Why are Fluke Multitestesters so expensive?

[spackard]

I showed my old Simpson meter to an AC guy and he said it was worth a lot, but when I looked it wasn't going for much.

There’s many models spanning decades. The price depends on several factors, including the age of the buyer.
One of the nice things about a Simpson is you can use it as a voltmeter with no batteries in it. Makes for a nice trunk-stored meter.
The other thing is you can see glitches.
But scopemeters have really come down in price. Also, several DMMs have a fast sampling bar graph, which simulates glitch detection.

 

[Dave Hess]

I inherited my father's who worked at Nasa/Unisys and worked on mainframes, and hard drives the size of washing machines. It’s a priceless to me.

Can you post a photo of it.

 

[nomas]

I did electrical work for many years . Control circuits , protective relaying , etc. I used a Fluke 87 most of the time but every now and then I broke out the Simpson 260 . Real handy for kicking a CT .

 

[wavinwayne]

FWIW, I recently bought a very basic Fluke 101 on Amazon for $45. It tests the most basic electrical things, but I like it.

 

[Warstud]

Why are Fluke Multimeters so expensive

Same reason Snap On tools are expensive . They make good quality products and people are willing to pay a premium for them .

 

[supton]

I bought one of the cheaper Flukes and it's so-so, can tell the probes are lower quality.

But the 179 I got for work, that feels good and just ticks along for my light usage. The cheaper ones that I use at home, eh... ok for hobby but definitely can tell the difference.

I did have someone give to me a Fluke that was utterly worn out, like the knob was flakey and it was changing modes randomly. Don't remember what model but given the wear it must have been pre-war (a joke, couldn't have been more than 40 years old). So they can wear out. [It didn't respond to typical fixes and I didn't need it, and it didn't cost anything--off it went.]

 

[sloinker]

Many different Fluke's for many differing jobs. Prices run the gamut. Most meters won't supply or simulate a current loop as demanded by instrument techs. Many meters won't read frequency.....Fluke makes quality meters for the application desired. If you just want a kick around the tool box generic meter you are probably barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Cujet]

I have a Fluke 75 that I bought back in 1983 that still works great, that's 40 years (jeez I'm getting old). Would a HF DMM last that long ? Will a new Fluke last that long.

I did purchase a feature rich HF meter, heck it even included a light meter. It failed within 2 years. Clearly JUNK.

 

[facility1]

i have used fluke when i was working till retired in a hospital setting (maintenance),,they are the best meters,,have used some other brands also,,,at home now i purchased a Klien 425 ,,nice meter for the price,always look for good leeds and ol protection.

 

[vavavroom]

Buy once, cry once.

 

[sloinker]

The biggest issue with meters that have high impedance is what I call fake voltage. Since the leads on high impedance dmm's don't load a circuit to any extent, sometimes you will read a false voltage that may otherwise be loaded out of measurement from lower impedance meters and anything that has a D'Arsonval movement Like the old Simpson Analogs. Speaking of the old Simpson's. Does anyone recall what meters we used on circuits requiring a high imput impedance prior to digital multi meters?

 

[PandaBear]

I use Fluke at work, but at home I just use a cheap Harbor Freight analog one. I can tolerate 10-20% off at home but at work I need something precise and I can trust. Wasting 10 hours chasing a problem and then realize the tool is broken sucks.

Sometimes even the Fluke is not enough and I bust out the Agilent.

 

[berniedd]

The biggest issue with meters that have high impedance is what I call fake voltage. Since the leads on high impedance dmm's don't load a circuit to any extent, sometimes you will read a false voltage that may otherwise be loaded out of measurement from lower impedance meters and anything that has a D'Arsonval movement Like the old Simpson Analogs. Speaking of the old Simpson's. Does anyone recall what meters we used on circuits requiring a high imput impedance prior to digital multi meters?

Huh? It's the other way around. High impedance meters are more accurate than lower impedance meters. The high impedance shunts (or "steals") less current from the circuit under test, thereby loading it less, and shows a truer reading.

Before DMMs came along, we used analog meters. 40 years ago, I had a Sanwa YX360TRD analog meter that was rated at 20,000 ohms per volt. A few years later, I acquired another Sanwa (ZX-2000) that was 50,000 ohms per volt. These did not have any amplifiers in the circuitry, and the onboard batteries were used only for providing the current when doing resistance measurements.

In the 1950s to 1970s, if you needed a very high impedance tester you went with a vacuum tube voltmeter or VTVM (about 10 megohms input impedance across all volt ranges) which was essentially an ordinary meter with a vacuum tube amplifier in the input circuit. In the 1970s I think, the market shifted from vacuum tube to the field effect transistor (FET) and did the same job.

 

[Cujet]

The biggest issue with meters that have high impedance is what I call fake voltage. Since the leads on high impedance dmm's don't load a circuit to any extent, sometimes you will read a false voltage that may otherwise be loaded out of measurement from lower impedance meters and anything that has a D'Arsonval movement Like the old Simpson Analogs. Speaking of the old Simpson's. Does anyone recall what meters we used on circuits requiring a high imput impedance prior to digital multi meters?

Simpson 260 was always a fav. I found myself wanting one again to do some troubleshooting on my home neutral problems (to watch the voltage change), but they are so old now, they are just not worth dealing with. Maybe I'll purchase a new analog meter...

Of course, FPL fixed the neutral and said they found nothing wrong.... But the power at my house is now perfect.

 

[zzyzzx]

I'm still using a Fluke 77 that I bought in the early 1980's.

Now for regular home use, a cheap meter bought at a department store or HD or Loews is probably fine, but the Harbor Freight ones are terrible.

 

[brianl703]

Does anyone recall what meters we used on circuits requiring a high imput impedance prior to digital multi meters?

VTVM, vacuum tube voltmeter, or the solid-state equivalent.

 

[brianl703]

Huh? It's the other way around. High impedance meters are more accurate than lower impedance meters. The high impedance shunts (or "steals") less current from the circuit under test, thereby loading it less, and shows a truer reading.

For electricians, they often use a low-impedance meter like a Wiggy or a self-powered meter because they need to know that the circuit is actually intact and will carry a current. A high impedance meter will give a normal voltage reading on a circuit which won't even power a nite light bulb.

 

[thastinger]

I grew up on Simpson 260s and Fluke 77s...worth every penny.

 

[sloinker]

For electricians, they often use a low-impedance meter like a Wiggy or a self-powered meter because they need to know that the circuit is actually intact and will carry a current. A high impedance meter will give a normal voltage reading on a circuit which won't even power a nite light bulb.

This is 100% correct. A wiggy on relay logic or PLC's or triac circuits. High input impedance meters can display a ghost voltage on circuits that is essentialy snubbed or loaded with a wiggy. The downside of a wiggy is you can also introduce what a PLC/DCS etc construes a s a contact closure and the fun begins. For those that said VTVM....you are correct .

My personal meter is a Fluke 789 along with various other meters for RTD's/TC's and P/I's, Absolute Vacuum/Temp/Flow/Level transducers, Manometers and the list goes on. We probably have upwards of a million bucks worth of shop equipment for electrical and instrument maintenance. Everything Instrument wise nowadays seems to be shifting toward a HART protocol which saves me time for sure.

 

[brianl703]

The downside of a wiggy is you can also introduce what a PLC/DCS etc construes a s a contact closure and the fun begins.

It'll also trip a GFCI, so if you test from hot to ground on a GFCI protected circuit with a wiggy or other low-impedance tester, you may wonder why the circuit just went dead..for a couple seconds, anyway.