[tony3d]

Hi all, I'm new to this form. I just got back into electronics about 5 months ago, and I'm having a blast! Was really into kit building, and such before I got married, then kinda dropped it due to simply being to busy. Now that I'm approaching retirement I'm starting to find I have much more time on my hands, so I began setting up an all new lab. I now have a new variable power supply, solder station, function generator, Oscilloscope, and another FAILED multimeter! Which brings me to the point of this post. I have always bought relatively cheap meters in the $80.00 range. I find them to be adequate, but their reliability even just as a hobbyist meter leaves a lot to be desired. My latest one a Klein MM1000 just had a failed range switch. So I finally decided to spend some real money, and ordered a Fluke 287, which should be hear Monday. Trouble is I have been hearing a bunch of chatter about this little super cap leaking on the board. Called Fluke the other day, and they keep telling me that this is an non-issue. This leaves a very bad taste in my mouth because if you look at some of he photo's on the web, it looks like quite an issue to me. Have any of you experienced this problem yet? If I keep the meter it is always going to seem somehow tainted to me! This would be my first Fluke product. Any input would be great! This was a lot of money, and Fluke's resistance to admitting a problem exists is troubling.

 

[meat01]

Usually this is the correct forum to post your question, but in this case, I think you will get more responses from the DIY forum from people who use multimeters daily.

 

[OddE]

Hi,
 
I realize this post is _old_, but still - whenever there's a problem with something, it tends to be grossly exaggerated by the nature of forum postings - if you're happy with your <insert name here>, you're likely to keep quiet about it. If you are not happy - well, you're quite likely to chime in.
 
My 287 was born on September 18th, 2008 according to the setup menu.
 
It has since been heavily used & abused on a daily basis - workshop use, field service on- and offshore, hobbyist work, etc, etc - hasn't let me down once.
 
Out of curiosity I peeked inside my Fluke right now - there's some very mild signs of corrosion on the cap in question, so it would probably be prudent to replace it in the near-ish future. I'll make sure to add one to my next RS/Farnell/whatever order.
 
Still - that's after five years of heavy usage* - and who knows how much longer it will work fine before the cap in question gives in.
 
Flukes are about as good as they get; I trust the OP will be happy with his for years to come.
 
*)Admittedly, the cap would probably be in the exact same state if my Fluke had just been sitting on a shelf for all these years.