Beware when buying DMMs on ebay, fuses ain't cheap!

[David_AVD]

The only fuse I recall ever blowing on a DMM was the 200mA range.  With brain engaged, it's hopefully not a frequent event!   

[Lightages]

I have never personally blown a fuse in any multimeter I have used since I started electronics and electrical work, back in the 70s. Is it because I am exceptionally smart and diligent?  NO! It is because I developed a habit, a mental checklist so to speak. Every time I am finished with a multimeter I ritually put the range into the highest DC voltage range and unplug and replug the leads into the common and volt inputs. This ritual has saved me from harm. Is it foolproof? No but it is very helpful. I learned to do this after the first time I left my analog multimeter in some low range on current and then attempted to measure a wall socket without checking.

I am glad the seller made good, and I am glad you can now see that the fuses don't need to be expensive. If you are buying one, you should buy a backup too! It is a good idea to have spares on hand. Actually I think every respectable meter manufacturer should be supplying a spare set of fuses with every meter they sell.

[David_AVD]

Every time I am finished with a multimeter I ritually put the range into the highest DC voltage range and unplug and replug the leads into the common and volt inputs.

This is something I've always done too and bares repeating.  It's one of those fundamental rules for using test gear.   

[cthree]

I'm not working with anything near 11A, more like sub-100mA, 200mA max. I always use the A post to measure current unless in check it first on A before moving to mA.

I have 3 fluke 87 meters, one 87V and 2 87III's. they take the same fuses. Oddly my 87V which I also bought on eBay has a blown 11A fuse as well. I never noticed probably because I haven't used it to measure current before.

I am ordering 3x11A and 2x440mA fuses to fix the 3 blown ones and have a spare set on hand.

If you go on digikey and search for an 11A, 1000V fuse you get, the $45 one and a BUSSMAN one for $39 with is the one fluke uses as original equipment but which is sown out of stock and a minimum qty of ten, so $390 for 10 minimum.

If you search for 'fluke fuse' you get the above BUSSMAN, exact same part, but from Fluke, in stock, qty 1 for like $8. You only get the cheaper price if your search includes the word fluke.

[nukie]

In China, there are no fuse to blow and there's handheld multimeter with DC power input.

[saturation]

Amazing ... and from the look of the DMMs they are heavily used.  As mentioned earlier if you pay attention you may never blow a fuse but human nature ...



http://serenityinchina.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/china-street-scenes-doing-electrical-wiring-above-streetin-middle-of-street/

In China, there are no fuse to blow and there's handheld multimeter with DC power input...

[cthree]

The saga continues...

The cheaper, $8 and $6 fuses are only available from digikey.com, not digikey.ca. If you search for "fluke fuses" on digikey.ca you get nothing. I guess they aren't authorized to sell Fluke products in Canada. When I try to add the Fluke fuse to my cart I get:

"Due to vendor restrictions, we are unable to add this item to your order."

Perfect! grrr

[cthree]

Newark has them in Canada for $9 and $6 each.

While this episode has been a real pain in the ass I have to say that digi-key is pure awesomeness. Yes it's going to cost me money to send these fuses back but they aren't dicking me around, they even sent me a fedex return shipment label and are charging just $8. That's less than parcel post at the post office.

<3 Digi-key

[tooki]

Be careful about buying fuses on eBay, a good number are counterfeit, as there is no way to check a fuse for authenticity except by careful comparison of its construction, or destructive testing.  So, spend the extra few dollars and get it from an authorized distributor for Fluke.

Any idea of how to tell whether a fuse is genuine, besides destroying it? I (stupidly, in hindsight  ) ordered some off ebay (granted, the seller has a high rating) because here in Switzerland, anything that electrons flow through that isn't a PC component costs a go•••••ed fortune. The ebay seller with free shipping was much cheaper.

One of them appears to have a pad-printed label, the other appears to be inkjet. Had I seen that a few years ago it would have been a dead giveaway, but with industrial inkjets being widely used for legitimate applications these days, I can't be sure.

"How bad could they be?" I asked myself, but this was before watching Dave and others tear apart cheap Chinese crap and seeing exactly how horrific it can be!

Mind you, I only got them as spares to keep on hand, the Fluke 87V still has its factory fuses in it, and I don't actually plan on blowing them. I assume that if I did blow a fuse somehow, these potential fakes could still tide me over for low-voltage stuff till I procured a definitely-real fuse.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[retiredcaps]

I (stupidly, in hindsight  ) ordered some off ebay (granted, the seller has a high rating) because here in Switzerland, anything that electrons flow through that isn't a PC component costs a go•••••ed fortune. The ebay seller with free shipping was much cheaper.

A picture or link to your auction might help us help you.

[tooki]

Sure, thank you!

The auction (well, buy it now) is here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/231265056155?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Here are the products received. Note that the copper-looking reflections on some of the pictures are not bare copper, it's just my hands reflected onto the silver end caps with lots of flash illumination. Click any image to see the full 16MP (~4MB) image.

[Zbig]

[..] because here in Switzerland, anything that electrons flow through that isn't a PC component costs a go•••••ed fortune.

And comes ^{see what I did here?} in the shops like this one :

[retiredcaps]

Here are the products received.

I have seen the seller, instrument_queen, on ebay before when he/she first starting selling T&M equipment/accessories.  My guess is that he/she is selling legit Fluke multimeters and mostly legit Fluke accessories.  Some of the carrying cases are obvious knockoffs designed to look like Fluke.

As for the fuses, I believe them to be genuine because Bussmann changed their look sometime in 2014.  The pictures you provided seem consistent with the new branding.  See

http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/bussmann/electrical/resources/product_information/fuses-made-simple-control-circuits.html

Having said that, Bussmann does have a document warning users to be careful of counterfeit fuses (which I can't find right now).

[Zero999]

Here are the products received.

The purple one appears to be fake. It looks like the label was printed on an ink jet and there's a spelling mistake "Asserbled in Mexico" The r could be an n but there's no way it's an m because there isn't enough space between the letters.

http://www.tooki.net/photos/dmmfuses/hires/DSC_4098.JPG

[EEVblog]

Yeah, you've really got to worry about the Chinese ones on ebay. Would be interest to dissect a genuine one and a known fake one (the spelling mistake is a dead give-away)

[cosmicray]

The red one says 10kA, while the purple one is 20kA. That's quite an improvement. 

[Wytnucls]

The UL certification mark is also wrong.
The reversed letter should be rounded at bottom right:

[Fat]

http://www.digikey.ca/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?vendor=0&keywords=F5081-ND  $37  qty 1
http://www.digikey.ca/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?vendor=0&keywords=F5082-ND  $45  qty 1

The above SKUs are for quantity = 10.  There are 10 fuses for each 1 package.

Apparently whoever is packaging these thinks if you blow one fuse you'll continue to blow fuses, hence the package of 10.

[dannyf]

both fuses are blown! Doh! That's $100 from Digikey

They must be one of those rumored super-duper fuses that can also do your laundry and clean your house,

[tooki]

Does the consensus seem that the red one is real and the purple one is fake?

Dave, you want me to mail you the fake one for dissection? I don't know enough about these for it to be worthwhile for me to dissect it myself. (Have you gotten mail from Switzerland before?? )

[tooki]

[..] because here in Switzerland, anything that electrons flow through that isn't a PC component costs a go•••••ed fortune.

And comes ^{see what I did here?} in the shops like this one :

Hahahahahah! That's in Basel, so I hadn't seen it! (I live in Zurich.) But honestly, they should move that shop to Wankdorf.

[retiredcaps]

The purple one appears to be fake. It looks like the label was printed on an ink jet and there's a spelling mistake "Asserbled in Mexico" The r could be an n but there's no way it's an m because there isn't enough space between the letters.

Good eye. I didn't see that at first pass. 

[retiredcaps]

The red one says 10kA, while the purple one is 20kA. That's quite an improvement. 

Bussmann datasheet says 20kA is correct for the DMM-B-11A.

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/287359.pdf

[cosmicray]

The red one says 10kA, while the purple one is 20kA. That's quite an improvement. 

Bussmann datasheet says 20kA is correct for the DMM-B-11A.

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/287359.pdf

The datasheet also says that the DMM-B-11A is slightly longer than the 10K version. Look carefully at the image where the 2 are shown horizontal next to one another. The purple (DMM-B-11A) is slightly longer. Perhaps these are 2 different fuse types.

[neslekkim]

http://www.digikey.ca/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?vendor=0&keywords=F5081-ND  $37  qty 1
http://www.digikey.ca/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?vendor=0&keywords=F5082-ND  $45  qty 1

The above SKUs are for quantity = 10.  There are 10 fuses for each 1 package.

Checking the same ones at Farnell, it seems its sold in qty of 1 for this price..