What do you think of the new Fluke 87 V MAX?

[Gandalf_Sr]

If you talk about the feel of robustness of the rotary switch, however, I don't think anybody was able to replicate the feel of the 87V and the 179 - even my 189 does not feel that robust.

The rotary switch of one of those crumbled to dust after a few thousand turns in joe's switch rotating machine. The Fluke was like new after 50,000.

Damn, that means that, if I twiddle the rotary switch on my Keysight U1242C twice per day, every day, it will only last for another 68 years

[Black Phoenix]

Damn, that means that, if I twiddle the rotary switch on my Keysight U1242C twice per day, every day, it will only last for another 68 years

If you take out the batteries and put in a very thich box, closed in vacuum and without any kind of light, it will last for eternity and be discovered a Thousand Million years away for the next civilization who will roam this planet.

[joeqsmith]

If you talk about the feel of robustness of the rotary switch, however, I don't think anybody was able to replicate the feel of the 87V and the 179 - even my 189 does not feel that robust.

The rotary switch of one of those crumbled to dust after a few thousand turns in joe's switch rotating machine. The Fluke was like new after 50,000.

Damn, that means that, if I twiddle the rotary switch on my Keysight U1242C twice per day, every day, it will only last for another 68 years

The Keysight's indent spring was indeed damaged around 2K cycles.     2000 cycles / 2 cycles a day or 1000 days.  / 365 days per year, that's 2.75 years.   I had tried to contact Keysight a few times but they never responded.    This is why I never ran another Keysight product.     

I have not tested a lot of meters but of the few I have looked at,  that Chinese made Fluke 17B+ leads the pack.

[tooki]

Since there is now a Keysight rep here on the forums, maybe bring it up with him?? 2000 cycles seems insanely short for a name-brand product.

[joeqsmith]

Since there is now a Keysight rep here on the forums, maybe bring it up with him?? 2000 cycles seems insanely short for a name-brand product.

This section of the video clearly shows the cracks on the detent spring.   If you watch the first minute or so of this video, you can hear the difference as the detent spring failed.   I pretty much gave up on Keysight, but you are more than welcome to point them to this video if you like.   

https://youtu.be/z9732OYPRx8?t=329

[rsjsouza]

You ran the U123x series, thus I am unsure if the other meters would follow suit on the same way.

I had tried to contact Keysight a few times but they never responded.    This is why I never ran another Keysight product.     

Apart from Brymen, who else provided you any assistance "post mortem"? I know Gossen and Fluke didn't but Hioki did, right?

[Fungus]

The rotary switch of one of those crumbled to dust after a few thousand turns in joe's switch rotating machine. The Fluke was like new after 50,000.

Damn, that means that, if I twiddle the rotary switch on my Keysight U1242C twice per day, every day, it will only last for another 68 years

No, that's the Fluke... 

[Fungus]

This meter just came up in another thread:



I hadn't seen it before. It's a tiny little Fluke with just about everything ... and they stopped making it.

That the Fluke management decide not to make meters like that any more but to rebadge other meters and pretend they're a new "MAX" model tells you everything you need to know about Fluke these days.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Do you get wafers with it?

[Electro Detective]

If you talk about the feel of robustness of the rotary switch, however, I don't think anybody was able to replicate the feel of the 87V and the 179 - even my 189 does not feel that robust.

The rotary switch of one of those crumbled to dust after a few thousand turns in joe's switch rotating machine. The Fluke was like new after 50,000.

Damn, that means that, if I twiddle the rotary switch on my Keysight U1242C twice per day, every day, it will only last for another 68 years

Close.. 

but that calculation will go south fast if unattended children find it   

whilst supervising adults outside are distracted getting hammered on booze n BBQ
gabbing about holiday trips, phones, cars, AV money pits, pools, and other 'keeping up appearances' bs/hs 

fwiw I've dismantled a few abused Fluke selector dials, scraping along nicely loaded with fine sand, metal particles and motor/gear oils pumped in .. 
and after clean up, very light silicone grease and reassembly,
there is no way a blindfolded person could pick the difference between a refurb or new switch
TBH my humble refurbs turn smoother and hit home runs much better, EMMV on that.

i.e. consider a decent Fluke if clicking about constantly between modes is the thing

[blacksheeplogic]

I hadn't seen it before. It's a tiny little Fluke with just about everything ... and they stopped making it.
That the Fluke management decide not to make meters like that any more

They are in business to make a return on their investment. If it was a high volume profit driving product they would still make it. Don't assume your wet dream must have meter was a product that was taken off the market out of spite... they are not a charity and I strongly suspect they not interested in the prestigious position as the lowest cost hobby meter.

[Mr. Scram]

They are in business to make a return on their investment. If it was a high volume profit driving product they would still make it. Don't assume your wet dream must have meter was a product that was taken off the market out of spite... they are not a charity and I strongly suspect they not interested in the prestigious position as the lowest cost hobby meter.

It's not entirely unlikely they killed it and replaced it with something simpler because it was eating into the higher cost model's share. Too good a deal isn't in a company's interest if they're trying to milk their portfolio.

[blacksheeplogic]

They are in business to make a return on their investment. If it was a high volume profit driving product they would still make it. Don't assume your wet dream must have meter was a product that was taken off the market out of spite... they are not a charity and I strongly suspect they not interested in the prestigious position as the lowest cost hobby meter.

It's not entirely unlikely they killed it and replaced it with something simpler because it was eating into the higher cost model's share. Too good a deal isn't in a company's interest if they're trying to milk their portfolio.

That is also quite true, but that's how business kind of works. Investing where the return makes sense.

[joeqsmith]

You ran the U123x series, thus I am unsure if the other meters would follow suit on the same way.

I had tried to contact Keysight a few times but they never responded.    This is why I never ran another Keysight product.     

Apart from Brymen, who else provided you any assistance "post mortem"? I know Gossen and Fluke didn't but Hioki did, right?

TPI (Test Products International ), ExTech, BK and Brymen have all been helpful.  Fluke did talk with me about their meters and they did allow me to rip and release the 97 scopemeter video into public domain.  I also spoke with Klein Tools.   My dealing with Gossen USA was bad.   After they lied about what had happened,  I would never deal with them again but at least they answered my emails.   Hioki and Keysight would not return any of my emails.  UNI-T did write me once and offered to send me some meter to look at.  After I explained what I was doing on the channel, they never wrote back.   

As for running the meters, the only company that has expressed any interest has been Brymen.   

[floobydust]

The Fluke rotary switch does have a few patents. 'Digital multimeter having enhanced rotary switch assembly' US 8093516 and US 8946571 to show a couple.

I noticed Danaher (Shanghai) Industrial Instrumentation Technologies R&D Co., Ltd., Shanghai (china) has some patents for the ornamental design of a DMM. US D744,361 S
It looks like an ANENG multimeter lol.

[tooki]

Probably because Zotek (the maker of the Aneng meters) clearly copies many aspects of Fluke’s styling, in particular the Fluke 101. In fact, the Aneng 8000 series is actually Zotek’s 100 series — they even copied the model number 101 for the first one.

[Mr. Scram]

That is also quite true, but that's how business kind of works. Investing where the return makes sense.

Investing is the one thing Fluke doesn't seem to be doing any more.

[Fungus]

They are in business to make a return on their investment.

More true with every day.

If it was a high volume profit driving product they would still make it. Don't assume your wet dream must have meter was a product that was taken off the market out of spite... they are not a charity and I strongly suspect they not interested in the prestigious position as the lowest cost hobby meter.

The expensive part of that meter (or any meter) would be the R&D. The R&D was already done.

If that meter was removed from the lineup it was probably because the bang:buck ratio was too high and was hurting the profits of their more overpriced meters.

[tooki]

Or, if one is less conspiratorially inclined, maybe they discontinued it because it didn’t sell well enough to be worthwhile.

[Fungus]

Or, if one is less conspiratorially inclined, maybe they discontinued it because it didn’t sell well enough to be worthwhile.

What a normal company in a competitive market would do is improve it until it sells.

[tooki]

Or, if one is less conspiratorially inclined, maybe they discontinued it because it didn’t sell well enough to be worthwhile.

What a normal company in a competitive market would do is improve it until it sells.

Only if you’re losing sales to a competing manufacturer’s product. If you’re losing sales of it to a different model of your own, then you just discontinue it, since you’re still getting a sale.

[Fungus]

Only if you’re losing sales to a competing manufacturer’s product. If you’re losing sales of it to a different model of your own, then you just discontinue it, since you’re still getting a sale.

a) You mean like Brymen? My best meter is a $175 Brymen, I'm never gonna spend $450 on a Fluke, not while Brymen are around. Fluke don't want my money?
b) You're in a nine page thread where one of the main themes is that Fluka can't touch a single feature of the 87V because so many huge contractors depend on it and couldn't possibly switch to anything else, no matter how cheap.

[tooki]

Bluntly: no, they don’t want your money. Fluke doesn’t go for price-sensitive customers. It’s a perfectly valid business decision that no doubt was made by accountants who can calculate what makes more sense for them.

[tooki]

As an aside, the bitching and moaning and whining in this thread reminds me why I think that accounting and economics are things everyone should learn the basics of in school. The absence thereof is plainly evident in this thread.

[Fungus]

Fluke doesn’t go for price-sensitive customers.

Apart from the millions of people who buy the Fluke 101, the Fluke 15B+, the Fluke 17B+ ... and all those other "Asian" meters.