What Have You Done Fluke?

[Formaleins]

I have owned Fluke multimeters most of my life and my last one, the Fluke 87MkII was a beauty that I had over 25 years. It eventually went south and had too many problems that I sold it for pares, great multimeter. So I could not really justify the cost of the latest 87 V, as I do not use it enough to do it justice so I ordered a Fluke 107, basic meter.

 

My God what a piece of junk! Out of the box you could not get the probes to zero for resistance or continuity, shorting the probes gave you an initial rweading of 14 Ohms than would gradually drop down to about 5 ohms over a 1 minute time frame, terrible! Cleaned it with alcohol etc. no improvement.

 

Then, after less than 6 months one of the battery contacts just snapped off do I had to repair it using a spring. The batteries would not make contact properly so I had to add a bit of epoxy to force some pressure to keep them in contact, awful quality. Fluke will not honour their own warranty as the meter was purchased from China and apparently is not valid in Thailand! There is confidence for you.

 

Take a look at the photo.

 

Unwilling just yet I decided to give Fluke another chance and bought the 17b+ which does a lot more and actually appears to be an half decent meter, I have been using it now for over 1 year without any issues, battery compartment is fine and calibration seems fine. A much better piece of kit for the money.

 

But possibly the best and most accurate is the old AVO I salvaged from my Mother's when I visited her in February in the UK, been in an unheated garage for 20 years, made in the 1960's, works on almost every setting without the need for a battery and is almost as accurate as the Fluke 17, and can do some measuring that no digital meter could ever hope to do! So stay away from the Fluke 107, unless you value the "magnetic" strap / hanger more than the meter as the meter itself is virtually useless!

 

[impulse]

I don't guess you've considered the possibility that the Fluke you bought in China isn't really a Fluke at all?

 

 

[Formaleins]

8 minutes ago, impulse said:

I don't guess you've considered the possibility that the Fluke you bought in China isn't really a Fluke at all?

 

 

I did, and it is a Fluke, serial stacks up, it is just a low grade piece of junk that even Fluke will not honour their warranty. They only support it in China. I even spoke with their Asia managers in Singapore that repaired and calibrated my 87III, that was their policy, buy it from China, warranty is China! The quality of their meters since moving production from the USA to China is abysmal! You may as well save 75% of your money and buy UNI-T, at least you get what you expect for the money.

Edited October 18, 2020 by Formaleins

[Lacessit]

Why are you buying stuff made in China? IMO if the world boycotted Chinese goods in return for the virus that has wrecked the economies of many countries, it would send a strong message.

[Formaleins]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Why are you buying stuff made in China? IMO if the world boycotted Chinese goods in return for the virus that has wrecked the economies of many countries, it would send a strong message.

There wasn't a virus 3 years ago for a start, ad China didn't wreck any one's economies, they provided the cheap <deleted> everyone wanted, no one wanted to pay the prices for home made goods. We went over there and gave them all our expertise and taught them how to screw us, all down to the greed from the vermin that inhabit Wall Street and all the other big bourses.

 

We handed everything to them on a plate for them to copy and steal, all for a fast buck! 

 

Go and look through your own home and see just how much <deleted> you have that is made in China, I bet even 75% of the things you bought in Thailand are made in China, please, please don't be so gullible as to think that anyone is seriously not buying Chinese products, the economy would collapse!

[Lacessit]

5 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

There wasn't a virus 3 years ago for a start, ad China didn't wreck any one's economies, they provided the cheap <deleted> everyone wanted, no one wanted to pay the prices for home made goods. We went over there and gave them all our expertise and taught them how to screw us, all down to the greed from the vermin that inhabit Wall Street and all the other big bourses.

 

We handed everything to them on a plate for them to copy and steal, all for a fast buck! 

 

Go and look through your own home and see just how much <deleted> you have that is made in China, I bet even 75% of the things you bought in Thailand are made in China, please, please don't be so gullible as to think that anyone is seriously not buying Chinese products, the economy would collapse!

Sure, I bought stuff from China. My point is I am not buying any of their s##t now. I look elsewhere.

IME China makes garbage anyway. I bought two cheap chainsaws for my son in Australia, he cuts his own firewood on his property. Both failed in a couple of months, getting the warranty honored was BS. I woke up and bought him a quality Stihl, going strong after about 6 years use.

If the Chinese government collapsed because of a boycott, would that be such a bad thing?

 

[ravip]

I have a Sanwa YX-360TR that I bought in the early 80's in Saudi Arabia, still works like a dream!. The Fluke 112 is doing good too, although not that old.

 

 

[ravip]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Sure, I bought stuff from China. My point is I am not buying any of their s##t now. I look elsewhere.

IME China makes garbage anyway. I bought two cheap chainsaws for my son in Australia, he cuts his own firewood on his property. Both failed in a couple of months, getting the warranty honored was BS. I woke up and bought him a quality Stihl, going strong after about 6 years use.

If the Chinese government collapsed because of a boycott, would that be such a bad thing?

 

China makes garbage anyway.

 

Unfortunately, most of the premium brands on this planet are Made in China!

So... let's accept it!

Bashing China we can do, but the Phoenix is rising, no doubt - already on dizzy heights!

They even reached the moon!

555

Edited October 18, 2020 by ravip

[daveAustin]

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Why are you buying stuff made in China? IMO if the world boycotted Chinese goods in return for the virus that has wrecked the economies of many countries, it would send a strong message.

Most stuff is now made there, typically through western countries... iPhones and (some) Flukes included.

Op, the 100 series is known for being a bit cheap. Getting decent leads with them is a must. If you were seriously into your testing, the 87V is the bees knees, but for normal messing about with reliability, the EEVblog (rebranded Brymen by Dave Jones) BM235 is a decent meter.

[PatOngo]

2 hours ago, ravip said:

They even reached the moon!

..........and stole the South China Sea!

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, ravip said:

China makes garbage anyway.

 

Unfortunately, most of the premium brands on this planet are Made in China!

So... let's accept it!

Bashing China we can do, but the Phoenix is rising, no doubt - already on dizzy heights!

They even reached the moon!

555

Their air force can't even make the top ten in the world, according to independent assessment by the Israelis.

 http://fun.mivzakon.co.il/video/israel/10460/%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9D_4_%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9D.html

Correct me if I am wrong; however, I understand one of their commercial airlines also has the unenviable record of being the world's worst in terms of crashes and safety generally.

Edited October 18, 2020 by Lacessit

[ravip]

12 hours ago, Formaleins said:

There wasn't a virus 3 years ago for a start, ad China didn't wreck any one's economies, they provided the cheap <deleted> everyone wanted, no one wanted to pay the prices for home made goods. We went over there and gave them all our expertise and taught them how to screw us, all down to the greed from the vermin that inhabit Wall Street and all the other big bourses.

 

We handed everything to them on a plate for them to copy and steal, all for a fast buck! 

 

Go and look through your own home and see just how much <deleted> you have that is made in China, I bet even 75% of the things you bought in Thailand are made in China, please, please don't be so gullible as to think that anyone is seriously not buying Chinese products, the economy would collapse!

Absolutely correct, 100%

[ifmu]

fluke for me ........... mm 98   fluke oscilloscope   mm 93   .. all fluke accys  

 

40 yrs auto tech .. all pc related repairs .. dam good machine 

[bignbad]

I have Fluke 75 and a 789, both showing age but still working great, although only doing house and car electrics now, so a cheap chinese meter would do!

 

[VocalNeal]

 

I bought one of these as a small replacement for 

 

 

The KEW was about 900 baht from Veerasiam. OK it was an impulse buy but.. It is smaller than a scientific calculator. Has a protected storage for leads so is happy in a drawer. 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by VocalNeal