Some humans disappoint me. Look what I just found in a Fluke... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: SingedFingers
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 10:49:12 am
content: Got an 8024 off ebay with a knackered display for repair.Cracked it open and I found this.I don't even know what to say. Genuinely speechlessAnd I have snipped it and checked the fuse and the fuse is NOT blown.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 10:57:06 am
content: Doesn't surprise me too much, but i would imagine that wire link is good for 18-24A, (yes will release horrifying copper splatter balls)The more horrifying one i have seen is someone doing the same to bypass earth leakage breakers that where tripping (turned out to be an actual ground fault in there water heater and had 60V on there shower head)

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 11:00:07 am
content: Unfortunately it happens to be commonplace, probably more so with those who don't know any better or need the meter up and running again just to finish off a job and then never get around to replacing it with the proper value fuse, there has been many threads on this subject before so it's not new around these parts.Sample Thread.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/don't-do-this-to-your-fluke-fuses-or-any-other-fuse!/

author: SingedFingers
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 11:17:43 am
content: I can understand someone doing it because the fuse is blown to get from A-B but it wasn't even blown.

author: capt bullshot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 11:20:00 am
content: Quote from: SingedFingers on February 15, 2017, 10:49:12 amSimply prophylatic, I guess ;-)

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 12:12:48 pm
content: Have done similar I'm ashamed to admit when caught out with no spare and a need to continue working where the job in the early hours of the morning was impossible to reschedule without *significant* cost (on low voltage only I would add) but I did have the forethought to label the meter with a Dymo as needing a replacment and took five minutes out of the job to order a few spares.Quite why they did that to a good fuse is a mystery though.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 12:26:03 pm
content: Hmm, well, maybe it was their only meter so they had no way to test the fuse and just assumed the reason it wasn't working was because the fuse was blown?Only possible logical explanation I can come up with.

author: borjam
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 12:28:35 pm
content: Quote from: CJay on February 15, 2017, 12:12:48 pmFault tolerance with redundant paths

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 12:37:35 pm
content: Quote from: borjam on February 15, 2017, 12:28:35 pmFunnily enough it was an Ohnosecond of carelessness on my part while working on low voltage redundant power supplies that did for my fuse, I think colleagues had 'borrowed' my spares

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 15, 2017, 03:30:55 pm
content: I've done that before when I needed the meter up and running but the fuse was dead. Of course after shorting the fuse and making my measurement, I immediately took the fuse back out and put it in a box so nobody else would accidentally use the meter without knowing it has a bypassed fuse.

author: Bryan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2017, 06:33:56 am
content: It's actually a good idea, in the event the fuse blows and you really didn't want it to blow, you have a second chance

author: b_force
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2017, 07:23:52 am
content: If a meter is just being used for hobby or a closed environment and the user knows about it, or high currents are not being measured, there is no reason why it's that bad actually.Of course it's not pretty.

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2017, 07:27:20 am
content: looks like something I would do...

author: Brutte
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2017, 09:24:53 am
content: Quote from: CJay on February 15, 2017, 12:12:48 pmAll my meters have a spare fuse attached with a sticky tape somewhere (usually externally), just to avoid described scenario. It would have been better to have a meter designed with a spare fuse holder in mind.

author: Assafl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2017, 09:28:55 am
content: Quote from: capt bullshot on February 15, 2017, 11:20:00 amDid you mean prophetic? or prophylactic?I guess it is neither because when he stuffs the DMM (on 10A) into mains the DMM will blow up anyway - so it will be neither. I'd say ineptitude is a better term.Quote from: rrinker on February 15, 2017, 12:26:03 pmUsually testing a fuse does not require an extra meter. On most DMM you can measure the fuse on the Ohm's function without even opening the case.Just short through the 10A or mA jacks instead of the ground. Now - sometimes you get funny numbers (fuses have resistance) so if in doubt try once with the fuse and try again with the fuse removed. BTW - Better DMMs will have the expected numbers in the manual.

author: Wytnucls
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2017, 09:34:40 am
content: Quote from: Brutte on February 16, 2017, 09:24:53 amLike the Fluke 867B.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 16, 2017, 10:27:23 am
content: Quote from: Brutte on February 16, 2017, 09:24:53 amWhen I was working on the UPS/Redundant PSU systems that would have been a liability, imagine if it'd touched or dropped off onto a bus bar or into an open DC-DC converter, could have been spectacular (and very costly)...A meter with space inside for a spare fuse would be ideal, as someone else pointed out, these exist, if I still had a daily need for a meter at work I'd be considering one when mine was retired.Far better to have a small container in the tool bag with spare fuses.Unfortunately the down side to that was that people knew they were there and 'borrowed' them.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2017, 07:57:16 pm
content: I've done that before, blew the fuse and didn't have a spare, you can't just walk into a department store and buy a fuse for a Fluke meter. It was my own personal meter though so my own responsibility if something bad happened. I was only using it on low voltage at the time so the chances of serious consequences were low.Why they did it to a good fuse though, beats me. Maybe the fuse had an intermittent fault? Unlikely but I'm not going to say impossible. Did the meter work?

author: SingedFingers
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2017, 08:04:25 pm
content: The meter was completely knackered. I've done a lot of work on it and nearly got it working properly now. Display needs replacing still.