Fluke 88 meter.

[Wayne M.]

I have had this 88 since about that year, and it’s a great DVOM.
Somewhere along the way, I guess while changing the battery, I must have tweaked the board, and the display is faint. I can read it, but on a steep angle. I’ve heard this is a problem with these. I just put another battery in it, and I figure it’s high time to look into this.
Before I contact Fluke, I thought I’d reach out here.
TIA!

 

[DavidC]

I have had several through my electrical career. Call Fluke, they will mostly tell you to take it to an authorized dealer which then will ship it to fluke and they will decide to fix or repair. Everytime I had problems they either replaced or trashed and I had to buy another. They have a limited lifetime warranty but I do not know the particulars of said warranty. If you have had it since 88 probably not much hope for warranty or replacement. I have had a few apart and never found or fixed the problem as there are a lot of electronics going on unless you have a good idea of what your looking for which is very doubtful.

 

[PBJ2500CTD]

Contact Fluke for the availability of the conductive strips. Several years ago Fluke used to have a display repair kit available consisting of two conductive strips. The conductor strips, made from silicone rubber and embedded conductive strands, going from the main board to the LCD display seems to "loose conductivity" after a period of time. I have taken my Model 87 apart several times to delicately clean the display contacts and conductive strips. The last two times cleaning only lasted about six months before the segments began to fade; probably due to the friction erosion of the conductive strands while cleaning. Gotta get off my bottom and research the availability of these strips.
On edit:
Here is what you MAY need. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fluke-88-Display-Repair-Kit-and-Step-by-Step-Photo-Instructions/202259494138?_trkparms=aid=111001&algo=REC.SEED&ao=1&asc=20160811114145&meid=38a8e68e945f41c882b4fc5b059e16b6&pid=100667&rk=5&rkt=8&sd=192481266385&itm=202259494138&pg=2045573&_trksid=p2045573.c100667.m2042 <<<Updated link edit
Contact for specific unit parts: https://www.fluke.com/en-us/support/repair

 

[Timd32]

Contact fluke and see if it is a lifetime warranty meter, they fixed a few of mine for free that were pretty old, oldest is '96.

I have about 50 maybe more fluke meters of various types, they are pretty tough to beat still.

Worth fixing it for sure, new ones are really expensive.

If you need a place Byram Labs in NJ is a great place to send yours in. They have fixed a few that were not under warranty. They used to do my annual calibration but now I have a shop out of MD come up every year to do them, saves me the hassle of shipping that much stuff.

http://byramlabs.com/

 

[Wayne M.]

Thanks PBJ!!
I saw some stuff like this, but I don’t always trust eBay.

 

[Wayne M.]

Thanks Tim also! Byram hummm.

 

[Timd32]

IMO is all a scam on that end for a single meter most places are going to be high.

I recall the 88 was discontinued a while back they were just for automotive, had the RPM lead and the sort... that was based on a 87 which is a very robust meter, most likely too robust last too long, they still make a version of the 87, no RPM lead on those. So parts for an 88 will be high, but displays cross over to the older version of the 87s, should be cheaper, if you are using the RPM and the auto stuff its good meter to repair, the newer 87 is around $375 no RPM, they don't fit my needs. We have one 87-V.

I had my 88 repaired a few years ago, its still kicking use it as a shop meter now. Gets calibrated every year. Never had an issue calibration wise, clear display was cracked and died at one point.

If the normal route of fixing it yourself, with. parts kit does not work....

ETI is good as well, little bit high at times on the repair, maybe your shop will cover it, I know I have fixed and calibrated folks personal stuff over the years, it gets buried in the mix. I have spent about $100k with ETI on cal and they build equipment have one really nice test set from them, never had an issue to speak of.

https://electricaltestinstruments.com/

ETI has been doing my on site cal for 10 or 12 years, I spend about $3,500 in annual calibration, takes about 2-3 days to do all the stuff I have, not just handhelds, plus my time and usually 1 other person, plus shipping, plus the headache of chasing 15 people down to track all their crap, then try to ship it out and make sure they have what they need for that day. Usually end of August.

Thats why I do all our torque wrenches anymore, was about $4k for the stuff saved me about $1.5k per year, they were getting really pricey to do, and I had to go to 6mo per check, so that would have doubled that 1.5,,,, anything calibration or repair for electrical stuff is a scam....

Found one quote from Byram back in 2012 wanted $202 to calibrate the ET-88, IMO that was a bit high even for todays pricing, but the 73 meter listed was only $22.50 to eval for repair, turned out the 73 had a lifetime warranty was a old friends meter and fluke repaired or replaced the whole internals. Who knows what the min repair eval is. ETI, will be higher on that than Byram is my guess.

The 88 repair when I bought mine was not lifetime in my case can't find the repair paper for that one.

 

[Wayne M.]

Wow Tim, thanks!
I was perusing fluke’s site yesterday, and I didn’t see the 88 and now I understand.
The last time I saw any tools getting calibrated, it was torque wrenches at Costco tire center.
I am very impressed with Byram’s statement at the bottom of that statement.
Maybe I’ll try to fix with a kit. This is my meter at home, so it’s on me. Yes I have the inductive RPM clamp and a neat K thermocouple that plugs into COM and V.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I have a Fluke 36 that I’ve had since the late ‘90’s. Just recently one of the terminals you plug the leads into broke off the board. I called every local repair shop and Fluke and none of them will touch it. Fluke told me to just buy a new one. Is this something Byram would be able to fix?

 

[Timd32]

That 36 has some intresting specs that make it a pricey replacement, what most places reccomended is $385 for the current version of that one, the 600V/600A AC/DC is what gets you the DC clamp ons are a bit more pricey.

My guess the price would be below 50% of a new meter to have them put a new jack set in it.

If you can get the jack or a cross reference its most likely not a bad fix for a decent electronics person to try out.

This is an 87III video I found tonight you can tell he was being cautious on the solder but it took a decent amt of heat, nice trick using the copper strand to dissipate some heat.



I would try to fix if it was mine, ETI I think quoted me $158 to do a jack set in a 179 last year, turned out they have a lifetime warranty so I sent it back to fluke, was out the shipping and eval to ETI, but I was fully aware of that up front, was still cheaper to not have them fix it and have fluke do it under warranty.

If its not a basket case and just a bad jack and said jack is available ask around if you have any electronic friends that want to give it a shot.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

If its not a basket case and just a bad jack and said jack is available ask around if you have any electronic friends that want to give it a shot.

It’s in perfect shape other than the one jack. Everyone I’ve asked about fixing it doesn’t want to damage it further. I know it’s an expensive unit, so I would like to have it fixed rather than replace it. How would I find out if it has a lifetime warranty or not? I never thought to ask about warranty when I called Fluke and they never mentioned anything either.

 

[Timd32]

It’s in perfect shape other than the one jack. Everyone I’ve asked about fixing it doesn’t want to damage it further. I know it’s an expensive unit, so I would like to have it fixed rather than replace it. How would I find out if it has a lifetime warranty or not? I never thought to ask about warranty when I called Fluke and they never mentioned anything either.

Its a funny system they have, some stuff is basic warranty others are long term.

Looks like that one is just the one year.

You can fill out the quote request for Byram and ETI, they both are quality folks and good people to work with. Small companies.

Then just base it on price who cheaper on the quote.

Not sure I have any I can pop apart and take a look at the config for a clamp on. They have tamperproof stickers on a bunch of mine, Im not back at the shop till much later this week, heading to San Antonio tomorrow for a few days for work.

Manual attached found on the web.

Also found this, we do have a customer number, but Fluke will do one off repairs.

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/support/repair

 

[Timd32]

I did have to stop at the shop this AM.

ET-88 most likely 1996 vintage

Looked at the clamp meter I have, none are front post, 335, 374, 374FC, 376FC just the ones sitting on a random cart. All have that little calibration sticker, if I find one with that broken I will pop one apart at some point.

 

[Wayne M.]

That’s a nice collection.

 

[Timd32]

That’s a nice collection.

Alwasy better if they are in the field making $.

I try to have a few spares for cases of theft and destruction by my techs. Right now a little heavy on the spares.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

Timd32, thanks for all the info.

 

[Alan Reagan]

Regarding your display......My Fluke 77 did the same thing. To fix it, all I had to do was remove the screws, remove the faceplate. Reseat the display on the circuit board. That usually takes care of it.

 

[sarj]

haven't been in this forum much. I have about 10 Flukes... 189 is by far my favorite. 289 is great, but a little big. I'm pretty hard on the jacks for the leads and try to be careful going in and out of the cases (which is every day). It's not like I couldn't open them up, but I just send 'em in for repair. The calibration is over-rated and not worth it unless you're doing some serious ****. Their repairs are top notch and though expensive, worth it for me... especially on the meters out of production, like the 189. I don't know anything about the 88, but the 89's I have, and most of the guys I work with use 'em, I'd go ahead and let Fluke repair it right, and their repairs last

 

[Timd32]

Yeah no need to calibrate a meter for home or garage use.

17 years in business only had one, 179 not calibrate correctly, sent it back to fluke they said it was fine, most likely a test lead issue, they re-certified it for a few bucks to get a sticker on it.

Unfortunately all of my contracts require the NIST traceability for our line of work, otherwise yeah I don't see the point, the handhelds don't need it.

That's why I do our torque wrenches in house we were getting killed on those.

We are doing our annual Monday-Wed.

Most likely 90% of our handhelds, we do some swaps to get them all done. Will stagger this next year, half at 6mo.

 

[jhenderson]

How did you go about getting authorization for in house calibration? Especially on torque wrenches.