What do you think of the new Fluke 87 V MAX?

[rvalente]

I wonder who need an IP rated multi-meter? 87V max, 28 II whatever...

If its raining heavily I would never open an electric cabinet to measure anything.

[james_s]

It could be handy for cleaning it off. Industrisl equipment is notoriously gross and dirty, same with working on cars. Sometimes too one has to work under less than ideal conditions, I've had to troubleshoot equipment like heat pumps when it's pissing down rain. The weather doesn't care about your safety, sometimes you gotta get the job done.

[AJ3G]

I wonder who need an IP rated multi-meter? 87V max, 28 II whatever...

If its raining heavily I would never open an electric cabinet to measure anything.

I bought an IP67 rated meter because I use it in a marine environment. It’s bulky, but my hope is it will last longer than the other meters I have used for the task. 

[Gandalf_Sr]

I bought an IP67 rated meter in case I get a puddle in my basement 

[Black Phoenix]

It could be handy for cleaning it off. Industrisl equipment is notoriously gross and dirty, same with working on cars. Sometimes too one has to work under less than ideal conditions, I've had to troubleshoot equipment like heat pumps when it's pissing down rain. The weather doesn't care about your safety, sometimes you gotta get the job done.

Other place were I can see the use of a IP67 is not only water ingress but extreme temperature changes, like thermal shock creating condensation. Probably the best DMM to use in Antarctica or in very cold climates.

https://www.fluke.com/en/learn/blog/digital-multimeters/antarctica

Although since is air tight, condensation could happen when the saturation conditions are achieve, since there isn't any exchange between the outside and inside air.

So probably now that I'm thinking I'm wrong right?

[rvalente]

So you dont need ip67, just weather sealing. Since there is none available, you went with ip rating. Fair enough

[rvalente]

But i care about my safety. No stop machine or process ir more valuable them my life. Im many of my customers, since im a contractors, no outdoors activities are allowed if it's raining

[Gandalf_Sr]

Specifically for Antartica, LCDs will not be viable.  Power-hungry though they may be, OLEDs work just fine in very low temperatures.  Keysight makes several multimeters that come in OLED flavors.

[WhichEnt2]

I wonder who need an IP rated multi-meter? 87V max, 28 II whatever...

If its raining heavily I would never open an electric cabinet to measure anything.

Even if it's low power safe-to-work-in-water 12V(or so) automation stuff?

[Black Phoenix]

Specifically for Antartica, LCDs will not be viable.  Power-hungry though they may be, OLEDs work just fine in very low temperatures.  Keysight makes several multimeters that come in OLED flavors.

Well by that use case I posted that is available on the Fluke Website, I see a 189 and it looks like a 179 in the second photo being used in temperatures around -32^oC.

[Offtopic} I wouldn't mind that kind of scientific job in Antarctica to be sincere. Being able to live in a place where not a lot lived plus at the same time do experiments and find things that could help the rest of the world.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Specifically for Antartica, LCDs will not be viable.  Power-hungry though they may be, OLEDs work just fine in very low temperatures.  Keysight makes several multimeters that come in OLED flavors.

Well by that use case I posted that is available on the Fluke Website, I see a 189 and it looks like a 179 in the second photo being used in temperatures around -32^oC.

[Offtopic} I wouldn't mind that kind of scientific job in Antarctica to be sincere. Being able to live in a place where not a lot lived plus at the same time do experiments and find things that could help the rest of the world.

You haven't been keeping up with the Ancient Aliens series; there are alien cities complete with pyramids hidden under the ice.

[rvalente]

Usually outside cabinets wont have only 24v systems.

[bdunham7]

What do you guys think about the new IP67 rated Fluke 87 V multimeter? I received a survey from Fluke a while ago so I knew they were coming out with this model. If I had a job outside I would be very interested in this meter.

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/electrical-testing/digital-multimeters/87v-max

https://www.fluke-direct.com/pdfs/cache/www.fluke-direct.com/87v-max/datasheet/87v-max-datasheet.pdf

I think that Fluke is fluffing up an old design meter, making it in China and passing it off as a premium successor to their 'flagship' USA-made 87V.  It sounds very profitable. 

[AJ3G]

What do you guys think about the new IP67 rated Fluke 87 V multimeter? I received a survey from Fluke a while ago so I knew they were coming out with this model. If I had a job outside I would be very interested in this meter.

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/electrical-testing/digital-multimeters/87v-max

https://www.fluke-direct.com/pdfs/cache/www.fluke-direct.com/87v-max/datasheet/87v-max-datasheet.pdf

I think that Fluke is fluffing up an old design meter, making it in China and passing it off as a premium successor to their 'flagship' USA-made 87V.  It sounds very profitable.

After some review, I would agree. Although, the Keysight U1282A I have (Also IP67 Rated) appears to have some sort of firmware problem, so your choices are limited if you need this rating in a multimeter..

[tooki]

I wonder who need an IP rated multi-meter? 87V max, 28 II whatever...

That’s a dumb statement if ever I heard one...

If its raining heavily I would never open an electric cabinet to measure anything.

1. You do realize that it could be wet EN ROUTE to the box, but not in it? Or just so that if you drop it INTO water, it won’t immediately die.
2. You do realize that an IP rating (“ingress protection”) isn’t just about waterproofing? The first number in the IP rating is its dustproofing. Factories are often dirty places. Or you might be outdoors in a dust storm. Neither of those is wet, but you damned well don’t want conductive metal dust getting into a meter, nor even just ordinary sand that could get into switch contacts. 

[tooki]

What do you guys think about the new IP67 rated Fluke 87 V multimeter? I received a survey from Fluke a while ago so I knew they were coming out with this model. If I had a job outside I would be very interested in this meter.

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/electrical-testing/digital-multimeters/87v-max

https://www.fluke-direct.com/pdfs/cache/www.fluke-direct.com/87v-max/datasheet/87v-max-datasheet.pdf

I think that Fluke is fluffing up an old design meter, making it in China and passing it off as a premium successor to their 'flagship' USA-made 87V.  It sounds very profitable.

What are you talking about? The 28 II was also made in USA. There is zero reason to assume the 87 V Max is made in China.

Not to mention that it is a newer design than the 87V. 

[floobydust]

I think that Fluke is fluffing up an old design meter, making it in China and passing it off as a premium successor to their 'flagship' USA-made 87V.  It sounds very profitable.

I think it's a minimal revamp of an old cash cow 30+years old. Danaher/Fortive can charge the extra $70 for the IP67 and leds. A drop test on the front face will kill it, and OSHA forbids most measurements in the rain, clashing with the marketing photos. Nobody wants a fatter multimeter. They have an entire industrial electrical DMM line to add to the confusion here.

I really dislike mega-conglomerates buying up legends such as Fluke, Tektronix and then mismanaging them to death.
They cannot innovate or make anything new, other than priority one - return value to the shareholders. Look at Fortive and Danahrer stocks for that story.

I've used 87's at below -20°C and instantly the test leads (TL75 PVC) get hard and brittle, then the LCD freezes up, then the alkaline batteries get cold and voltage plummets. By then I'm usually frozen though. PVC test leads shatter when they get cold, that's a hazard. Does this meter come with silicone test leads? Could find nothing in the product docs.  I guess it's a low temp fluid LCD now, so display contrast might suck unless they added a boost converter.We've already had the flame wars over Made in/Product of/Assembled in.... The build quality still looks very good, it is a $500 multimeter after all.

[bdunham7]

What are you talking about? The 28 II was also made in USA. There is zero reason to assume the 87 V Max is made in China.

Not to mention that it is a newer design than the 87V.

The "Product Details" page at TEquipment identifies the country of origin as China.  We haven't seen one yet so AFAIK nobody has had a chance to read the box, but TEquipment correctly identifies the country of origin for other products that I checked.  I guess we'll see.

[james_s]

One of the main reasons I've been willing to pay the premium for Fluke is that I could get one made here in the USA just a few miles from where I live. If I'm gonna buy a Chinese made meter I'll just by one of the less expensive brands. It saddens me when companies take this route of coasting along on reputation. Happened to Tek already.

[Black Phoenix]

I've used 87's at below -20°C and instantly the test leads (TL75 PVC) get hard and brittle, then the LCD freezes up, then the alkaline batteries get cold and voltage plummets. By then I'm usually frozen though. PVC test leads shatter when they get cold, that's a hazard. Does this meter come with silicone test leads? Could find nothing in the product docs.

That I agree, when I bought the 87V I was expecting leads like the ones that come originally with the 287/289, the silicone TL71 or even the newer TL175. I was nor expecting for the equipment it is to come with so bad leads as they are. They are stiff, too small and not that ergonomic. Yes they do the job but come on, I understand in a low budget less that US$150 DMM that kind of leads, not in a US$350+ DMM.

One of the main reasons I've been willing to pay the premium for Fluke is that I could get one made here in the USA just a few miles from where I live. If I'm gonna buy a Chinese made meter I'll just by one of the less expensive brands. It saddens me when companies take this route of coasting along on reputation. Happened to Tek already.

A lot of things are made in China, it depends how much you want to pay to manufacture. Pay the minimum, sh#t quality, pay the most, best quality. Foxconn makes iPhones, Motherboards, PCBs for different applications (NSN Blade MGW and MSS were all fitted with Foxconn made PCBs to name a few and their quality is excellent in terms of finish) and their factories are mainly in China.

The sign "Made In" currently is just a status quo brand. Fluke is one of them, "Made In US"... No let me correct you: "Design and Assembled in US with parts manufactured around the world".Most of our high end equipments that we use are manufactured in China or contains most parts that were manufactured in China. No way to go around, so can we please stop  ?

Again putting Made In China - Bad Quality is not the right thing, What people should do is make companies responsible for they wanting to pay less and less for manufacturing quality, making their parts break early and easily. And no I don't want to turn this topic into another political China Vs the West thought. It's just each and every time this comes to shore there are the ones who start the same thing over and over again. Can we please focus in why Fluke released the equipment and why it is what it is instead of were it was manufactured and that his quality is bad because it was manufactured there? We don't know yet, the meter was released this month, there aren't a lot of reviews yet (if there is any). And I don't see Fluke just basically murdering their renowned 87V.

You have a lot of year of work to get into good grace of consumers, but that good grace is lost in the most easy and fast mistake you make.

[james_s]

I never said made in China was bad quality, I said I'm willing to pay a premium to buy something made here in my own country, employing my fellow citizens. Even if it's the same quality as anything else I don't mind paying more for something so people can make a decent wage building it. If it's going to be built elsewhere I may as well just buy a cheaper brand, I'm not paying a premium just so a handful of execs can get a bigger bonus.

[Fungus]

I think it's a minimal revamp of an old cash cow 30+years old. Danaher/Fortive can charge the extra $70 for the IP67 and leds.

It's a clever move from a marketing viewpoint.

I'm guessing not many people were buying the 28II - why would you if you're only going to use it indoors on a workbench?

By renaming it "87V MAX" they're going to sell an awful lot more of them even though it's the exact same meter with a bit more rubber. The pointy haired bosses will sign off on one of those without asking questions so long as it still says "87V" in the name.

[Black Phoenix]

It's a clever move from a marketing viewpoint.

I'm guessing not many people were buying the 28II - why would you if you're only going to use it indoors on a workbench?

By renaming it "87V MAX" they're going to sell an awful lot more of them even though it's the exact same meter with a bit more rubber.

Yes very smart indeed.

Although but for years Fluke had the 20s series as the rugged version of their DMM, the thing that you could throw on the concrete and make an hole on it.



Being the 27II/28II the next iteration that even had the Ex version released. What I see is the following (although both models are still present in Fluke Website) - The 27II/28II Line will be discontinued and will disappear from the website given their own time, and by that Fluke now have the old workhorse that knows a few new tricks

 - Fluke 87V Industrial TrueRMS;
 - Fluke 87V Max Rugged TrueRMS;

and probably in the future:

 - Fluke 87V Max Ex Rugged for use in explosive atmospheres.

Same as the 70 series were replaced by the 170 series.

Fluke is starting to look a lot like Intel, until a competitor does the same or better, with the same quality, more functions but for way less, they have the monopoly and there is no need to leap frog, just small tiny steps.

Same as Fluke Networks and their DSX-5000 CableAnalyzer - They are typically used by dedicated network cabling install companies to certify that the cabling they install meets industry standards, which is required by the cabling manufactures in order to issue the (often lifetime) warranty on the cable.  There are other brands as the IDEAL LanTEK III & FiberTEK III Cable Certifiers but most of the companies use the Fluke.

Still I'm curious to see inside of the 87V Max to see if its really a total rebrand and killing of a line, or if there are anything more that changes. There are a lot more thing they could do to improve the old design and performance. Heck bring back the 187/189 without logging but call it 87V Pro or whatever.

[Fungus]

Yes, the branding could go the way of the Pentium.

Intel started with 86... 286 ... 386 ... 486 ... Pentium.

Then it went "Pentium II... Pentium Pro..." etc

Fluke could easily go "87V ... 87 MAX ... 87 Pro" and no bosses would ask why all their meters suddenly cost $200 extra - it's still an 87V, they've been buying them for years.

[Black Phoenix]

But why do I worry really?

I'm super happy with my 87V and I don't pretend to sell it. I have a 289, although If I had the chance to exchange it for a 189 in the same condition as mine, pristine basically new I would probably without bat an eye do it. I have the 54II that I pretend to repair after the accident it had, but parts are hard to get by at normal prices and want to buy the 225C Scopemeter because I used one extensively while working in the telecom industry so I got a linking on it. That would basically be all my to do list before I'm to old to enjoy them.