupid. Now It displays only OL .

I have changed transistors Q1 and Q2 whitch was exploded but i have also damaged rsistor R39. This resistor is absolutely cooked and I don't know value of this one. Please can somebody help me and tell me value of resistor R39 ?

Thank you very much for your help and sorry for my bad english.

R39 on my unit is 100 ohms.

With the small creepage distances on this meter it would be a very good idea to unplug any other probes when the temperature sensor is in place.

T4P · « **Reply #67 on:** November 18, 2012, 05:18:45 am »

Quote from: Simon on November 17, 2012, 09:31:38 pm

no the meter is just plain shit, to defend it just makes one look like and idiot

Exactly! I have never seen a worser piece of shit! (Apart from the GS-PRO

)

Kesh · « **Reply #68 on:** November 22, 2012, 06:49:59 pm »

The Vichy is not shit. I have succesfully built and debugged many devices with it. Maybe Simon got a duff one. QC is usually what you pay most for, more than design, components and construction. As my work isn't mission critical, this isn't a problem.

It is not the best DMM in its price bracket, neither is it shit.

Simon · « **Reply #69 on:** November 22, 2012, 06:52:05 pm »

it is an unreliable piece of shit end of

mine looked just fine, but didn't work.

Kesh · « **Reply #70 on:** November 22, 2012, 06:56:17 pm »

You seem to think that your experience, your requirements, are somehow universal.

Simon · « **Reply #71 on:** November 22, 2012, 06:57:39 pm »

No I just know a piece of shit when I see one

An unreliable meter has no use but for an ugly paper weight

Kesh · « **Reply #72 on:** November 22, 2012, 07:01:33 pm »

Quote from: Simon on November 22, 2012, 06:57:39 pm

No I just know a piece of shit when I see one An unreliable meter has no use but for an ugly paper weight

You can't say "No" and then go on to do exactly what you are denying doing.

I'll say it again. Slowly. Your experience is not everyone's experience.

Simon · « **Reply #73 on:** November 22, 2012, 07:06:38 pm »

The meters may look good when bought but they quickly degenerate. Inexperienced users or users that have not used another meter before will not have anything to compare to. The VC99 is widely advertised as a replacement for the very popular fluke 17B and it is as such that I came across it. It is a farce and a lie.

On the other hand you are assuming that the meter is great because you have had ONE good experience.

Kesh · « **Reply #74 on:** November 22, 2012, 07:14:30 pm »

Quote from: Simon on November 22, 2012, 07:06:38 pm

The meters may look good when bought but they quickly degenerate. Inexperienced users or users that have not used another meter before will not have anything to compare to. The VC99 is widely advertised as a replacement for the very popular fluke 17B and it is as such that I came across it. It is a farce and a lie.

On the other hand you are assuming that the meter is great because you have had ONE good experience.

I have not claimed it is "great". I have said it is not shit. I also said that neither is it the best, even in its price bracket.

Its marketing as a fluke is a lie and a fraud, agreed. I now own a fluke 87V and it is incomparably superior. But for 95% of what I do the Vichy is fine.

I just think hyperbole and categorical statements, without any context about what the device is being used fo, is as daft and juvenile as Mac vs PC vs Linux debates.


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Author Topic: Vichy VC99 Multimeter Review and Teardown (Read 94367 times)

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