If it works it's a Fluke - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Tom45
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2017, 11:12:20 pm
content: While rearranging my workbench I had a number of my older meters at hand. So I decided to do a test of the 3 Fluke meters that I own.Using my Keysight 34465a as a standard, I set a reference voltage of 5.00000 and then fed it to my 3 Fluke meters.The oldest is a Fluke 8600a bench meter from 1974. I got this years ago on eBay and don't know its history before that. But it looked well used when I bought it.Next is the 8020a from 1977. I purchased this new in 1977 and traveled with it for years as well as bench use at home.The newest is a Fluke 12, purchased about 15 years ago for use in my travel kit. It has been to customer's plants all over the U.S. as well as some trips to South America and a half dozen trips to New Zealand.I've never done any maintenance or calibration to any of the meters. But everything still works and they are all accurate:

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2017, 11:24:26 pm
content: Yep - that's why certain brands are worth the money.

author: agdr
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 12:54:22 am
content: My Fluke stuff will outlive me! Never had a moment of trouble with any of it, including a decades-old meter that had daily use for years.

author: Tom45
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 01:29:27 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on March 26, 2017, 12:14:18 am"If it works it's a Fluke" was their slogan at one time. Now that they are owned by a large conglomerate they probably aren't allowed to have a sense of whimsy.Their current slogan "Keep your world up and running" reeks of design by a corporate committee.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 02:07:48 am
content: Fluke makes good stuff, but I have had it fail on occasion. Most of big names were good. It is hard to say if any are now.

author: Muxr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 04:33:05 am
content: My favourite instruments are Fluke multimeters. They just work without a hassle, and I rarely ever have to replace the batteries on them.

author: BMack
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 06:58:10 am
content: I have several Fluke meters from the 90s and a couple from the 80s, all bought second-hand(maybe third or fourth hand), all of them are dead-on accurate.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 11:54:16 am
content: Quote from: Tom45 on March 25, 2017, 11:12:20 pmFlukes are famous for holding their calibration forever, so this is no surprise.Quote from: wilfred on March 26, 2017, 12:14:18 amOf course there is, who said otherwise?That said, in the area of handheld meters, are many of the other manufacturers from the early days of handhelds still around? IIRC Fluke was the first, and many other manufacturers came and went, such that there isn't as big a body of data on their long-term reliability.For example, while there's ample evidence on the long-term reliability of Keysight (née Agilent née HP) bench meters, they're a fairly new re-entrant to handheld meters, with the first Keysight-designed models being only a few years old. Is it reasonable to expect Keysight's designs to be good? Yes. Do weknowthis with the certainty of Fluke? No.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 12:14:10 pm
content: I totally agree with my experience of many Fluke meters.But what stands out for me are the older Fluke Combiscopes. They last forever and I am using them almost every day on my high voltage bench. They are now 20+ years old and work as if they are just new.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 12:15:48 pm
content: They're a great testament to Philips' good engineering!

author: Tom45
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 06:08:42 pm
content: I didn't intend to say that only Fluke meters are worthwhile. It was just a good opportunity to use their old slogan. In fact I've bought several meters since the Fluke 12 15 years ago and none of them have been by Fluke.What is probably true is for someone buying used, the odds of getting a good accurate meter are likely better when buying a used Fluke vs. other brands.I've already shown the 3 Fluke meters that I own. Here are some others.Besides the Keysight 34465a shown above, here are my most recent purchases:I bought the Agilent U1272a and got the Keysight U1272a because of the input filtering bug. The EEVBlog meter needs no explanation.I got the Extech as an extra meter for additional monitoring of a setup. The Harbor Freight meters were free with some other purchase. I actually have at least one more that I forgot about when taking this photo. I keep one of them with my drawer of cells and use the built in load test to check for weak batteries.And finally, an analog meter is sometimes quite handy for adjustments. I've never been that fond of the bar graphs on digital meters. I once had a Simpson but now have this cheap Radio Shack meter.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2017, 09:59:42 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on March 26, 2017, 01:08:52 pmIt's an old marketing slogan, which I recognize. It's not a legitimate claim.

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2017, 04:45:19 am
content: Since this thread got upgraded to include non fluke meters......The radioshack meter on the right was bought new late 80s, early 90s...the little red number on the left is one of those "free with coupon" harbor freight jobs.I'm happy.

author: agdr
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 30, 2017, 05:19:58 am
content: Quote from: Tom45 on March 26, 2017, 06:08:42 pmThat Keysight logo. Taken as an ink blot test, when I see the Agilent logo my immediate thought is "these folks are precise and know what they are doing". When I see the Keysight logo my immediate thought is "these folks are really not sure what they are doing".