Battery used in Fluke 87V MAX or 28 II - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: glowman
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2021, 06:38:28 am
content: Has anyone used any other battery type on your Fluke 87V MAX or 28 II? I asked this coz' I really hate using alkaline on it. As you know, any brand alkaline has a tendency to leak. I have several test equipments damaged by it. I am aware that on the back cover, it was clearly stated that we should use Energizer or Duracell alkalines. Ironically those are the 2 brands that leaks. I haven't even heard of other less known brands leaking like Panasonic and Toshiba.What I want to know is have anyone used other types successfully without any long term ill effects. I was planning to use Energizer lithium or Eneloop cells on it. Learned from some of the posts that they did use lithiums but had fitting problem due to slightly larger diameter of the Lithium but, did not mention about long term effects like the regulators inside or change in current drain due to higher voltage of lithiums. Saw a video testing what voltage it triggers battery low and it was found to be around 2.75v so, it is around 0.9v per cell which I believe it is also ok to use eneloops. However no one ever mentioned they use eneloops.Has anyone have experiences?

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2021, 07:02:17 am
content: High capacity 2450mAh (NiMH) Ladda from Ikea are virtually the same thing as the Eneloop Pros but cheaper. The new Laddas are this greenish gray color and are fairly new to the market so should come with a good shelf life. The white ones are an older model. Avoid lower capacity brown ones as they are outsourced to China and not as good as the Japanese made ones.That is about it you can't do no better, low self discharge, high capacity, dry cell technology, little to no leakage issues (main thing is don't overheat them charging), low cost, don't explode in a ball of flames, shouldn't have fitment issues.As for chargers anything suitable for the Eneloops should do the job but Ikea sell specific models. I think the concept is the trickle charge gets so low current at the end of charge cycle that overcharging is just lost as heat. There are various sources of info and likely a datasheets somewhere for Eneloops that give you an idea of ideal charge rates and life expectancy, it's been researched a bit by enthusiasts. Probably a bit too much to expect that from Ikea but it's the same technology, similar capacity and made at the same plant (for all intents and purposes) you can use that as a guideline.Myself I picked up a genuine SkyRC IMAX B6AC V2 for Christmas so will try that out with the new Laddas at some stage. I don't think it will handle multiple cells at once unless you charge them as 2/3/4 cell pack etc, but it's more than a one trick pony and has external temp monitoring which is quite nice.

author: glowman
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2021, 08:11:33 am
content: Thanks for the info. I have the white Ladda, Eneloop and even the Eneloop new gen that has 10 year rating. The best kind would be the regular eneloop due to its lower self discharge than a Ladda or Eneloop Pro. These and Energizer lithium won't leak and that's what matters.What I want to know is if anyone tried using it or Energizer Lithium on Fluke 87V MAX or Fluke 28II.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2021, 09:44:31 am
content: Should have asked that in the first place.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-87v-max-and-nimh-batteries/Lithium's I'd have no idea and besides they are hideously expensive, pack of Laddas is like $7 and you're done. If you want to milk out an extra 400mAH for $30-50 with lithium's go for it. Do they even match NiMH self discharge performance?If they had a Ladda NiMH 9V made in Japan I'd buy a dozen of them in a heartbeat.I think you really need to quantify which batteries capacities you have and their self discharge rate at the same capacity. Even if an Eneloop pro holds 85% charge for a year it's still going to be around 2100mAh at that time, that is a lot of charge still left. What is your goal, to have the highest capacity, lowest self discharge or spend the most?

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2021, 06:23:55 pm
content: I use Znter Li-ion rechargeable PP3's by preference in my meters that need that size, only real downside is you don't get a low battery warning on the meter, it just suddenly dies...For my meters that use AA's I use Ni-MH or Ni-Zn. My Fluke 289 works fine on Ni-Zn, no issues with the high nominal cell voltage that I have noticed.

author: glowman
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2021, 05:55:12 am
content: It's my 1st sentence, fyi.Oh, thanks. I did not know there's a topic already about that. Regular eneloop (2000mah)has lower self discharge than pro or Ladda which makes it more suitable in this application. Ladda has higher capacity in expense of higher self discharge. Using the regular eneloop will even make the 800 hours to about 1500 hours+ I believe. This is based on discharge curve of alkalines vs eneloop.

author: Per Hansson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 17, 2021, 07:07:39 pm
content: Quote from: glowman on December 16, 2021, 08:11:33 amhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/what-do-you-think-of-the-new-fluke-87-v-max/msg2838972/#msg2838972https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/can-i-use-energizer-ultimate-lithium-batteries-in-my-dmms/msg2347455/#msg2347455

author: Sal Ammoniac
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2021, 08:11:24 pm
content: I use Energizer Ultimate Lithiums in mine. Never had one leak.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2021, 11:30:16 pm
content: I'll be sticking to the Ladda NiMHs they are about $2 a cell which is the right price, low external leakage risk and it's reasonable to expect about 10 years life out of them with a recharge of once a week. Environment wise they check the box as well. Even if the high capacity ones have 30% self discharge in 2 years it's not like you can't just top them up or put them on a discharge/charge cycle.Prior to Ladda I was using Varta 15min fast charge NiMHs (not lsd) and they did about 10 years without problems. They did eventually leak but not damage causing and was due to old age.

author: glowman
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2021, 02:49:36 am
content: Thank you very much Per Hansson and everyone for the info. Next time, I be sure to search the forum thoroughly before opening a topic instead of just relying on Google alone.