Buying a Fluke 87... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 12:45:57 am
content: So I have made the choice to buy a Fluke 87 since I require a good quality multimeter and my cheapie is acting up. I just don't know in which condition to buy it, from where and which Fluke 87 (Eg. III, V) I have the following options:1) Buy used from eBay. I noticed that 87's get sold for under 100 bucks in America and the shipping price to Australia is usually $50, if the 87 is a III or V model then they usually get sold for 150 to 200 dollars.2) Buy new from eBay with the lowest being $300 and shipping once again around $50. I have sent a message to an eBay seller about warranty and this is what they said:Quote3) Pay an arm and a leg for an authorised dealer in Australia for around $600.If anybody has any advice on buying a Fluke multimeter can they please share, thanks!

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 02:16:01 am
content: I bought my 87V "Like New" for $199 shipped on eBay. It came with leads, clips, temp sensor & box, but no manual. No complaints so far!Occasionally, I wish I had gotten one of the new Agilent meters as the pc/bluetooth function would be useful for me. They also have a few other fancy new features not found on the Fluke. As Dave put it, "Much more bang per buck than the Fluke if you just look at feature and accuracy wise." - Dave Jones, EEVblog #56 - Agilent U1253A OLED Multimeter Review & Teardownmy 2¢ fwiw-sj

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 02:47:49 am
content: It's a lot of money to pay for a meter.My suggestion would be to look around and get a good quality meter for about $100. The Fluke 87 is a nice toy if you need it, but few people actuallyneedone of them.

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 02:54:45 am
content: Quote from: IanB on May 06, 2012, 02:47:49 amWhy not just have a good quality multimeter for a lifetime. I can't find any of the $50 or $100 multimeters from Dave's shootout video, so I have made the decision to invest in a Fluke.

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 03:08:09 am
content: Quote from: Mint. on May 06, 2012, 02:54:45 amthe Uni-T is all up on eBay. heres the bk2709blinki considered the bk, but for $100 more i could get the Fluke....-sj

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 03:11:44 am
content: Quote from: sonicj on May 06, 2012, 03:08:09 amExactly! And delivery costs $54 bucks for me... I hate when sellers don't have free shipping.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 03:20:56 am
content: Quote from: Mint. on May 06, 2012, 03:11:44 amWhy? There's no such thing as free shipping. Either you pay the costs as part of the item total (and end up paying more to Fleabay), or you pay them seperately. Either way, you have to pay for it to get to you.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 03:22:52 am
content: There's no such thing as free, the shipping costs are simply included in the price. Some just offer free shipping because they usually get bad ratings for very long delivery times (mainly Hong Kong/China sellers) and free shipping blocks buyers from rating you on that category.For example, every month or so I buy capacitors and diodes and other parts from digikey and often buy extra just to go over 200$ and get free shipping and volume prices. So I sometimes sell what I don't need soon on eBay.It costs me 2-3$ to ship small packages pretty much everywhere... if I sell a pack of 3 capacitors for 0.99 + 2$ shipping, it's more fair to buyers compared to selling it for 3$, because they often need 5-10 pieces. Based on the sales so far, statistically I'm not losing sales due to no free shipping, I'm doing better when shipping price is separate so it offsets the profit I would have when fewer people would get them at higher price.

author: MrPlacid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 04:02:14 am
content: Mint go buy used 87V on ebay. Get used but get them in good condition. I couldn't tell the two ebay's 87V units apart from the one I bought locally. Even their readings are nearly identical.If you end up buying the $100 dollar multimeter, you're gonna regret it. Why? Because you'll never get to experience a Fluke. You will always have that nagging thought in the back of your head saying, "If only I saved up more." and "What would it be like using a Fluke meter?"Plus, you can resell it on ebay if you don't need it.

author: eevblogfan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 05:30:55 am
content: heyIf I can say something ,I'll say that I bought 3 meters from eBay , after a lot of time seeking after the "ideal seller" I found 3 great deals ,the 87 V (which I really recomend you to look for ) cost me only 147$ including the in't shipping .(used but mint condition )the 287 ( which is a total of over kill ) cost me 300$ including the shipping ( and it's new one , )and the HP-3478A (I don't know where to put it in terms of priority for beginner ) cost me 250$ ( came calibrated and in't shipping for only 250 ! )and as for the 87V ? , well I compare the 87V (which is used ) to the HP-3478A (which is calibrated with all the papers) and the 87 V was well well with in spec ( below the 0.05% , IE something like 0.025 or something like this)look for some sellers over there , I found one who offered me fluke 87V for only 250$ ( 50$ for shipping in't )so have a nice day and good luck with finding the great deal in your life ! (87V rules ! )

author: Mint.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 07:16:46 am
content: Should I buy an 87V or just a plain 87, do I really need V? In my opinion I think I do because better accuracy, temperature measurement and the battery compartment on the back so you don't have to open the meter fully to change the battery!

author: MrPlacid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 08:24:26 am
content: Buy the V, it's the most popular model. Think of it this way, if you own an 87V, you'll be too spoil to go back to an earlier model. Go ahead and spoil yourself, you'll only live once.Remember, the 87V might cost more, but if you ever change your mind about electronics, you can always resell it back on ebay. The 87V has a very good resell value.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 09:29:57 am
content: i asked the local distributor of fluke for a quote to a 289fvf kit i got it for the price of the single unit if i look at the farnell prices 153000huf+27%vat which is 695usd+vat, culdnt get it cheaper due to distributors cannot export fluke products from the usa or they lose their rights to be a distributor, farnell would be 177k huf+vat for the fvf kit

author: eevblogfan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 11:28:24 am
content: in my country , the price for the 287 itself , cost 717$ , I didn't even bothered to look for the full kit ,but from ebay . I got it for 300$ including ship, imagine that !BTW , I don't have any experience with the 87 , but ! . you only need 1 accurate meter (to compare the other meter's in order to inspect whether the meter correct or with tiny drift ,)I think that you should buy 2X 87 instead of one 87V , as for the battery , I don't tend to replace mine very often , so I think you don't have any problem , If you have the money , go for 2 used 87V (I think that spend 800$ for 2 meters is not as smart as buying 2 used 87V's for only like 300$ if you got a luck )but , it's your decision , good luck

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 11:38:09 am
content: I bought several Fluke 80 series meters used off ebay, and all have been winners. IMO, for say $150 it's certainly worth the risk.The lifetime warranty might be nice, but is it worth 4 times the price?Fluke have good parts availability too, so in the unlikely event is does fail, it might be fixable at a reasonable price (or simply buy another one!).If you can buy two used ones for half the price of one new one, then that's a powerful advantage (two meters to use + can cal check each other)Dave.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 03:14:14 pm
content: Quote from: ErikTheNorwegian on May 06, 2012, 10:26:15 amits ok but you lose the warranty, unless you can ship it back to the usa if it has any problem, cos the local service center/distributor will show you the door

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 04:03:50 pm
content: Quote from: ErikTheNorwegian on May 06, 2012, 03:58:53 pmonce i tried to register mine, but it ask and wont let me go unless i give a corporation name which i dont havecouldnt register for the same reason to the TI website for stuffs, national website had a sidenote if you dont want to or cant give corporation name type in your name

author: RRobot
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 05:58:17 pm
content: I haven't looked into this for years. But I thought Flukes *Lifetime* warranty ran out 5 (or was it 10) years after they discontinued a model, with the Fluke 87III being a different model then the 87V for instance.Am I mistaken?

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 06, 2012, 08:14:37 pm
content: Quote from: RRobot on May 06, 2012, 05:58:17 pmNo, you are correct. Fluke's "lifetime warranty" is the "lifetime" of the product, not the owner. The product's lifetime is defined as 7 years after the end of production for that product. However, the warranty will last a minimum of 10 years.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2012, 05:50:12 pm
content: suprisingly it let me go without filling the company name, but there is no confirmation on the registration whatever, it simply offered to update the firmware to 1.1, which is currently installed on the unit by default,for lifetime warranty how much industrial or commercial equipment has atleast 10 years of warranty? ive seen years ago in a supermarket a damn watering hose for garden works had 30 years of warranty, while a high end commercial electronics tv or hi-fi systems had 1-3years seriously? the price of the hose was around 40 usd, the sony stuff was almost 1k, just an example, as for fluke i hope the 28x series last as long as they predecessors ive seen on this forum 20 years old perfectly fine and fully working meters and other test equipments, but i know those times are long gone when things were built to last, not to survive the 1-3year warranty period or even less