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Death & Destruction of a Fluke Multimeter

D

David L. Jones

Jan 1, 1970
0
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:

Dave.
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:

Dave.


Ha! I thought you tied the multimeter to the back of the car and dragged
it down the freeway. :p

Stopped at 3:20min. Had to continue life.
 
T

Tim Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
Got interesting up around 10:00 or so... 30 meters eh?

Screw you Dave, I wanna see that thing under a sledge. :) Or maybe a log
splitter, or backhoe, or something...

Tim
 
F

F Murtz

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jan said:
Well, why bother, I have a 5 Euro multimeter,
if it blows I will get an other 5 Euro multimeter.
But it says it is 100% protected.
Why burn so many $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$? Just for the show???
Makes no sense to me.
He got it for nuffin just to test.
 
M

Mark Zacharias

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jan Panteltje said:
Well, why bother, I have a 5 Euro multimeter,
if it blows I will get an other 5 Euro multimeter.
But it says it is 100% protected.
Why burn so many $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$? Just for the show???
Makes no sense to me.


If you had seen some of his earlier videos, you'd know why. By all means use
your cheaper meter if you like, but there is such a thing as, "measurement
confidence". If your work is important, perhaps with lots of money or even
someone's life potentially at stake, which meter would I rather rely on? I
think the answer is pretty obvious.
I own meters large and small, el cheapos and better ones. But when I really
need to know, right now and with no bullshit, I reach for the Fluke.

Mark Z.
 
B

Baron

Jan 1, 1970
0
David L. Jones Inscribed thus:
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:

Dave.

Nice field trip. Most impressive !
I did think that the LCD would have broken much sooner though.
The inductor failure could have been prevented.
Good one.
 
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
If you had seen some of his earlier videos, you'd know why. By all
means use your cheaper meter if you like, but there is such a thing
as, "measurement confidence". If your work is important, perhaps
with lots of money or even someone's life potentially at stake, which
meter would I rather rely on? I think the answer is pretty obvious.
I own meters large and small, el cheapos and better ones. But when
I really need to know, right now and with no bullshit, I reach for the
Fluke.

I bought an expensive Fluke multimeter 20 years. It continues to work well,
and has only needed to have the LCD contacts cleaned (twice). I'm almost 63,
and if I live to be 90, I expect it to continue to work.

Harbor Freight sometimes sells their cheap multimeter for $2 (!!!). I gave
one to a friend for Christmas, because he needed one for occasional work. I
can see taking such a meter into places it might be damaged or destroyed.
But I wouldn't use it for daily work.
 
E

E

Jan 1, 1970
0
David L. Jones said:
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:

Dave.

More multimeter torturing:
Here is report about those $5 multimeters
http://gps.sozialnetz.de/global/show_document.asp?id=aaaaaaaaaaaajxn
And video:
http://www.gossenmetrawatt.com/english/seiten/cautiondangerousmultimeters.htm


Better to stay away from mains with those.
I learned that hard way when I measured a water heater with some unknown
cheap meter.
First measured phase-to-ground 230 V fine... then phase to phase BANG
instead of 380 V
Fortunately only 16 A fuses on that circuit, so only damage was charred
multimeter. Think
if someone were dumb enough to measure something protected with 250 A
fuses... Like
if he forgot his own meter in car and sees nice looking meter lying
somewhere and actually
believes the "CAT III 600V" text printed on it. "Well, this meter should do
the job" and then
it shorts in his hands at about 1/10 voltage CAT III meter should withstand.

-E
 
F

Franc Zabkar

Jan 1, 1970
0
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:

Dave.

My AUD$3K Fluke PM97 failed from normal use. The batteries wouldn't
hold a charge from day 1, the AC adapter failed after only a short
time, one of the probes failed soon after, and then the meter itself
failed. The service manual was missing the power supply page (maybe
some Fluke/Philips tech used it and forgot to replace it).

One day I'll step on it ... again, and again, and again.

- Franc Zabkar
 
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
My AUD$3K Fluke PM97 failed from normal use. The batteries
wouldn't hold a charge from day 1, the AC adapter failed after
only a short time, one of the probes failed soon after, and then
the meter itself failed.

Then why wasn't it repaired/replaced under warranty?
 
M

Mark Zacharias

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Yanik said:
what's the point of destroying a multimeter?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com


Well, Fluke Australia had given it to him to review, and they said he could
torture test it. The new models 27 and 28 replace the previous models
renowned for their ruggedness, so I think it makes sense.

The 100 foot drop onto concrete left my jaw hanging wide open. Then he did
it AGAIN without the rubber holster...oh, my.

Want to bet they put a little RTV on those inductors in the future?

Mark Z.
 
D

David L. Jones

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mark said:
Well, Fluke Australia had given it to him to review, and they said he
could torture test it. The new models 27 and 28 replace the previous
models renowned for their ruggedness, so I think it makes sense.

Precisely.
The unit isn't just sold as regular multimeter, it is specifically designed
and marketed as a super rugged meter that is designed to survive abuse and
water ingress, just like the original Fluke 25 and 27. If that wasn't the
case you'd just buy the identical model 87V.
So to NOT test those aspects would be a poor review indeed. And then to only
drop it from 3m where I know it's going survive is kinda pointless. So it
makes sense to push it and get a meaningful data point at which it does
actually break.
The 100 foot drop onto concrete left my jaw hanging wide open. Then
he did it AGAIN without the rubber holster...oh, my.

My jaw was equally wide open!

Dave.
 
N

Nial Stewart

Jan 1, 1970
0
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:
Dave.


Dave,


You should make what was left the prize in a competition.



Nial
 
E

ehsjr

Jan 1, 1970
0
David said:
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:

Dave.

Amazing. I doubted the 3M drop spec. Not any more.

Ed
 
F

Franc Zabkar

Jan 1, 1970
0
Then why wasn't it repaired/replaced under warranty?

I bought it in Australia, but I took it to Singapore. I suppose I
could have made the effort to have the batteries replaced, but I
relied on the AC adapter, until it failed.

- Franc Zabkar
 
J

JosephKK

Jan 1, 1970
0
The title says it all really.
See what happens when I try to destroy Fluke's new 28-II Multimeter:

Dave.

More tests beyond specification:

Drive over it with a car.
Drive over it with a heavy truck.
Have good athletes kick it into a concrete wall.
Put it into a cement mixer running for 10 minutes (first dry then with water and finally with concrete).
 
J

JosephKK

Jan 1, 1970
0
Electronic BDSM. There is a small sub-culture of individuals in the
electronics business that is dedicated to torturing test equipment. I
don't pretend to understand the motivation, but there is ample
evidence of it on the authors blog:
<http://www.eevblog.com>
under the thinly disguised cover of "testing". The practice is
apparently widespread, as shown by the condition of used test
equipment found at flea markets and surplus sales.

Unfortunately, electronic BDSM sites are flourishing on the internet.
Many technicians and test equipment users apparently find some
perverse pleasure at watching their daily tools flogged into eWaste.
This must end as the next generation will certainly presume that such
abuse is the normal method of operation. We learn by example and such
sites are certainly a bad example of proper behavior.

While it is socially unacceptable to inflict pain on humans, there is
no such stricture to not do the same to test equipment. I suspect
that the Humane Society will eventually expand its scope to include
test equipment and other devices that are unable to protect themselves
from abuse. Meanwhile, the best I can suggest, to avoid repetition
and possible expansion, is to demand that test equipment be produced
and tested in a non-violent manner.

Well, how do you get around using a reflow oven or some other soldering?
 
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