Fluke 101 selloff?

[med6753]

I'll pass. Me and my 22 year old 87 Series 1 have been through some tough scrapes and it still works perfectly. Why should I down grade? 

The 101 is a toy in size, spec and features compared to 87 Series 1,
but a cheap/er sacrificial or surviver meter in suspect/unknown scenarios, where an unsuspecting 87 may end up a zapped hero 

Also I'll bet 'most' 87 Series 1 screw posts are cracked and wonky from battery and or fuse changes,
so don't expect any serious  handheld CAT 111+ bangs to be contained by the meter body. 

or you can resort to taping up the sides and tops to hold the meter together, with a decent electrical or duct tape that won't run, slide or get gooey,
use two stacked layers if thin.   

Yes, it's bugly and won't be strutting any meter fashion CAT walks  (  ) but it gets the job done keeping the meter intact,
especially on a toned down Fluke 28-11 DJ style drop 

A small quantity of good quality electrical or duct tape is cheap,

and saves on stuffing about with epoxy glues etc, which may fail or work loose from the meter body/chassis anyway   

A tape up job like this no one sees once the amber/yellow holster in on 


Pictured example is an 87V photo taken to show a member here at another post a fast easy 'keep it together' option,
my Series 1 87  got the treatment first, as have some other meters with suss posts

Taiwan made meters  have metal posts, not sure about MIJ and Europe ones 

yet Fluke somehow misses the boat on this constantly   
whilst flogging serious -BANG- videos on Youtube with new multimeters with one time screwed posts,
containing the sparks and fun flames 

Probe safe folks, and don't trust any multimeter (especially with current sockets) at higher voltages/amps
or brand rep.

Coffeeholic marketing teams and corporats they work for are not known for picking up medical bills or funeral costs,
especially on older gear or products past the 'Limited Conditions' Warranty date   

Call me anal I guess but I take care of my equipment so it takes care of me. Here's that 22 year old 87. In perfect condition. No broken parts. Has never needed a calibration adjustment. Battery changes only when necessary. It's always been my "go to" DMM for quick checks or other dirty jobs like vehicle electrical work or mains work.

[all_repair]

22 year old.  Have you use it at all?  You better don't let people that may borrow from you know that you have one.  Or you need to get a fluke 101 to protect your 87.

[Fungus]

22 year old.  Have you use it at all?  You better don't let people that may borrow from you know that you have one.  Or you need to get a fluke 101 to protect your 87.

Yep. An extra Fluke 101 is perfect if you suffer from "borrowers".

[med6753]

22 year old.  Have you use it at all?

With nearly every project that crosses my bench the 87 gets used in one way or another...along with my other DMM's.

You better don't let people that may borrow from you know that you have one.  Or you need to get a fluke 101 to protect your 87.

It will be a cold day in hell before I'll allow anyone to borrow my equipment.

[bd139]

Yes...

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend."

[Fungus]

It might be a good idea if you suffer from "children" as well.

[bd139]

Yeah. "Can I borrow £20" is a regular one here. 

[Gandalf_Sr]

Call me anal I guess but I take care of my equipment so it takes care of me. Here's that 22 year old 87. In perfect condition. No broken parts. Has never needed a calibration adjustment. Battery changes only when necessary. It's always been my "go to" DMM for quick checks or other dirty jobs like vehicle electrical work or mains work.

That's wonderful news med6753, how many times a day do you twiddle your knob?

[med6753]

That's wonderful news med6753, how many times a day do you twiddle your knob?

Are you jealous? 

[Gandalf_Sr]

That's wonderful news med6753, how many times a day do you twiddle your knob?

Are you jealous? 

Maybe but be careful, if you twiddle it too much it will drop off!

[all_repair]

Why does every non Fluke-87-multimeter post end up talking more about Fluke 87? 

Of course, I have one.  Almost 10 year old, but it is still in the box fresh.  One reason of the trapped 87 is I just could not get any of my other meters to fail, and I am still keep piling up new Aneng meters.  Fluke 87 do get to leave its locked vault.  Her appearance with my FLIR camera is when I have clients to impress.   Not for measurement but for the showmanship. 

Back to Fluke 101, it is less stressful using Fluke cheapo meters, you can do long pass to your co-worker like how those America Football quarter-back doing their.  No fear, anyway you are already on your helmet and safety shoes.

 

[BravoV]

Back to Fluke 101, it is less stressful using Fluke cheapo meters, you can do long pass to your co-worker like how those America Football quarter-back doing their.  No fear, anyway you are already on your helmet and safety shoes.

Especially without the current measurement capability, it will be further less riskier when passing it along to a DMM noob.

[mansaxel]

For electronics work I rarely if ever use current these days. I usually use a resistor in circuit as a shunt and measure voltage. Mainly because I'm lazy and utterly fed up of having to rewire everything to make a single measurement.

For that laziness, there is the -- hp -- 428b clip-on mA meter. Shown here with the 974a younger sibling.

[Electro Detective]

"King Of N00BS" first post:

Hi, I'm 12 years old and itching to get into electronics,
I love watching EEVblog, ElectroBoom and PhotonicInduction
whilst getting piercings and tatts listening to Rap and Metal full pedal to p*** off the neighbors

What's a good first miltumeter?


----------------

Cranky old school grey beard poster:

"Buy a Fluke 101 and get on with it."   

--------

"King Of N00BS" reply

but...  



THREAD LOCKED

 

[bd139]

LMAO. Better than the result if you ask that question on allaboutcircuits forum...

"Go on ebay and get the cheapest DT830 clone, only use it in current mode on the mains with the provided test leads. Make sure your first project is a  capacitive dropper for christmas tree lights you soldered together yourself on veroboard and put in a non earthed hammond box. Make sure you test it by letting your kids chew on your dry solder joints. Also leave an open can of isopropyl on the bench for luck. Here's a YouTube video of how to do it from some dude in India who's just come back from his brother's funeral after the incident the other day with the SMPS repair done with a hammer"

[Gandalf_Sr]

This is getting quite funny 

[Sigurd]

Fluke 101 are made in China for Fluke. There are also models such as 117C and 17B which seem to be local only models, you are likely to only see these emanate from Asia. The 110 series on the other hand were made in the US then moved to China for manufacture but still sold worldwide.

At least one other manufacturer does this, I have a Uni-T 39C and it was only ever sold in China and there is no English information on it, instruction manual is in Chinese only.

[BBBbbb]

I bought one just because I panicked you pricks would drive the price up.
Now I'm waiting for my 4th 5th DMM...
well it's small, can put it in my car or give it to my dad and not worry if a retired old man might might hurt himself with a falsely rated crappy meter from a local store.

EDIT: forgot about the little aneng one...

[Electro Detective]

..well it's small, can put it in my car

or give it to my dad and not worry if a retired old man might might hurt himself with a falsely rated crappy meter from a local store..

 

and this is where those bargain meters many here applaud can assbite, in the hands of someone else unaware of multimeter limitations in general,
much less what CAT means, especially when they think current means voltage and vice-versa
plus get some continuity/beep beep action in too.. whilst plugged into the current inputs 

usually = BANG!   ~~ ~~

[bd139]

Sometimes it's just arrogance. At a company I once worked for I heard from my predecesor that there was actually an afternoon walk out over the introduction of mandatory test gear replacement with safer stuff. Some of the guys were still using Avos from the 1950s which would have voided any liability insurance the company had. So when they walked in a huff the site team went round and scooped the fuckers into a plastic bin and threw them in the trash compactor. This is the same damn company which walked out becuse they refused to use the production asset tracking software. Their solution of using index cards in envelopes was good enough apparently. That was until we shredded one of the envelopes on purpose and it killed the entire production line dead for a day while they took everything to bits to find out where some assemblies had gone.

These guys were professional engineers .

[all_repair]

Many time it is environment.  Last use did not reposition probe wires correctly.  Then a site job come.  Need to prepare for all kind of things: transport, gear, manual, permit, worker, parts, etc etc.  Then go through all kind clearance, pass changing, form signing, and after all these hassles, and with many eyes watching and clients beside need entertaining and explaining, then the meter and probe come out to do the golden touch.  AND...

[Fungus]

You can also get the Fluke Voltstick (but Chinese marked) for $15: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/CkDQcEKU

I've had one of those for about 5 years.

I just went to use it and I thought I'd check the batteries and they're still like new.

I wondered what the standby current was so I tried to measure it and failed. It must be down in the low nanoamps range somewhere even though it's sensing all the time. 

PS: Haven't received my 101 yet...

[BravoV]

Mine arrived ...




Among the giants 189 & 287 ...  its tiny.

[bd139]

Can you please let us know if continuity is shit?

[Shock]

Can you please let us know if continuity is shit?

I brought a Fluke 101 years ago and wasn't blown away by any feature, but they are obviously cheap, small and safe. If you look at the youtube demonstrations it looks fairly poor. I can't recall if I did this at the time but cleaning the probes is half the battle so until you give them a quick clean or swap them out it's hard to tell if surface oxidization is influencing testing.

The Fluke 112 has a quick continuity but the bar is a little slow. Fluke 117 and 87V are quick with a fast bar in comparison.