Fluke DMM recommendations?

The 87 is an excellent choice--accurate, rugged, all the right features. I've had one at work and one at home for well over a decade--no problems. I especially like the 4-1/2 digit option.

Cheers

Think you'll find the Fluke *is* a Chinese meter...;-)

All of my Flukes, including my very nice new 8845A, say "made in USA."

ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/MadeInUSA.JPG

Are any of their low-end things actually Chinese?

Everybody else - Agilent, Keithley, BNC, Wavetek - are selling their names and shipping Chinese junk. The low-end Tek scopes are made in China, but I think they're still Tek designs.

John

I got a flier from an electronics company the other day with some Fluke models on special offer and that said they were made in China. They could have been wrong, of course - you'd need to see the actual unit to be sure.

Just because it's designed/made in China doesn't make it junk. They are perfectly capable of making high quality stuff as well as rubbish. You need to blame the brand name if they allow crap to be sold using their logo.

My Fluke 8012A, 45, 87, 89-IV, and 12B dvms all say "Made in the USA".

However, my Fluke 62 ir thermometer says "Made in China".

Bob

That could be the protective Porcelain for the sensor, or am I missing something?

;-)

I second that, the robot produced computer cards for example seem very well made to me.

Cheers ........... Rheilly P

Not much difference between the models. Improved accuracy is the main thing, and LCD displays have gotten better (bigger digits, better contrast, better backlight). The latest 87-V has a slightly different "look" to previous models.

Stick with either the 70, 170, or 80 series. Do not touch the big 'data logger" 189 model, they are power hogs and chew batteries in no time. Don't know about the new 289.

There is big market for used items on Ebay. Some good bargains to be had.

Dave.

The Fluke Chinese "market test" started with the experimental Fluke 19 released in the Asia Pacific market. Used the same chipset as the 87 at the time, and offered unbelievable value for money. It was too good to be true, most Fluke 19's failed with all sorts of problems. They learned a few things from that and the 110 series is now a lot better, but still made in China.

They 170, 80, and higher models are all still made in the US last I checked. Fluke have been careful to keep their Chinese meters separate from their US made meter range. Only the US meters have the lifetime warranty.

Dave.

I'd not agree. They don't have any *obvious* differences. Most makers who do a pro and hobby range use different colours, etc.

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I got a very good Nicholson 40 W @ 230 V soldering iron that said "made in USA" I recently got a nytech

digital camera, which was ade in China, and is excellent, Pentax lens, sony CCD, aluminium die cast body, excellent pictures. Most things now are made in China anyway, the better of

99% of my computer parts:-)

A lot of people are rebranding the Array boxes...

I haven't used their arb, but their benchtop DVM (aka Keithley 2100)

*is* junk.

John

My old Metcal MX500 soldering iron is made in USA, my new one is made in China. They are made to look the same when viewed from the front, but the casing has been redesigned on the new one and I suspect that the internal circuitry would probably have been cost-reduced as well - there were quite a lot of nice parts used inside the old one. So far the only problem with the new one is there seems to be a magnet in the stand that somehow shuts off the heating when the iron is in the stand. It reheats quite fast, but not quite fast enough for me. I might remove that magnet. I think it might have been done because they offer a warranty on the tips, and we have had quite a few fail and be replaced under warranty. Perhaps they are trying to extend the tip life to cut their warranty costs - just my guess.

Chris

Get A 289, you won't go wrong! :)

"

I just skinned the holster off my Fluke 115 that I bought last winter at Sears on a US trip ( Sears USA has *much* better tools than Sears Canada, included the true laser distance meter that I picked up last year) and all the meter says on the back is "Designed in USA" - which I am sure means "Manufactured in China". Might not be a high end meter, but it doesn't feel flimsy and it's really very good at verifying that the wall plug is still 60.00 Hz and that a fresh battery is around 1.5 volts. It's certainly better than the 15-year-old Radio Shack multimeter that used to be my bench meter...I seem to have good luck with these things, I still have a 40 year old analog meter I was given as a kid.

Bill

Dave is right, China usually make junks and rubbish but that is for their others brands and factories and they do have quality stuff but these Chinese "business model" is different from Japanese when it comes to "brand power" and marketing, just because Fluke is Made in China doesn't mean it has gone bad as it still a Fluke US engineered designs, I have been using my US made Fluke 12 over 16 years and it is still good and prime so the end note here is Made in China label is not the question, it is the brand that is the core issue here.

Choong

Dave Plowman (News) wrote: