Fluke 233 - No more dead battery hack

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My first and only Fluke meter so far is the 233 - Remote Display True RMS.  It has all the functions I would need and the radio linked head is pretty interesting.  Problem was that the unit has a heart beat between the body and the head, even when "off".  Research indicated this is because the meter can be turned on remotely.  When the head is installed on the body it uses IR rather than RF to save the AA batteries (2 in the head and 3 in the body). 

Because I use the meter on the bench for hobby work and not in the field, it didn't get use a lot and should last for months with intermittent use.  I was finding it dead within 2 months.  Research uncovered the heart beat feature as the reason.  For my purposes, I didn't purchase the best option - oppps.  No chance in selling it, lots of eBay entries already. 

I set out to hack in a toggle switch on both the head and body between the battery terminals. This would give a HARD off rather than the soft off while running heart beat.

First goal was to hack it with significant modification.  This worked for about a year and proved the concept.

For the long term hack, I opened up the meter and installed micro toggles inside and sealed up to maintain the ruggedness of the unit.  So far it has been solid provided I don't forget to turn off the toggle switches.

The setup has both switches in line so one swipe gets them both. This was a significant improvement over the first attempt.

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Fluke released a new firmware for the 233 (2.0, I think) that helps prolong the battery life.

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Firmware update on a non-field programmable meter wasn't the first thing I would think of.  I checked out the Fluke site, no specific mention of this on the support page.

Google searched and found a recent conversation on the element14 site. The process is calling Fluke, requesting the upgrade (plus calibration) and only paying for shipping both ways.

I purchased the meter several years ago locally. I had just expected the performance as this is how it works and gave up seeking any resolution.  It would seem enough people had complained about it in order to warrant the release of the firmware.

Given that I have a solution, is it worth the hassle of shipping it off? Not sure yet.  Also now that I have physically modified the device, will Fluke even touch it? I doubt it.  I will likely call and find out either way, I am curious now.

Thanks for the tip!!