Fluke-378FC Walk Through - Fluke Fridays - Episode 04

[@raindropsrising7662]

Thanks for putting this together with a good review. Am planning to get the 378FC. Already have 376FC, 87V and 289 with i400 clamp... And I want the 378 for the 3-phase V&A convenience. Thanks

[@Mike-dn4ju]

Just got the 378fc in the mail today, what a game changer.

[@lvggeneratorservicellc7683]

Very nice video. I use a 376fc for daily use. Might have to check this out. Thanks!!!

[@Keatononame13]

Grabbing one, seriously appreciated. Nice to find an actual end-user's perspective on the thing instead of the corporate videos fluke pushes out. Currently going through a technical program in college now, figured buy once cry once. Considering the new field sense technology is certainly being received well by veterans in the field makes it a no-brainer for myself.

[@fridayswithbrandon]

As a student you should take advantage of Flukes Student rebate program (they just recently added the 378 FC, I'm not sure if it's showing up on the website yet. But it should be soon.): students.flukeapps.com/products

[@Keatononame13]

@@fridayswithbrandon Much appreciated, took a break from studying and noticed this. 378 is indeed in the program. 👍

[@Keatononame13]

@@fridayswithbrandon Just letting you know I was accepted for the student discount, I bought from amazon before registering for my discount ~$803. Fluke allowed me to submit my receipt for 20% rebate. Ironically, they suggest viewing their "approved distributors" page, which gave a 404 error on their own internal website. Unknown whether they will be willing to offer me the rebate considering I bought at amazon for a mildly discounted price. Regardless I just wanted to say thank you, if I do end up getting the rebate, that just makes it an easy no-brainer to fully stock up on klein journeyman series pliers. Much appreciated.

[@fridayswithbrandon]

I was asked if you can monitor Power Factor...It depend on your definition of Monitor. But here are a couple things that will hopefully help clarify: -378 FC can give you PQ indication including Power Factor, but this will just give you an indication that your Power Factor might be bad. You can adjust this sensitivity on what the 378 FC declares as bad form a "low" "medium" or "high" sensitivity -377 FC does not do any PQ including Power Factor indication But you cannot see a PF number nor can you log this. If you need to log PF I would recommend lookin at the Fluke 173x loggers.

[@asadbabilbabil7791]

Very good

[@vesselartedecor2455]

A question about the Fluke 378 FC. In the case of substations, where there are three or more conductors per phase. Was the flexible clamp able to measure the current of parallel cables per phase? That is, on 1600 A molded case circuit breakers, which have pro-phase triple shoe connectors. This claw was able to measure the current in the three cables for each phase?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

I think I understand the question, let me take a stab at it. If you have multiple conductors on a single phase (say 3 wires for phase A) and you can get the iFlex around all 3 wires. Then yes you could measure the total current AC up to 2500 amps per phase.

[@MichaelSmith-dn6xt]

Great video, thanks for this. How well does this meter measure DC Current, the video mentioned DC current testing but it was never shown. Can you comment on the reliability and quality of the DC current testing capabilities please.

[@fridayswithbrandon]

DC current is good. It's just hard to generate DC current in my basement. But I do know this is not designed to measure DC mA. So as long as you are measuring DC current of several amps to 1000 it should do a great job for you.

[@MichaelSmith-dn6xt]

@@fridayswithbrandon Thanks for the response. I'm not measure instrumentation 4mA to 20mA signals so the 378 FC will hopefully work well.

[@saruaralam440v]

How to connected with my smart phone?

[@b3owu1f]

What exactly is power quality? Like how do amps (or volts) have "bad" power quality vs good? I just assume electricity flows.. period. Is there some wave form (if you were on an OSC) that would fluctuate wildly.. and in similar wording.. the amps or volts would be drifting/shifting more than like .01 or .1 or something in either direction to indicate the "flow" is not stable or good? What would it indicate if its poor.. a ground issue, or the source of power like a motor might be crapping out? Is that why you would check for it.. or if the PQ pops up what exactly is it telling you?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

Lots of things could cause bad PQ. Parameters like power factor, phase imbalance, transients, dips, swells, and others I'm probably not thinking of. Basically if you use one of these tools and they indicate bad PQ. I would recommend hooking up a PQ analyzer or calling a contractor to hook up a PQ analyzer. The PQ analyzer would give you details about all the different parameters and log them over time. Based on this logging session you could then come up with a plan to fix the poor Power Quality.

[@adrianjurj3966]

So if i wanna test the thd on a portable generator single phase how i'm doing?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

It won't give you a number but it will indicate if you have too hi THD. There are different levels you can set it. Look at user manual

[@engineeredappliancerepair2752]

Thanks for the vid! It’s a beautiful meter but I’m wondering if the Amprobe Nav54 is better? I’ve got the 378 in my Amazon cart I just don’t know yet.

[@fridayswithbrandon]

The NAV54 is a much older and more affordable meter. While it can do most of the measurements of the 378 FC and can do some measurements that the 378 FC cannot do, it's hard to compare the two they are not apples to apples. If you want non contact 3 phase voltage reading, non contact phase rotation, iFlex, and visual continuity. The 378 FC is by far the better choice (and you get better case and an iFlex accessory) If you want to measure actual harmonics and don't mind doing quite a complex procedure to measure phase rotation and many of its other non-basic measurements; the NAV54 might be a better OPTION. (I would encourage you to download and read through the NAV54 user manual before buying so you have an idea of the potential difficulty you might experience using it do get what you want out of it) I would say for most they will be much happier with the experience they have with the Fluke-378 FC over the NAV54.

[@engineeredappliancerepair2752]

@@fridayswithbrandon Thanks for your response. You've definitely given me some things to think about. The visual continuity would be great in industrial environments.

[@DanielMartinez-dd2iq]

Do you need the ground clip or can you just use the black lead to ground?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

you don't have to use the ground clip. As long as the black lead is connected to ground

[@mikeadler434]

👍👍

[@jacobh4059]

hey! can this meter also use the magnet attachment?=

[@fridayswithbrandon]

Yes and it actually comes with one in the box. I just don't have it attached in the video.

[@rjthomasindyusa]

Can you get a history of amp draw so I can see the max amp draw on a panel in a 12 or 24 hour period? Thanks

[@fridayswithbrandon]

Yes in the amp you just go to logging and hit start log. Obviously you could only do this on a single phase not all 3 at the same time. Unless you had 3 clamps

[@rjthomasindyusa]

@@fridayswithbrandon Is it true that you can only log for 10 minutes on the 375 and your phone has to be near the meter? Thanks!

[@fridayswithbrandon]

@@rjthomasindyusa no it should log just like the other 37x FC tools. It cal log to internal memory or to the phone if near by. I always log to internal memory then download to the phone after the log

[@joaquinpulido7404]

How or what senerio in troubleshooting would you use the power quality indicator?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

If you suspect potential PQ problems on a system and want to do a quick check to see if you are having one of the following PQ problems (amps, volts, or power factor). -You might also want to check if installing a new piece of equipment that might be very sensitive to poor PQ -Or if you have a machine tripping out and you are not sure why a quick PQ check could help you confirm or eliminate PQ as a possible cause

[@lankaneasypower6353]

Vary Good

[@delvinwooten3213]

Hello do you know the model number of the clamp meter pouch?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

The case that comes with the 377/378 FC is not sold separately yet. I think maybe next year. You can see all the option for a cases on the Fluke accessory link below: www.fluke.com/en-us/products/accessories

[@pubchat2913]

Do either of those new meters measure micro amps?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

No I think from Fluke the 902 FC is the only clamp with micro amps. Sorry 😢

[@mysterychemical]

How long has battery lasted on this meter?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

Fluke site says 200 hours for battery life.

[@eddiecuevas1085]

How accurate is it measuring voltage non contact

[@fridayswithbrandon]

I think Fluke claims 3 %

[@AndyP4X]

I’m curious how it’s detecting PQ issues?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

Form what I know it measures volts and amps. Then looks for THD (total harmonic distortion) on both the voltage side and the current side. It also measures PF (power factor) and gives you an indication if any of these parameters are higher than Fluke sees as acceptable for the various sensitivity settings you as the user can set in the 378 FC.

[@DannyBokma]

Can you test phase rotation without the phone / app?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

No you cannot unfortunately. 😕

[@DannyBokma]

@@fridayswithbrandon Aw to bad :(, thanks for the reply!

[@deshawn2877]

What the different between 377fc and 378fc?

[@fridayswithbrandon]

The Fluke-377 FC does not come with any of the power quality indication.

[@shafiqahmad8900]

Please what is the price fluke 378fc

[@fridayswithbrandon]

www.fluke.com/en-us/product/electrical-testing/clamp-meters/378-fc looks like as of today its MSRP is $863