Fluke 287 Repair - My Arse

The repair curse strikes again with a Fluke 287 Multimeter.
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#ElectronicsCreators #Fluke #Multimeter

[@michaelardai9703]

From a sign at Wierd Stuff Warehouse. "Guaranteed not to work. If it works, bring it back and we will break it for free"

[@JKnight89]

Lol thats funny.

[@MrSupro]

I miss that place. Also HSC

[@m_a_s6069]

One of my favorite places to get electronic stuff. Too bad it's gone.

[@bigclivedotcom]

I've a horrible feeling that many meters get shelved because someone blew a fuse and they think it's faulty.

[@Okurka.]

Not with meters in this price range.

[@KeritechElectronics]

Whew. There's even a simple fuse test procedure (described in the Fluke manuals) - how could they not know that?

[@KeritechElectronics]

@@ts757arse makes me wonder if it's because of incompetence, or bullshit regulations.

[@RocRizzo]

Without a doubt

[@RocRizzo]

@@KeritechElectronicsmanagement is the reason

[@russellhltn1396]

You realize of course that if we were to try this, we'd end up with an actual malfunction nearly every time.

[@felixcosty]

I was thinking of buying a damaged 287 and then trading him.

[@6581punk]

They saw it was Dave buying it and thought "Oh heck, we'd better send him a good one".

[@bertblankenstein3738]

@@6581punk a negative review? "Was not faulty enough."?

[@jabouzane]

I've been buying broken multimeters to fix them as well, inspired by this channel, and I've found the exact same thing. It's either a dead main chip or it's something very stupid like the battery contacts are dirty. You wouldn't believe how little effort people put into fixing these things before they sell them as broken. I've been buying dead Fluke 89-IV meters trying to get a case for one I have that works with no shell and every dead one I've bought has been trivially fixable.

[@Wayde-VA3NCA]

Sometimes they just want to unload it from a larger lot and don't want to have to deal with returns due to random potential faults

[@SeanBZA]

Yes likely a big job lot, and they just want to recover the lot price and make a small profit, probably because the job lot had a few items in it they wanted, and knew they could shift for a good price. Then sell the rest off quick, as storing it, and testing, costs more than what they will make off having fully working stuff, and selling as untested faulty means fast sale, and no returns.

[@natedawww]

Hopefully there isn't some poor sap who ordered a "Like New" meter only to end up with one that is genuinely malfunctioning!

[@Psi105]

Could leave it datalogging for a while, maybe it has an intermittent fault. Or maybe it's optical port is faulty. Could also be a solder ball moving around inside that was dislodged by shipping.

[@EEVblog2]

I have for a bit, seems fine.

[@nmopzzz]

The engineer who couldn't get his project to work blamed the meter (the tools are always the reason the code doesn't work)so they had to sell the meter as defective.

[@AvidiaNirvana]

No doubt, that would make the most sense.

[@TheDefpom]

I just wish I could find stuff to repair at a decent price, things are ridiculously priced these days, even as parts units !

[@tiagoferreira086]

Yes, i've been looking for while to buy a 6 1/2 digit bench multimeter like the agilent/hp 34401A and even when they are sold as broken they cost aprox $300 (and some are really all broken/very bad condition and lot of missing parts), but it gets even worse in my case because i live in Europe (Portugal) and not all the sellers ship to here and if they ship its expensive and i still have to pay at least 23% in taxes...

[@ahmedalshalchi]

Same wish and hope I have ...

[@jhoughjr1]

Could never bring myself to pay fluke prices. Not a single pro aside from “electricians” seem to need flukes.

[@rockpadstudios]

I have a gift, I never get an easy fix. I bought an old Current Source and watched all the KZbin video's and the power supply and the various regulated circuits are all fine (Cap's too). The output power transistors are fine, the reference Zener and circuits around it all fine. Years ago I worked at a software company that would send in bug request fixes and seriously I would always get the bizarre bugs. A friend of mine that sailed through his set of bugs came over with a smirk on his face and said I'll fix your bug too. Well hours later he smiled and said you sure have a gift for getting the weird bugs. The good news is I spend so much time on a piece of equipment or software that I can usually find and fix any bug quickly.

[@IanScottJohnston]

Yep, it’s *usually* a problem finding affordable faulty test gear…….Guess I’m kinda very lucky to have stumbled on a very local source, 15miles away!

[@ahmedalshalchi]

Do you have stupid sellers like this one in Scottland ?!...

[@spikester]

I have a 289 that I already had to replace the 'fuzzy' supercap on after 12 years. 289 is same as 287 with exception of the highly coveted low ohm mode (not to be confused with LowZ which 289 also has), very useful when testing & probing board shorts.

[@danblankenship5744]

You can test and replace the supercapacitor on the control board. You know it needs to be replaced if the time and date settings are reset while changing the batteries. This supercapacitor can cause a draw on the batteries, making them drain too fast.

[@stevenbirch]

I have a couple of these and both needed the supercar replacing over time

[@McTroyd]

That would be hilarious if you returned it "not as advertised" because it isn't faulty. 😆

[@felipemartineznichollsglobant]

Its always nice to hear you @Dave

[@grabo454]

Hahaha, I can't believe I paid full price for one of these years ago. Great meter but blatant false advertising on the datalogging feature. I bought the bundle lit with the optical cable, and you have to buy expensive software to get the data off the damn thing. Even talked to a Fluke engineer buddy of mine and he is baffled by this. Next piece of test kit I buy is going to be listed as faulty so I know that I get a good one, hahahaha. Thanks for the video, Dave!

[@EEVblog2]

I just noticed you can only get the Trend display graph AFTER you have stopped logging?

[@werner.x]

@@EEVblog2 That was my thinking too. You didn't check anything except basic functions and told us earlier, that this thing has recording capabilities. So how can you tell, it's in good working condition by just testing the cheap basics. If you sell this as functioning via ebay, next you have is complaints, extra postage and extra work.

[@chongli297]

@@EEVblog2 Ahhh okay. Maybe they need to render the graph in post? If these 200-series Flukes are decades old then maybe they've never updated the processor in them so it's slower than a wet week

[@swb-54]

If you have programming skills, you don't need the Fluke software. The protocol is fully documented, although I don't think it's publicly posted on their website. I enquired about it one time, and they sent me the protocol documentation. It's a simple ASCII-based protocol. Easy to work with.

[@grabo454]

Yeah, really annoying@@EEVblog2

[@Adamisgood24]

Glad to see this upload Dave!

[@Eratas1]

Multimeter got sacred of Dave and fixed itself.

[@Ojref1]

I think a lot of times they just sell this stuff off as faulty to clear it out so no one in management or accounting can quibble about it, and it gets cleared off inventory so they can acquire new gear.

[@ahmedalshalchi]

HAHAHAHA .... Corruption !!!!

[@vincei4252]

On a related note, I am always impressed when I buy stuff from South Korea. The documentation and packaging of the items, even used, is second to none.

[@GemmatheCat]

Always great to see you do a moldy meder video

[@MrDubje]

This 287 looks better than the ones being offered second-hand over here. Congrats on getting a "real" electronics multimeter. Play around with it. Also, this is an older version. If you have to set the time and date after swapping the batteries, the supercap is gone. You can make a video repairing/replacing that (easy). The newer models have a small battery inside them to keep the clock running.

[@Arek_R.]

Once bought some faulty classic 6.5 digit HP benchtop meter from the US and it came fully functional and the display prone to dimming issue was very bright so used very little. Other time I bought one of those classic fat Agilent PSUs, it had the typical failing high accuracy resistors, but then there was also some opamp that had very intermittent fault and I spent a lot of time on diagnosing it.

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

I’ve found a lot of tech sold on eBay as faulty for a ridiculously low price have been illegally procured by the seller. No one questions the low price when the item is broken, the seller moves it fast and who is going to return something normally Uber expensive that works. Now “buyer beware” means it’s possible to get screwed in a good way. Thanks for all your great videos!!

[@xedtronicsph3877]

Finally!!!! EEvlog videowwwww. Happy Holidays ❤ from PH

[@everTriumph]

Glad you got your arse fixed!

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

Bloody lucky you. I'd be ecstatic to acquire a 287 like that. Used one for years at my precious employment.

[@entropyachieved750]

Nice metre, you have done well

[@mcconkeyb]

LOL, I'd be happy to procure broken equipment for you! My reputation is that everything I touch breaks, so I was always the guy who tested new things, if it worked for me, it will work for everyone.

[@RoderikvanReekum]

This is a great video!

[@meltysquirrel2919]

🤔 No user serviceable parts inside? We'll see about that! 🤠 My old trusty cheapy Circuit Specialists MAS830 meter stopped working like that too. Took it apart to check for smokey burned stuff as one does. D'oh just a bad fuse so I learrned my something new that day 😅 Yep, it's still working and in my small toolkit 👍 Take stuff apart that's what tools are for 😉

[@umbraelegios4130]

Hey someone notify LPL we have an actual "Fluke".

[@uni-byte]

High volume used EQ seller. Get it in, mark it up, get it out .. with no bounce. Sell it like you hate it..

[@Nik930714]

Teardown video sounds great.

[@amrishhirani6096]

Merry Christmas

[@flamencoprof]

I wanted to test an old guitar lead a few years ago, but found my old Nineties digital multimeter was hopelessly inaccurate. I dug out my even older late Seventies analogue meter, whose jumping needle showed the lead was irrecoverably noisy within the cable. So......... now I had a useless guitar lead AND a dodgy digital multimeter. Time to buy a new meter, I reckoned. Got a reasonable Chinese one. I decided to post a Blog entry detailing the story and did some measurement comparisons for all three meters. Dammit, the old analogue meter proved to have the RX1 scale reading very low. Now I had a useless lead and TWO faulty meters. I wrote two more Blog posts detailing fault-finding and repair of the two older meters, using the new meter. Then I realised I had three functioning meters and didn't need the one I just bought!

[@Sevalecan]

I got a UT181A (which also has data logging) because I was too cheap to pay for the Fluke 289. I'm happy with it. The main downside is the rechargeable lithium battery. I prefer being able to just swap batteries instead of minding some battery that's hard to get a replacement for and will eventually kick the bucket anyway. The color display might be more power intensive(I don't actually know) but it shuts off when logging anyway after a period of no user interaction, while the meter stays on. It will time out the sceen like this even when not logging but stay on.

[@WR3ND]

"Malfunction... Need input." -Johnny 287

[@SergeK]

Best repairs on the internet!

[@MrFransie85]

i normaly try not to break stuff but im sure i could fix you up with a lot of broken stuff for the right price. it would save us both so much time.

[@JRJJ5077]

Murphy's still on Christmas leave 😄 Uncle Bob is making it work...

[@chrislott1994]

I used to have my lab and office in a building a few blocks north of these guys.

[@tommyvanpelt2408]

I have that same meter that I bought new for about $1100 usd. Mine still works of course and gets regular use. Since day one though, I've always wanted better battery life from it.

[@randyab9go188]

I bought my 289 from Frys in Indianapolis for $650.00 with all the options. No it was not the going out of business sale. Regular price. $1100? You got taken.

[@davidlondon3111]

Dave, If it’s no good to you, I’m happy to put it to good use.

[@larrybud]

I bought an old tek scope which was marked as non-working for like 80 bucks. Worked fine, and all it needed was an alignment and some cleaning. Never done one before but with the service manual it wasn't too difficult, and now I can use my old scope for cool X/Y stuff! Maybe the other youtubers break stuff they already have, just to make a video.... hmmmmm.

[@QsTechService1]

That's a nice find

[@MakeOrRepair]

I picked up a keysight 1273A meter for an "interesting repair" looked really hopeful with rubbish on all ranges - turned out that every through-hole joint was as dry as a dingo's ... anyway at least I got a good quality meter for next to nothing! The biggest job was getting the smell of cigarette smoke off it (Ozone generation in a closed box is the way to go - just remember to shield from static!)

[@miketel01]

Nicely done I’d take that meter any day

[@helgew9008]

The trick is to buy "untested" stuff. In my experience, that almost always means broken.

[@rmoyao]

You should try logging. It could be that there is a memory chip not working. Also if I remember correctly there is software update that needs to be applied because there is an issue with the optical port.

[@MrDoneboy]

It's still a repair video Dave...You diagnosed the problem! Lol

[@KeritechElectronics]

Malfunction? It was just a Fluke! Teardown, please. Now I can see all those people on eBay fighting for damaged meters...

[@johnshaw359]

Avoiding 'The wrath of Fluke' possibly.

[@pault6533]

Sometimes it's more economical for a business to replace an item with a newer one than it is to have the old one professionally repaired and calibrated. Completely viable test equipment has been discarded in industrial e-waste. If you can grab it before too much other garbage is tossed on top you may acquire some very good test equipment that just needs switch cleaning and sometimes a re-cap.

[@michaelrice500]

I have a 287 which works perfectly, but if you leave the batteries in it overnight, they'll be dead even if the selector is off. It's been this way for about 15 years. I sent it to Fluke for repairs but they didn't fix it. - they did cancel the repair charges after I advised them. I just live with it - wouldn't leave the batteries in it anyway for more than a few days even if they didn't go dead.

[@antoespiga]

That's most likely a faulty supercapacitor, I think it is around the top left of the board. It isn't close to critical analog circuitry and, at least with a bit of low temperature solder, it's a trivial repair. If you take the batteries out for a few seconds and the time and date settings get reset, it's the supercap.

[@EEVblog2]

These batteries survived the shipping to me, and who knows how long before that, no problems.

[@michaelrice500]

Thanks - I'll take a look. @@antoespiga

[@TrondBrgeKrokli]

This video appeared in my feed and I thought this was going to be about how to avoid expensive tax in customs, but apparently I was mistaken. Lots of random topics these days.

[@qzorn4440]

Maybe it's a fluke that it has a problem? 🤔 Happy New Year! 🥳

[@amham48]

Flukes website indicates the 287 carries a "lifetime limited warranty".

[@augustaking8]

Never doubt Fluke.

[@wilcostienezen9403]

Nice, I have always more broken stuff if I find gear to repair 😊

[@AndrewFremantle]

I think you're the only person I've ever heard complain about getting something that *isn't* broken on eBay....

[@TheCod3r]

I hate buying faultt stuff which turns out to work. It's nice knowing we can resell it but like you I buy them for videos so it ruins the videos

[@PlasmaHH]

afaik the "recording device" is for recordings on paper i.e. a built in printer

[@werner.x]

Sorry, declaring used things defective is very normal nowadays for an ebay - dealer, that doesn't want to have extra expenses and extra work by dealing with returned stuff. It's a thing to consider, otherwise you quickly end up broke or in need of more staff without having any more income.

[@EEVblog2]

Yeah, but they usually just list it under the category of Faulty and tell you it's sold as-is. They usually don't go out of their way to tell you it's specifically malfunctioning in the listing.

[@werner.x]

@@EEVblog2 They do it here in Germany. Maybe the laws are different.

[@EEVblog2]

@@werner.x Under ebays policy AFAIK the category you list it under is what protects you as a seller.

[@frydaym.8726]

I fixed one last year for my brother, it has a burnt mosfet and ir sensor for the voltage leads. Can you test yours for bad solder joint or over current.

[@MoreCharactersThanNeeded]

Not sure about the laws in Korea but where I am from it sometimes makes more sense to buy a new one than sending it in for calibration business wise. If the [price for a new one] - [price for the old you sell] < [calibration cost]

[@PilotInCommand777]

The Fluke 287 and 289 have issues with the memory back-up device. Cannot remember if it is a battery or a super cap

[@BerndFelsche]

Tell the seller that they didn't ship the malfunctions.😊

[@ralphj4012]

Did the description not mention that the 10A fuse blows when you try to measure 100mA?

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

Ebay's rules for what you can list as 'used' have changed. Unless it works exactly as it did when it was new, the buyer now has come-back if you sell it as used.

[@Ni5ei]

Really? So even if there's the slightest thing off and you clearly put it in the description you aren't allowed to list it as Used and it has to be For parts/Not working?

[@gerryjamesedwards1227]

@@Ni5ei from the way it's worded now, I wouldn't risk it, and loads of sellers seem to feel the same. The amount of spares or repairs listings has gone up considerably. This is UK Ebay, though, I should add. I'm guessing they'd apply it across the board, but I can't say for sure.

[@AsmodeusDeviluke]

The lead detection led just starting to brake away from the PCB?

[@Sctronic209]

Is the memory battery good they tend to leak.

[@780brando]

fuggg gotta check my 289,hope I don't have duraleaks in it

[@papinkelman7695]

So that's the fluke the LPL warned us about... and now we know.

[@tiagoferreira086]

"let's do it one more time to see that wasn't a fluke" lol 😂 great channels, time well spent

[@enoz.j3506]

Would love a Fluke 287, way behond my budget.

[@dr_jaymz]

Perhaps the data logging doesn't work since that's what they said.

[@toreopp]

I got this at work

[@anthonyhitchings1051]

I bought a "parts camera" Nikon D80 off ebay - its works fine !!

[@gbowne1]

I think the malfunction here was the seller and/or previous owner.

[@leonkernan]

They don’t break them like they used to

[@joshuamacdonald4913]

Actually I may have a homemade function generator I could send you if you want a challenge. I picked it up from a local ham who picked it up from someone…. No one has figured it out yet.

[@Digital-Dan]

Does it record as claimed? Not sure what that means anyway.

[@Okurka.]

Doesn't the 121GW have a recording device?

[@gamingSlasher]

Some blokes are always lucky.

[@fernlew8828]

Couldn't let 2023 end with a repair video of your multimeter. I think someone blew up a fuse and it went faulty.

[@for2utube]

It’s not broken but you don’t hear me not complaining! (Paraphrasing Bender from Futurama)

[@Waccoon]

Breaking news: everything works fine! Hey, if the video gives me a chuckle, it's still worth it. 8)

[@wengeo_eletronica]

Where can I find the electrical diagram for this Fluke?

[@mc_cpu]

I was expecting the board to missing

[@joshuamacdonald4913]

You are making me want to drop some cash and take a chance. I would love to show up to class with a fluke meter.

[@borayurt66]

It is malfunctioning, the fuse is blown, requires a costly repair. Have you checked out the prices of those Bussmann fuses? I bought an Aneng DMM much cheaper than one of those fuses.

[@thanhhuynh272]

I was at my local Tip Shop, they let me rat around in the staff/behind-the-counter area where they PAT test stuff. I found a Fluke 112 on the floor…I asked if anyone had dropped their meter…but those PAT “test” people would have no clue with such an instrument…I was informed that it was faulty and destined for the E-Waste bin outside, so I asked if I cipould take it and attempt to fix it. They told me that they “had tried” but to no avail and gave it to me for nix! I took it home and at power up….NOTHING…just how I like ‘em. Started following the leads and tracks from the battery with my Tenma meter on continuity test…came to a point on the main B+ rail where it dived through the board at a via, it was O/C at the via, so I pressed down really hard with the tip of the Tenma’s probe, just in case it was a conformal coating I had to get through and I CAME TO LIFE! It was open where the through-hole-plating met the pad and pushing down hard with the Tenma’s probe closed it. Still got it five years on, it still works on the original batteries. Has some electrical apprentice’s name engraved into the back of it. You’d tend to think thst anyone compitent enough to own a multimeter would be compitent enough to attermt to trace an easy fault such as this, and PAT testers wouldn’t even TRY to teace even the most basic of faults!

[@nameless5413]

I have never heard of someone having bad luck getting something that dose not work. Most people have exact opposite problem. Bloody Australia has to turn even that on its head .)

[@MrSupro]

Occasionally I will buy a “Broken” fluke off eBay just to fix it. Apart from fuses and bad battery terminals the most common two issues are dirty zebra connector on the display and there is an input resistor that blows open when you use continuity on high voltage. In 70’s series it’s a 1K believe leading to a transorb/mov/tvs ish component and I forget the value on the 80’s, 170’s, and 280’s but I’m sure it’s similar. Memory failing on me. If they turn on, then they are usually easy to fix. Now that re pop displays and parts are available on eBay they should pretty much last forever or until the ASIC dies on them.

[@_Steven_S]

Can't help but think someone's bought a working 287 and has/will receive the malfunctioned one Dave should've gotten 😶

[@danosdotnl]

How much did you pay? Is 'malfucntion' a customs trick? Is there a difference with e-waste?

[@tszaboo4952]

I've sent back multimeters under warranty because the beeper didn't work. I'm sure they spent 0 effort tying to repair it, so I'm sure you can end up with one like that.

[@tuxontour]

I found out how to buy a faulty meter .... just buy one that says "Worked fine last time I testet" or "Untestet as I do not know how it works". Those come most of the time from people who try to measure current in the outlet from live to nutral and dont have a spare fuse roll some aluminium foil around the broken fuse and try again.

[@user-xj8kr1dk1h]

I noticed that you didn’t like the idea of alkaline batteries in a nice meter. Are they prone to leakage over time?

[@EEVblog2]

You must be new here, welcome!

[@bertblankenstein3738]

Dave has a couple of multimeters, probably somewhere in the ballpark of 100, and then there is the EEVBlog meters inventory.

[@tiagoferreira086]

I believe that he still continues his long lasting leakage experiment of alkaline batteries in some plastic containers. Along the time he also had multiple alkaline leakages experiences. By the way i've been following this channel for more than 10 years....

[@knyshov]

I love "broken" stuff on eBay. ;) Luckily, sellers usually have no clue how to test their stuff.