WTB Fluke 12 LCD - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: expitaxial
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 20, 2014, 12:58:30 pm
content: Hi, After 22 years use my LCD went black. Any one got any wrecks or spares? Cheers

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2014, 01:03:56 pm
content: Sorry, but those are rare and almost impossible to find. I need 5 or 6 of them, myself. These are great meters, for what they can do, but the lack of LCDs is a significant problem. Worse, the ones that continue to work get black blobs that slowly get larger over time.I've got one with the "AC DC and V" characters inoperative, I think the contacts are bad on the glass. I still use it because the digits work.We need someone to dump hundreds of spares as someone did for the 29/79 LCDs. At one time, the were rare - I paid 30 dollars for one, once. Then I bought a box of 50 for less than that.If I ever find a supply of them, I'll let everyone know, but it doesn't look good.

author: expitaxial
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 21, 2014, 07:43:22 am
content: Quote from: Excavatoree on March 20, 2014, 01:03:56 pmHi & thanks Excavatoree, My 12 started off with the corner going black and has slowly spread to the point where the display is barely readable now. Its ironic the black started the very next day after reading a paper on why lcd's fail in such a fashion...https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/bangheadonwall.gifLooks like its time to buy a new meter. My old mate has gone blind after years of faithful daily assistance.Cheers, Craig

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2014, 12:12:36 pm
content: Can you tell me how long it took? I'm too disorganized and failed to take good notes of which LCD started at what point and how long it took to get to the next point, because at first, I believed the spots were constant.One thing I've learned from buying some meters that I thought had good LCDs: Do not separate the "Zebra strip" connector from the LCD. These meters had cracked LCDs except for one, and I could tell someone attempted to play "musical LCD" and tried to check the others. However, the contact material was removed. So, that LCD was probably good, but was destroyed by the attempt to check the others.I've heard the same warning about 27 type and 70 series LCDs, but I've never had a problem with those contacts.

author: retiredcaps
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2014, 05:47:51 pm
content: I have a Fluke 12, but I haven't done any research whatsoever on finding a replacement lcd. Is there no chance that even a generic one will work minus some of the annunciators?

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2014, 06:57:49 pm
content: Quote from: retiredcaps on March 21, 2014, 05:47:51 pmI'm sure you or Mr. Modemhead could make it work. It's really a lot like the old 80xx meters, now that I think about it, as there is one row of contacts. I wonder if the odd size would be a problem. (54mm x 30 mm) (53 x 23 visible)

author: expitaxial
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 31, 2014, 09:51:06 am
content: Found one on ebay!I found a complete unit on ebay for $75 aud with a genuine soft case and original probes in good condition and reading accurate.Regarding time to failure: The instrument was used almost every day for about 21 years and I have gone through 5 sets of probes. About a year ago a small black spot appeared in the right hand corner and grew slowly. A few months back on a hot day a black patch grew rapidly from the left corner but has remained stable.Cheers Craig

author: retiredcaps
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2014, 05:35:29 am
content: Quote from: expitaxial on March 31, 2014, 09:51:06 amKeep your old one as a backup/spare unit.PS. I haven't done any research on the replacement. I'm in the middle of testing several OS/applications/platforms once XP support ends in April.