FLUKE 107 - absolute garbage lasted 2 years

[shakalnokturn]

Being a repair person too I must say that knowing exactly how and when things went wrong helps an awful lot in trouble shooting most of the time.

[Fungus]

Why do people always have to have details about damage dragged out of them 

"FLUKE 107 - absolute garbage lasted 2 years!!"

(PS: I let some batteries leak inside it...)

[wraper]

Why do people always have to have details about damage dragged out of them 

As a repairer it absolutely drives me nuts, and it's a massive percentage of people who do this for whatever bizarre reason. "I don't know what happened, it just turned off and wouldn't turn back on" "I see. And the scorch marks?" "Oh, that. Yeah it was in a house fire. But it worked fine before that!"

You finish repairing complicated laboratory device at remote location (after asking thoroughly about all the issues), assemble it all back, then find some other fault during the final testing. When asked: "ah that, that was not working for months (if not years)". And here we go again  .

[David Aurora]

Why do people always have to have details about damage dragged out of them 

As a repairer it absolutely drives me nuts, and it's a massive percentage of people who do this for whatever bizarre reason. "I don't know what happened, it just turned off and wouldn't turn back on" "I see. And the scorch marks?" "Oh, that. Yeah it was in a house fire. But it worked fine before that!"

You finish repairing complicated laboratory device at remote location (after asking thoroughly about all the issues), assemble it all back, then find some other fault during the final testing. When asked: "ah that, that was not working for months (if not years)". And here we go again  .

1000%, it's so much more infuriating when you're out there on a callout. Like for fucks sake, just tell me in advance and I'll plan accordingly/bring extra spare parts or tools I might need/etc. Everybody is better off that way.

[wraper]

Why do people always have to have details about damage dragged out of them 

As a repairer it absolutely drives me nuts, and it's a massive percentage of people who do this for whatever bizarre reason. "I don't know what happened, it just turned off and wouldn't turn back on" "I see. And the scorch marks?" "Oh, that. Yeah it was in a house fire. But it worked fine before that!"

You finish repairing complicated laboratory device at remote location (after asking thoroughly about all the issues), assemble it all back, then find some other fault during the final testing. When asked: "ah that, that was not working for months (if not years)". And here we go again  .

1000%, it's so much more infuriating when you're out there on a callout. Like for fucks sake, just tell me in advance and I'll plan accordingly/bring extra spare parts or tools I might need/etc. Everybody is better off that way.

The most fun part is when that location is 5000-10000km away and you start googling what electronic component shops they have in a few hundred km vicinity of nowhere or take apart and try fixing $1 part just to avoid wasting a few days only to get there and back (you can forget about fast shipping there).

[BeBuLamar]

If the OP used Energizer or RayOVac batteries and they leaked he could claim to them and they will pay for a new 107.

[stj]

If the OP used Energizer or RayOVac batteries and they leaked he could claim to them and they will pay for a new 107.

good luck with that - read the smallprint.

[BeBuLamar]

If the OP used Energizer or RayOVac batteries and they leaked he could claim to them and they will pay for a new 107.

good luck with that - read the smallprint.

You don't know until you tried. I had RayOVac batteries leaked and damaged my 2 D cells Maglite. I called them, they asked me to take pictures show the damage. The date of the batteries etc.. Also a link to Amazon where they sell the flashlight for the value reference. They gave me coupons for replacement batteries and $50 for the flashlight. The 107 is about $85 I think they would go for it. One thing I noticed that they were not surprised that their batteries do leak.

[floobydust]

It's interesting - do we blame:
OP - for not using his multimeter very often, for having dead batteries, for telling us late that it's hit with battery leakage.
Battery Manufacturer - my money is on Duracell for the big leak.
Fluke - it's an electrically weak design and died due to a weeny transient (my initial vote, Joe killed that)
Fluke - battery compartment designed to funnel leaky battery goo right onto the jungle IC and kill it.
Fluke - Repair/Calibration is impossible, resistance is futile, you will be assimilated. Just buy a new one USD $156

Leaking Duracell, they did cough up $40 for a new Maglite.

[wraper]

One thing I noticed that they were not surprised that their batteries do leak.

Because they do leak. I don't use them since they leaked in my U1272A for a second time. The first time I needed to replace a whole backside housing as battery contacts are not available separately and half of them were totally destroyed. Second time it I caught it earlier so damage was not that serious so taking slightly corroded contacts out of the housing and washing everything was enough. I basically said fuck alkalines and I got rid of them in all of my devices and use LSD NiMH rechargeable batteries instead.

[thm_w]

Fluke - battery compartment designed to funnel leaky battery goo right onto the jungle IC and kill it.

Given the low cost of the meter it feels acceptable. Their priority is making it cheap and quick to assemble/program/calibrate through those back holes.
Though if this were a $500 meter, they should have sprung for the ~25c cost to glue up the battery contacts to prevent liquid passing through the shell at all.

[floobydust]

[...] I basically said fuck alkalines and I got rid of them in all of my devices and use LSD NiMH rechargeable batteries instead.

Problem is many multimeters don't specify battery compatibility with different chemistries.
Fluke 107 "Battery Type 2 AAA, NEDA 24A, IEC LR03" wow so much info. What voltage range?

LSD Eneloop are a bit lower voltage than alkaline for a brief period initially, guessing around 1.35V and not sure when DMM low batt icon comes on. I'll try some out.
Energizer Ultimate Lithium L92 peak at 1.8V briefly when new, most DMM IC's will take 3.6V

[Caliaxy]

Energizer Ultimate Lithium L92 peak at 1.8V briefly when new, most DMM IC's will take 3.6V

So just a friendly reminder: don't try that at home if you have a BM235...