New Fluke 179 changes

[andyB2022]

As I was trying to fix my broken 177 I decided to buy a new Fluke 179 hoping that by comparing the 2 units I'll figure out what it might be wrong with mine. Until then I've taken some photos of the new PCB, the date stamped on the yellow case is October 2022.

Personally, the quality has gone down for every Fluke meter compared to what they used to produce back in the day.
First, the case finish is very rough compared to the old style cases, and then the rotary knob is easier to switch positions, I prefer stiffer ones. The hexagon going to the white plastic with metal fingers is now plastic versus metal. Fuses camed mixed with Bussman and LittelFuse. PCB quality went down just by looking at the gold plated contacts, even an amateur will be able to distinguish the "mirror" finish gold on the old models compared to the more matte new one. The ADC has been changed to ADS124S0 from Texas Instruments. They replaced the precision laser trimmed resistor with a series of SMD jobbies.

The only place where I can give an A+ for the new model is the LCD backlight, perfect color temperature, light spread and brightness.
Overall, they are trying to cut costs as much as possible.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

[Gyro]

...PCB quality went down just by looking at the gold plated contacts, even an amateur will be able to distinguish the "mirror" finish gold on the old models compared to the more matte new one....

That sounds a bit like basic ENIG rather than 'true' Gold plating, hard to say though. Cue another switch rotation life test!

[AVGresponding]

Look at the crappy quality printing on the LT/Fluke asic...

I believe the resistor you mentioned is part of the input protection and not the range divider; that one is the horizontally mounted one above the range switch. It's a fairly precise resistor, but not a super precise one; in the 87V it's 0.5%. It's likely easily possible and much cheaper to achieve the same level of voltage rating and value precision with smd, so yes, cost cutting, but not necessarily impacting overall performance. Maybe some small worsening of tempco, since the smd resistors aren't thermally coupled as well as a single hybrid?

[andyB2022]

I believe the resistor you mentioned is part of the input protection and not the range divider.

Yeah, in Fluke 87V Service manual is noted as "Z1".

[4thDoctorWhoFan]

IDK, it looks well built to me.

[bdunham7]

Yeah, in Fluke 87V Service manual is noted as "Z1".

Surely you mean "Z2", the 1M resistor near the V+ input.  There are versions with the blue-striped ceramic, with 5x 200K SMDs and in your case with 8x 125K or so SMDs.  I think it most important for this resistor to have a low parasitic capacitance, I'm not sure much else is critical.  And in the 179, even this is probably not so big an issue as the AC volts bandwidth is much lower.

I'm not sure any of your other issues truly reflect cost cutting, except perhaps the case moldings which I suspect are all now being done in China.  Did your new meter state the country of origin on the box?

[andyB2022]

Yeah, in Fluke 87V Service manual is noted as "Z1".

Surely you mean "Z2", the 1M resistor near the V+ input.

Yes, my bad.

   
Did your new meter state the country of origin on the box?

Unfortunatelly I don't have the box, just on the inside of the rear case, the date is stamped in the plastic as 10.22.

Another quality reduction is on the input jacks, they are no longer "metal" filled at the buttom, making them less robust over time.

[BeBuLamar]

The country of orgin should be on the back of the meter.

[BeBuLamar]

On the Grainger.com it said Made in USA but then they may not update their website often enough.

[Fungus]

On the Grainger.com it said Made in USA but then they may not update their website often enough.

If it doesn't have "Made in USA" stamped on the back of the meter then it wasn't.

[Tony_G]

I have a 10yo one sitting here in the lab and it isn't marked "Made in the USA" so, at least for the 179 I think they've been making them overseas for some time.

TonyG

[Excavatoree]

Mine must be older than I think.  It says "Made in USA."  I didn't know Fluke stopped making them in the US.

S/N 88680425

[Tony_G]

I didn't even think about it, I just assumed that it was made in the US - I wonder if it's a bit like what HPAK was doing with several manufacturing sites worldwide.

The serial number for my unit starts with 279 but is still 8 digits long.

TonyG

[bdunham7]

I have a 10yo one sitting here in the lab and it isn't marked "Made in the USA" so, at least for the 179 I think they've been making them overseas for some time.

A US-purchased 179 (and perhaps all of them) should be marked 'Assembled in the USA' or something similar.  The 'Made in USA' mark is hard to justify if you actually follow the rules and even if a few of the chips are made in Taiwan, Europe or Malaysia, it won't qualify.  There's nothing unusual or new, even my old 189 has an 'Assembled...." mark.  Merely being 'assembled' here is not just screwing the cover on or something like that, the assembly has to be substantial and transformative.

Fluke has been multinational and their stuff has been built globally since their tie-up with Philips.  My Scopemeter is marked "Made in Holland".  Their flagship 8.5 digit bench meters are made in the UK.  Some of their clamp meters are made in Taiwan--by Brymen. 

[mwb1100]

Speaking of new Fluke 179's, I have been seeing Fluke 17x multimeters listed on various sites as the "Fluke 17x ESFP" including authorized dealers like Digi-Key and TEquipment.  I believe this started about a year ago (but I wouldn't be surprised if it's always been the case and I just didn't notice until more recently).

What does "ESFP" mean/stand for?

And for whatever it's worth, the two Fluke 17x's I have owned definitely had "Made in USA" (not "Assembled in...") imprinted in the plastic on the back.  They were secondhand eBay purchases so were likely more than 10 years old when I got them

[bdunham7]

What does "ESFP" mean/stand for?

And for whatever it's worth, the two Fluke 17x's I have owned definitely had "Made in USA" (not "Assembled in...") imprinted in the plastic on the back.

The EFSP option must be the best kept secret in the industry.  Usually the additional codes, like EDA2, refer to an included accessory like a test lead kit.  I did see one website selling an 'EFSP bundle' that included a non-contact pen voltage detector, but IDK.

Yes, older handheld industrial Flukes, including my 2010-era 289, usually were 'Made in...', but the 189 seemed an interesting exception given its age. 

[BeBuLamar]

My 189 2004 said "Made in USA". My 289 2017 doesn't have a made in or assembled in. My 287 2022 said "Assembled in USA".

[Fungus]

My 187 and 27 both say "Made in USA".

My 101 doesn't (surprise!)

[bdunham7]

My 189 2004 said "Made in USA".

Now that you mention that, I acquired my 189 in 'run-over-by-a-truck' condition and I replaced the battery door with one from eBay.  The markings are molded into that cover, so it may have been intended for a newer instrument like the 789 or something like that.  So I made my own erroneous data point!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/263301472238

[BeBuLamar]

My 189 2004 said "Made in USA".

Now that you mention that, I acquired my 189 in 'run-over-by-a-truck' condition and I replaced the battery door with one from eBay.  The markings are molded into that cover, so it may have been intended for a newer instrument like the 789 or something like that.  So I made my own erroneous data point!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/263301472238

My 289 and 287 share the same battery holder and the holder that came with the 287 which is newer said "Assembled in USA" and the 289 holder doesn't say where it's made or assembled.

[Black Phoenix]

2007 Fluke 289 - Made in USA on mine. Same as my 87V from 2015 or 16 (need to check, in Hong Kong currently).

[memoulas]

hello to everyone it is my first reply.
Excuse me for my english also.
i write to this post because my fluke 179 was brand new and one of my friend throw it in water by mistake.
Could you please help me to find these compoments my fluke was damaged by water i think i have save the other compoments and i missing these. it is my hobby electronics i dont have the knowledge of them but i like soldering.
Any help could be very usefull.



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[mqsaharan]

hello to everyone it is my first reply.
Excuse me for my english also.
i write to this post because my fluke 179 was brand new and one of my friend throw it in water by mistake.
Could you please help me to find these compoments my fluke was damaged by water i think i have save the other compoments and i missing these. it is my hobby electronics i dont have the knowledge of them but i like soldering.
Any help could be very usefull.

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
The part marked as 1 is 845k resistor and the part marked as 2 is a 100k resistor network. You can check this network which way it is wired with the help of another meter.
I am including a picture here as well. You can see these in it.

[memoulas]

Thank you for All,
for your reply and for your informations also.
So i am searching for smd resistor 845k and  100k resistor network.

[mqsaharan]

Yes, indeed.
The resistor network consists of eight 100k resistors as you can see it present in a group of 8 individual resistors in my picture in the last post.
The 845k resistor is, I think, metal film 1% or less tolerance 100ppm resistor.