Adam Savage on multimeters

[Fungus]

[oz2cpu]

you just got to love this dude, he is so down to earth :-)

[joeqsmith]

I had seen that video some time ago and though about sending him a link to where I abuse this meter.   But he's not a EE and I doubt has time for such dribble. 

[David Hess]

Savage lost me at "loyalty to Fluke".  In the past their multimeters were great but the current Fluke has been bought out and living off of their past reputation for decades now.

[Fungus]

I had seen that video some time ago and though about sending him a link to where I abuse this meter.   But he's not a EE and I doubt has time for such dribble.

At least he's under no illusions about his abilities.

(...and it's probably a good thing that the Fluke 101 doesn't measure amps)

[Fungus]

Savage lost me at "loyalty to Fluke".  In the past their multimeters were great but the current Fluke has been bought out and living off of their past reputation for decades now.

You can't expect him to know that. He bought his Fluke for $40, 30 years ago.

He's not recommending the 87V, the 101 is a nice little meter and you could do a lot worse than owning one.

[joeqsmith]

I had seen that video some time ago and though about sending him a link to where I abuse this meter.   But he's not a EE and I doubt has time for such dribble.

At least he's under no illusions about his abilities.

Which seems rare.

Savage lost me at "loyalty to Fluke".  In the past their multimeters were great but the current Fluke has been bought out and living off of their past reputation for decades now.

I've looked at a fair number of Fluke products (new and old) and outside of very old 87V failing prematurely, the rest have all done very well against my tests.  Even  the old 87V that was damaged, was repaired and retested with very good results.   Very few brands have done as well.   If I were an electrical technician or electrician,  I would certainly consider them.   

[Hydron]

Can't really complain about someone with his influence admitting their limited knowledge on a subject, but still managing to recommend something simple, safe and reasonably priced. Sure you can save $30 and get something with more features, but he doesn't have the experience of what meters are good value and safe, and the 101 is trustworthy to use on mains unlike many cheaper meters. Probably should have noted the lack of current range, but as someone said, it's likely a good thing for the intended audience!

Also while he's probably plugging Fluke more than Danaher/Fortive deserves, being very up-front about the fact that he has a strong personal loyalty to the brand makes it pretty forgivable IMO (especially along with the admission that he's far from an expert when it comes to electronics).

[floobydust]

When you need absolute reliability, Fluke multimeters have yet to be beat.
Even though mega-conglomerate Fortive/Danaher has bastardized the brand name, cheapened it and outsourced it, and does nothing to innovate or roll out "new" products, they continue to milk the brand name's cow. But the overall, Fluke quality is mostly still there.

I had a project in the jungle and no way I would take a Taiwan-build multimeter on the trip, they aren't that good.
Drop testing, vibration, environmental sealing- everyone here just looks at digits and precision. In the field or a rough shop, that stuff matters.

[HKJ]

When you need absolute reliability, Fluke multimeters have yet to be beat.
Even though mega-conglomerate Fortive/Danaher has bastardized the brand name, cheapened it and outsourced it, and does nothing to innovate or roll out "new" products, they continue to milk the brand name's cow. But the overall, Fluke quality is mostly still there.

I had a project in the jungle and no way I would take a Taiwan-build multimeter on the trip, they aren't that good.
Drop testing, vibration, environmental sealing- everyone here just looks at digits and precision. In the field or a rough shop, that stuff matters.

Fluke is not the only reliable brand, Keysight and a few others do also get into that basket.
One parameter Fluke is very good at is a simple and easy to use meter. It is very difficult to find any other brand that can match it. That means if I had to send a couple of technicians out to measure some values I would give them Fluke meters (Not 287 or 289), because the risk of errors is lower than with other meters. The price of the meters is mostly insignificant, people are much more expensive.
This is not the same as saying that Fluke is the best brand, I seldom use a Fluke meter at home, even though I have a couple.

[Hydron]

One parameter Fluke is very good at is a simple and easy to use meter. It is very difficult to find any other brand that can match it. That means if I had to send a couple of technicians out to measure some values I would give them Fluke meters (Not 287 or 289), because the risk of errors is lower than with other meters. The price of the meters is mostly insignificant, people are much more expensive.

Unless you have an 87V, and try to measure DC current...
(I've had and heavily used one for about a decade, and it's still annoying)

[HKJ]

One parameter Fluke is very good at is a simple and easy to use meter. It is very difficult to find any other brand that can match it. That means if I had to send a couple of technicians out to measure some values I would give them Fluke meters (Not 287 or 289), because the risk of errors is lower than with other meters. The price of the meters is mostly insignificant, people are much more expensive.

Unless you have an 87V, and try to measure DC current...
(I've had and heavily used one for about a decade, and it's still annoying)

I guess you are talking about burden voltage, but if you are asking technicians to do current measurement you better know about that!
If the meter starts in AC or DC is not a issue, even a fairly dim technician will now something is wrong when they get a zero reading.

To be honest, the technicians I have worked with do know what they are doing and would mostly get the get correct result Fluke or not (The mostly is due to some special conditions in a few cases and Fluke or not would not help).

[Hydron]

I was referring to always starting in AC current mode, which doesn't normally trick me (like you said, a zero reading is a clue to check it) but does still annoy me when doing DC electronics, especially after using a different meter for a while.
If I need low burden voltage I'd normally use a different meter or technique.

[Analog4]

Fluke meters weren't always reliable. In around 1978 I had a Fluke 8000 multimeter, which was not so rugged. Every 6 months or so I had to open the case and re-solder several broken solder joints. The battery charging circuit used an incandescent lamp for control.

Example of the Fluke 8000....

Fluke 8000A teardown and repair attempt: http://kuzyatech.com/fluke-8000a-teardown-and-repair-attempt

[Analog4]

I have an old Fluke 70 multimeter, that bought maybe 25 years ago, which still works.

[joeqsmith]

Fluke meters weren't always reliable. In around 1978 I had a Fluke 8000 multimeter, which was not so rugged. Every 6 months or so I had to open the case and re-solder several broken solder joints. The battery charging circuit used an incandescent lamp for control.

I never had to re-solder anything in the meter except when I damaged it, which was often enough that I eventually bought an HP and never turned back.  The damaged parts were custom made for Fluke and it would cost around $70 every time (with me doing the labor).   

From my own experience, I would say Fluke meters weren't always as electrically robust as they are today.    While I still own my first HP meter and have never damaged it after looking at how easily I damaged a new Keysight handheld and after seeing their glass filled detent spring crack after a few switch cycles, I am less than impressed.   

[floobydust]

Away from the pristine workbench environment, handheld multimeters used out in the field need to be tough.
Which multimeters have EMC, drop-test, vibration specs and an IP rating?
Adam Savage's favorite Fluke 101 seems to be the cheapest DMM to have all of that- but Fortive seem to be playing games and have erased it- is it even for sale in North America now?
The Fluke 107 USD $120 seems to be their lowest-end offering.

[Analog4]

The Fluke 101 seems to be for sale on Amazon... $55

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-101-Multimeter-Resistance-Capacitance/dp/B00HE6MIJY

[CatalinaWOW]

I have had many DMMs over the years.  High quality, brand named ones.  El cheapos.  Down to the ones that used to be free at Harbor Freight.  I have had very few mechanical failures on any of them. If you drop a large casting on any of them some damage will occur.   Those that have bail handles often break the handles, but this has no real impact on use.  Leads do fail more frequently on the cheaper devices.  But good leads and a cheap meter come in for less dollars that one of the brand name jobs.  For most things you do with hand held meters, and particularly the kind of work that Adam Savage is describing don't require much in the way of accuracy.  10% probably more than enough.  So I would look for just a few things if looking for a meter for Adam Savage type purchases.  1.  Compact size.  2.  Auto off or other feature to give very long battery life.  3.  Rapid response on the continuity test.

I'll leave it to the pro electricians and linemen that do all of their work on high energy circuits to obsess over the safety aspects.  They really do need the Flukes and Simpsons and other top quality meters.   

[Fungus]

Adam Savage's favorite Fluke 101 seems to be the cheapest DMM to have all of that- but Fortive seem to be playing games and have erased it- is it even for sale in North America now?

I don't think it was ever officially for sale in North America, it's one of Flukes "Asian Market" meters.

[wizard69]

Fluke may be poorly managed but I'd still rate them as one of the best meters to own for professional usage.   I have had a lot of handheld meters over the years, from different manufactures and freely admit to using cheaper ones at home but for work I'd go with Fluke every time.

I always here the whine about the lack of features but I'd really like to know how often these so called desirable features actually get used.   Has anybody actually used a transistor checker feature on their two dollar meter and trusted the result?   To the best of my knowledge nobody has an usable capacitance feature.   If you need an LCR meter, then buy one.   In many cases the same can be said for temperature monitoring.   It is all about the right tool for the job.

I'm a little tired to get into a discussion here but this Fluke hate is pretty senseless to me.  To me it isn't any different than buying a Cannondale bike over a two bit Walmart special.   Some people can't see the  value in a unit that does the same thing.    For others the quality of implementation makes all the difference.

All of that said I do believe that fluke is somewhat behind in producing modern meters with modern interfaces.    The problem here is that the meters that are really innovative in this respect are pretty expensive anyways.
 

Savage lost me at "loyalty to Fluke".  In the past their multimeters were great but the current Fluke has been bought out and living off of their past reputation for decades now.

[Fungus]

The Fluke 101 seems to be for sale on Amazon... $55

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-101-Multimeter-Resistance-Capacitance/dp/B00HE6MIJY

$40 on Aliexpress, shipping included:

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=fluke+101

At that price everybody should have one.

[Fungus]

I'm a little tired to get into a discussion here but this Fluke hate is pretty senseless to me.

You pay $450 for a meter and get a set of crappy TL75 leads and the carry case is another $70 extra?   

[J-R]

I'm a little tired to get into a discussion here but this Fluke hate is pretty senseless to me.

You pay $450 for a meter and get a set of crappy TL75 leads and the carry case is another $70 extra?   

OK, I'll play a little, I've got the Fluke 87V, 88V and 287, and none came with the TL75 leads, none cost me $450 and the one Fluke C35 carrying case I did buy was $23.79.

So your comment is neither accurate nor productive.

If you have a specific technical issue with a specific Fluke product, simply state the facts so we are aware of it.

[Fungus]

OK, I'll play a little, I've got the Fluke 87V, 88V and 287, and none came with the TL75 leads, none cost me $450 and the one Fluke C35 carrying case I did buy was $23.79.

Lucky you.

In my country there's no such thing as a second hand Fluke 87V and a new one would cost much more than $450.

Result? I bought a Brymen with more features for $180. Gold plated leads and case were included.

If you have a specific technical issue with a specific Fluke product, simply state the facts so we are aware of it.

Maybe that wasn't what was being discussed here. Maybe that's just you barging in.