joeqsmith
Please what was the verdict on your new Fluke 87V ? If I understand right it passed the high voltage test according to CAT rating but there was some wear on the rotary switch?
Is Fluke 87V worth buying when compared to Hioki and Keysight??
Let's ignore the CAT rating part of your question as I really have no way of evaluating any meter's safety rating. I ran a few of these. The new one (SN 490xxxxx) survived all the way up to 10KV, 2 ohm source, 50us FWHH. It was finally damaged at 12KV. That's a pretty big hit and only a few meters have survived to this level. At one time I ran a very old one (SN 105xxxxx) which was damaged at 1.5KV. I've ran a fair number of Flukes and this one stuck out like a sore thumb. I had rebuilt it and decided to have a closer look into why it failed at such a low voltage to the extent of making a model of the front end. I really could not come up with any reason why it was damaged. In the end I reran this meter and using my smaller transient generator, the meter survived to it's maximum setting which is just under 6KV with a 100us FWHH. IMO, you make it to this level, you have a pretty robust meter.
As for the switch, yes I cycle tested one. 50,000 full cycles, from one dead stop, to the other and back being one cycle. The same as I have every other meter I have looked at. Non stop. No cleaning the contacts during the test. The meter was grinding really bad and when the test was finished, the pads appear to have chatter marks (if you are a machinist). This seems to be the source of the grinding.
The Fluke 17B+ is still king of the cycle testing. Both of these meters were reassembled after inspection without any cleaning. At some point I plan to do something with them. Maybe use them as a banchmark for other meters.
I only ran that one Keysight and HIOKI meter. The Keysight was a big let down. They appeared to have used a glass filled plastic for the detent spring for the switch. All four prongs cracked early on in the cycle testing. The meter, even with it's GDTs did not prove to be very robust. I do like my old HP bench meters but lets just say I am not itching to get another Keysight meter. Keep in mind, a different model could do very well. I have no idea.
HIOKI, well let's just say I have some bias there. I use some HIOKI equipment for work. If I am working in CAT III, that is what I am using. That meter is a bit on the pricey side but has more than paid for itself. For my tests, I bought something lower end. More like Fluke's 115.
It didn't let me down. At 10KV the meter started to arc around the plastic insert but had no electrical damage. I added a bit of plastic to extend it a bit further through the slot and tool the meter to 14KV! It was rock solid.
Again to be clear because you mention the CAT ratings, these are NOT the waveforms used for the IEC surge test. Those tests are conducted using a combo generator. In other words they have two waveforms, current and voltage. Because my goal has never been to look at safety, I was not concerned with the current waveform. I used the voltage waveform as the base for my test sort of but limit the energy to about 20 Joules. Hardly enough to do any damage at all. I just want enough to cause a meter to fail but not come apart. So you will NEVER see the explosions with my setup like you could with an actual arc flash event.
I don't make recommendations. Everyone will have different needs for their tools. I can tell you that personally for my hobby use, of all the Flukes I have, I use that 97 scope meter and the 189s from time to time. My handheld meter of choice is still the Brymen BM869s. My second choice is the Fluke 189. It's old but I like it. If UNI-T would get off their butts and make a better version of the UT181A, I would be all over it. It's a nice replica of the Fluke 289 with some improvements. Then there is that Gossen Ultra. So much potential destroyed by marketing and sales. It does seem to have a lot of hype. I use both of these meters from time to time but they have both been modified to better fit my needs.
If you look in my trailer, you would still find my beat up old Mastech meter on it's last legs. I plan to replace it with the BM319s.