Those front/rear selector buttons are notorious for getting oxidized contacts, creating issues. We get a few loads every year that need them replaced. A 2 dollar part fixes it, dont try to clean the contacts. At least I was getting paid when I learned that lesson...
Once upon a time, a gold digger came home after 5 years of hard work, with a tiny pocket full of gold. "What are you going to do with all that money?" "I will buy new tools for the next dig, which is starting tomorrow"
One problem of these multimeters using VFDs is that the display are usually quite dim for used ones and replacement can be quite expensive. I personally like meters such as Keithley 196 or Keithley 192 which have crisp LED displays.
Everytime you make a video about some used gear you got a bargain on, I go to ebay and its like 300 bucks plus 250 shipping from the USA and I am like "yeeeeeah" in good ol' Europe
AC is a seperate PCB... there are two versions of the PCB, if it is the wrong one you need to change a couple of connections around on the PCB, I had to do that on one of the units I purchases (I have had a few of them), it is mentioned in one of the service manuals.
Just picked up my first oscilloscope... REALLY nice Hitachi V-422 fully calibrated for $125 US. Super nice screen image. Thanks for these videos pointing the right directions... :)
These are wonderful benchtop meters. A common reoccurring issue with these is the input connectors. They tend to oxidize and mess up the low ohms and mV measurements. In the cal lab, we just pull out the connectors, clean, then solder to fix the problem. You then have to readjust the calibration.
I'd be wary of using switch cleaner on any high accuracy equipment (or radio gear) as it alters the dielectric constant of the switch contacts. Some switch cleaners can also damage front panel plastics over a period of time. Seen cases where a control has fallen off inside because its mountings have disintegrated a few months after switch cleaner was sprayed on it. This is certainly a concern on vintage gear if you want it to last. Have found that the best and safest thing to use (if you have to) is WD-40. Provided it's the genuine article, and not a ripoff of course. WD-40 was developed for use on the Atlas missile as a water dispersant (hence name) and a criterion was that it must not put electronics off-tune. Still keep it off soft plastics or rubber though.
I bought a really old "broken" computer thinking it would be fun to repair, wasn't broken they just forced the memory card in the wrong way around. I was strangely disappointed.
or somebody tried to jam the connector the wrong way around and ripped the socket clean off while managing to short out the Vcc rail to something else, melting every power trace, destroying the mosfets along with switch mode controller which caused the 5V logic supply to become 20 volts for a while. Welcome to destination fucked
I got an 8842A from 1993 and a 8840A from 1997. The older 42A has the old Motorola SCA623 (?) reference and the 40A has the LTFLU1. Both are probably the best unheated references. After all these years both meters deviate 0 to just 1 LSD from each other and they seem to never have been adjusted (cal stickers are old and okay). Which is impressive since the references should usually drift in different directions, at least thats what I read.
got my 8842a. with expected gpib interface. I was always just out of touch with 80's equipment, wanting to use my c64 on gpib. bought this to play with gpib, and it had the true rms ac board! I'm into hifi content creating, broadcast hifi nuts and normal people. On my dc calibrator, and as things warm up getting better all the time! true rms reference is important to me in my audio career as a contract tv radio broadcast engineer.
Nice Find! I notice that a lot of ebay sellers mark things 'For Parts or Not Working' so they can sell it as is no returns even if it actually works. It also costs money for them to properly test it.
Between the time and effort to test things, and the way that eBay shafts the seller if someone complains, its not terribly surprising that people are doing that.
the very few things i have sold on scambay I have listed as parts/not working even if the thing worked 100% way too many people who want to scam people these days
+Novanoid Sadly in a lot of cases even if you disabled returns, listed in the description as an as-is sale, eBay can still side with the buyer. And just give them their money back.
PSA: If you pick one of these up with a dim or dead display, it might be cold solder joints on the transformer taps. This solved dim display for some people, and in my case solved what I thought was a dead display. Great meter!
Another good find is the 8840A/AF. Made for the USAF, I belive. It contains the option 09 AC TRMS converter and IEEE-488. Got mine for about $60 too. Specs are not quite as good as the 42, but a solid meter nonetheless. Great price on the 8842A!
I have one of the AF ones. I got it in return for repairing 3 other identical ones that the AF repair center said were not repairable. The repair tag on mine said they had replaced the IC that their troubleshooting chart said to replace, but it didn't fix it. So I looked at the indicated IC, (not hard to find as it was covered with solder flux,) and noted that it had been installed backwards. So with nothing to lose I just removed it, cleaned up everything and reinstalled it in the correct orientation. I'm still using it on my bench 25 years later.
Picked up an 8840A/AF the other day with a recent calibration and teh AC option for $100. Same as this except it does not have as many of the ultra-high precision resistor nets. Some are just very-high precision - LOL! It seems prices have come back down a bit.
The Fluke 8840/8842s are great bench meters. If you aren't hung up on brands, younmay want to look up the Philips PM2525/2535s, and the HP/Agilent 3478/3478As. They both have LCD readouts, and should be in the same class as the Flukes. I don't remember the accuracy specs off the top of my head. I know the HP/Agilent is closed case calibration.
I used to use a Fluke calibrator as a function gen for tuning resolvers on a brushless motor meant to operate the control surfaces of a refueling jet's boom. The precision was just a joy, compared to trying to get accurate repeatability with a function gen with dials... Probably could have requested a digital FG, but that calibrator was perfect though!
Dave there is something to repair, why not make the display bright again? They are only feeding 5 volts to it so 8 or 10 volts might do the trick. I found one of these cheap at Goodwill that has the AC option and it's a bit dim, not as bad as this one, but when it gets too dim I'm going to try boosting it up.
I just got a good deal, too---a Fluke 45 for $130 + tax, free shipping. I don't have the standards required to see if it meets specs, but as far as my Fluke 87III on 4 1/2 digits, can tell, it might.
I recently bought an 8840A on eBay and am glad to find a good review on it. I did get the AC module and the GPIB module and I've seen the ones with the modules selling for up to $499. The ones without the modules installed go for significantly less, but sometimes, it's difficult to tell if the one you're ordering has the modules installed. There seems to be no physical difference between the 8842A and the 8840A.
Oh! I got it the drawing shows the opposite! I thought the white in the drawings represent the white in the switches!! It is confusing! BAD DESIGN!! >:-(
Yup. When I got my "for parts or repair" fluke on ebay, I opened it up, plugged in the daughter card correctly, and it worked. Not bad for twelve dollars.
I own one of these. It measures a voltage and after disconmecting the leads the display still displays a number around the measured value and only when the leads are shortened the display goes to nill. Is this behaviour normal for this multimeter?
The 4 lead option is great, with the .003% tolerance. I usually have a pair of 8842s running at any given time. Tektronix or Agilent bought Keithly. Agilent is now Keysight, which started as Bill & Dave or Hewlett Packard. Simpson or Triplett analog mechanical meters are not at all fun to restore. They have a shedload of goofy precision off the wall non-standard value resistors inside them, so I wind up tacking together .01% resistors in parallel to get them halfassed working again. VFDs are neat, but...... yeah, not after 30 years. This was the cat's ass meter when I was in high school. It's still good enough to do most of what I do.
Thank you, I just bought one, same thing, for parts AC not working, even has a calibration sticker... Error 30 and the pic of the back shows it never had the AC circuit installed at all... Not going to tell the seller his mistake, until it is in my hands.
I found exactly one of these exact model at my local flea market, and I didn´t buy it, and that´s why Im watching this video, (to know more about it) Now I know that I will buy it next sunday...
Yep - $100 or so to buy one on eBay but then three or four times that in shipping to get the thing here (NZ). I have an 8840A with a dead display. They are very susceptible to damage if these units are dropped.
This is one of my trusted favourites! I miss the auto calibration and ranging clicking of the relays inside. A workhorse with simple calibration steps for the DIY.
Hm, 275 for a broken unit here... or ~80 for a used working one, but 380 bucks delivery from the US, what the fedex? Also if the manual has the schematics, maybe one can hack together their own AC board...
Crap, I need to buy one now, as since this video, 8842A prices on evilBay will now rocket into space. These 8842A indeed have reference better than many 6.5digit meters :) Actually same reference as 24000$ 8.5digit Fluke 8508A or 30K$ Fluke 5520A ;)
I picked up one of these on ebay last week after seeing this video and interestingly my unit does NOT have the LT FLU-1 voltage reference, but instead is marked with the Motorola logo and has the following part number: SZA 2638 K8850. I could not find anything online about this part and I'm curious if anyone knows anything about i relative to the LT FLU-1. Meanwhile, this unit of mine does not power up, and there was a hand written note adhered to the Z8 microcontroller chip indicating it was no good. So I have lots to sort out!
Fluke 8842A are listed at $350~450 nothing on ebay at $100, and the meters are scratched worn and broken..All the new 5.5 digit flukes meters cost thousands and have basic DCV accuracy at 0.015% not the amazing 0.003%
I got one from ebay, but I found something weird, after I measure the voltage, my probes don't touch anything, but the reading won't go back to 0, it slowly dropped little by little, until I short the probe. Is that normal? Never used bench multimeter before. Thank you
This has to be my favorite RUclips Channel. "Awwwhhh. *inhales*. The first thing I notice is the red silk screen, check this out. Awhhhaahh. Awhhhaahh! Look at that! Look at the red silk screen markers! Oh, that's sex-on-a-stick. Look at that...
Postage is over 100 dollars, something has to be done about local and international post prices. Seems crazy that it has no AC Ranges standard out of box, this does not seem right, must be another setting perhaps.
I wonder, what would happen if you used a meter to test it self (That is, using its own probes to test stuff inside the same machine)? Would it work? would it give you false numbers because its trying to measure itself? Or would I just create a black hole that would destroy earth?
Well in theory it would work, but you would run into a couple of problems. Chiefly if you are attempting to measure inside an instrument then you are probably attempting to troubleshoot said meter and thus its accuracy is in question. Second problem would be that it could cause minute issues and throw off the accuracy or cause erratic behavior.
One issue I was thinking that might be a problem is that when using a meter to test itself it might end up picking up on its own calculations/metering/whateveryouwannacallit and perhaps cause a positive feed back where things just get weird. Also I imagine that under normal circumstances unskilled users probably shouldn't be cracking open oscilliscopes and meters if they've been calibrated as I assume one can easily mess something up and throw things off. Then again your average or beginner users might not need super high precision accuracy for normal and beginner projects.
As i said, using a meter to test itself could cause minute issues. It is a rabbit hole really, maybe it would work or maybe (for example) it would cause minor noise that escalates into a large glitch. Besides the theory of what could happen there is also the simple fact that if you are experienced enough to be troubleshooting a multimeter you should have two.
Depends on what you are doing. In scientific labs, it may, say looking at a solar cell's charging voltage/current in relation to light levels, and using the IEEE 488 interface to log the results. I first ran into the Fluie 8842A when it was part of a Genrad GR2276 In-Circuit Tester Intrumentation Option. It was programmed through the IEEE 488 port, and was for measurements the needed high accuracy measurements (exceeding the tester's own 3 digits after the decimal place accuracy). In other cases, its high speed mode was used, or the ability to measure low value resistances. In most home or commercial settings, probably not needed.
I'm sure the red silk screen on green looks fantastic for non-color-blind folks, but it is completely unreadable for those with deuteranopia. Reading resistors is hard enough for us color-blind people as it is, please don't use red silk-screen and help us 3% of the population.
Edwin de Jong I'm also red/green colorblind, I wish LED manufacturers would get rid of the common red/green LED's found in consumer electronics and switch to red/blue or something like that. It would sure make my life easier.
I grew up playing a synthesizer that had a red-green blinking led. I had never noticed the difference until a friend of mine asked what the different colours meant.
When you make $ on the video($400) and not the reselling price of a repaired unit($100), the "beyond reasonable repair" price it a lot higher. You could spend another $100 and still be way ahead, rather than not making a video and selling the repaired unit.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Those front/rear selector buttons are notorious for getting oxidized contacts, creating issues. We get a few loads every year that need them replaced.
A 2 dollar part fixes it, dont try to clean the contacts. At least I was getting paid when I learned that lesson...
I purchased an 8840A on ebay for $71.- , with free shipping. It works beautifully. An asset to my radio shop for sure. Thanks for another great video.
"So, what do you test with your test equipment?"
"I test test equipment with my test equipment." :)
Once upon a time, a gold digger came home after 5 years of hard work, with a tiny pocket full of gold.
"What are you going to do with all that money?"
"I will buy new tools for the next dig, which is starting tomorrow"
"With what do you calibrate your calibrator?"
"I calibrate my calibrator with a calibrator calibrating calibrator!" :-P :)
One problem of these multimeters using VFDs is that the display are usually quite dim for used ones and replacement can be quite expensive. I personally like meters such as Keithley 196 or Keithley 192 which have crisp LED displays.
Yeah, LED is better.
An even better display technology are nixie tubes.
my Keysight 34450A has this weird OLED display that I completely felt in love with it
If you have GPIB interface... ruclips.net/video/riF5uHFU0GU/видео.html
Everytime you make a video about some used gear you got a bargain on, I go to ebay and its like 300 bucks plus 250 shipping from the USA and I am like "yeeeeeah" in good ol' Europe
8842A ebay prices have gone up 300% after the video
Yeah you can't a broken shitty benchtop dmm for $100 at this point.
They still go for around 400USD on my local ebay...
@@_yonas well its not like they are still in production after 40 years so supply is near 0
A few years back I got 6 of these Fluke 8042's with the gpib and ac option boards.. Only one was beyond economical repair. A solid lab-grade meter
AC is a seperate PCB... there are two versions of the PCB, if it is the wrong one you need to change a couple of connections around on the PCB, I had to do that on one of the units I purchases (I have had a few of them), it is mentioned in one of the service manuals.
Just picked up my first oscilloscope... REALLY nice Hitachi V-422 fully calibrated for $125 US. Super nice screen image. Thanks for these videos pointing the right directions... :)
These are wonderful benchtop meters. A common reoccurring issue with these is the input connectors. They tend to oxidize and mess up the low ohms and mV measurements. In the cal lab, we just pull out the connectors, clean, then solder to fix the problem. You then have to readjust the calibration.
I'd be wary of using switch cleaner on any high accuracy equipment (or radio gear) as it alters the dielectric constant of the switch contacts.
Some switch cleaners can also damage front panel plastics over a period of time. Seen cases where a control has fallen off inside because its mountings have disintegrated a few months after switch cleaner was sprayed on it. This is certainly a concern on vintage gear if you want it to last.
Have found that the best and safest thing to use (if you have to) is WD-40. Provided it's the genuine article, and not a ripoff of course. WD-40 was developed for use on the Atlas missile as a water dispersant (hence name) and a criterion was that it must not put electronics off-tune. Still keep it off soft plastics or rubber though.
But when I buy something broken with intentions to repair it, it's complete disaster and unrepairable...
Join the club.
I bought a really old "broken" computer thinking it would be fun to repair, wasn't broken they just forced the memory card in the wrong way around. I was strangely disappointed.
Can confirm, have an old 466 tek scope and the power supply blew and took half the mainboard with it.
or somebody tried to jam the connector the wrong way around and ripped the socket clean off while managing to short out the Vcc rail to something else, melting every power trace, destroying the mosfets along with switch mode controller which caused the 5V logic supply to become 20 volts for a while. Welcome to destination fucked
Me too, every bloody time!
I got two of these from the dump. Love these little meters! The VFD display is really awesome, at least I think so!
And now that you have posted this, the price is gonna skyrocket, thanks Dave!!! :-P
I got an 8842A from 1993 and a 8840A from 1997. The older 42A has the old Motorola SCA623 (?) reference and the 40A has the LTFLU1. Both are probably the best unheated references. After all these years both meters deviate 0 to just 1 LSD from each other and they seem to never have been adjusted (cal stickers are old and okay). Which is impressive since the references should usually drift in different directions, at least thats what I read.
alles klar klaus *6
You covered everything well, and this is why there are FLUKE meters and then everything else. Built like old Tektronix scopes.
I had hoped you mention the input impedance of >10GΩ for the 20mV to 20V ranges, and 10MΩ for 200V and 1000V range.
How about a Fluke 8040A? How does it compare?
got my 8842a. with expected gpib interface. I was always just out of touch with 80's equipment, wanting to use my c64 on gpib.
bought this to play with gpib, and it had the true rms ac board! I'm into hifi content creating, broadcast hifi nuts and normal people. On my dc calibrator, and as things warm up getting better all the time! true rms reference is important to me in my audio career as a contract tv radio broadcast engineer.
Nice Find! I notice that a lot of ebay sellers mark things 'For Parts or Not Working' so they can sell it as is no returns even if it actually works. It also costs money for them to properly test it.
Between the time and effort to test things, and the way that eBay shafts the seller if someone complains, its not terribly surprising that people are doing that.
the very few things i have sold on scambay I have listed as parts/not working even if the thing worked 100% way too many people who want to scam people these days
But you don't have to list it as parts or not working just to disable returns, though.
+Novanoid Sadly in a lot of cases even if you disabled returns, listed in the description as an as-is sale, eBay can still side with the buyer. And just give them their money back.
Ah, okay.
i got a fluke 45, i think its the little brother to that meter. its great for what i need it for. can never go wrong with fluke
PSA: If you pick one of these up with a dim or dead display, it might be cold solder joints on the transformer taps. This solved dim display for some people, and in my case solved what I thought was a dead display. Great meter!
This is also a problem on its predecessor, the 8840A!
Another good find is the 8840A/AF. Made for the USAF, I belive. It contains the option 09 AC TRMS converter and IEEE-488. Got mine for about $60 too. Specs are not quite as good as the 42, but a solid meter nonetheless. Great price on the 8842A!
I have one of the AF ones. I got it in return for repairing 3 other identical ones that the AF repair center said were not repairable. The repair tag on mine said they had replaced the IC that their troubleshooting chart said to replace, but it didn't fix it. So I looked at the indicated IC, (not hard to find as it was covered with solder flux,) and noted that it had been installed backwards. So with nothing to lose I just removed it, cleaned up everything and reinstalled it in the correct orientation. I'm still using it on my bench 25 years later.
Almost making me nostalgic. When I was in school we used these in the labs.
Picked up an 8840A/AF the other day with a recent calibration and teh AC option for $100. Same as this except it does not have as many of the ultra-high precision resistor nets. Some are just very-high precision - LOL! It seems prices have come back down a bit.
The Fluke 8840/8842s are great bench meters. If you aren't hung up on brands, younmay want to look up the Philips PM2525/2535s, and the HP/Agilent 3478/3478As. They both have LCD readouts, and should be in the same class as the Flukes. I don't remember the accuracy specs off the top of my head. I know the HP/Agilent is closed case calibration.
I used to use a Fluke calibrator as a function gen for tuning resolvers on a brushless motor meant to operate the control surfaces of a refueling jet's boom. The precision was just a joy, compared to trying to get accurate repeatability with a function gen with dials... Probably could have requested a digital FG, but that calibrator was perfect though!
Dave there is something to repair, why not make the display bright again? They are only feeding 5 volts to it so 8 or 10 volts might do the trick. I found one of these cheap at Goodwill that has the AC option and it's a bit dim, not as bad as this one, but when it gets too dim I'm going to try boosting it up.
You find one for a good price on EBay...
then you look at the shipping cost.
Pirates, the lot of them.
- Eddy
I just got a good deal, too---a Fluke 45 for $130 + tax, free shipping. I don't have the standards required to see if it meets specs, but as far as my Fluke 87III on 4 1/2 digits, can tell, it might.
I still use these, yes we still have 5, everyday! They have been banging around on calibration carts for more than 10 years! Very rugged units.
I recently bought an 8840A on eBay and am glad to find a good review on it. I did get the AC module and the GPIB module and I've seen the ones with the modules selling for up to $499. The ones without the modules installed go for significantly less, but sometimes, it's difficult to tell if the one you're ordering has the modules installed. There seems to be no physical difference between the 8842A and the 8840A.
The 8840a doesn't have the 20mv and 20 ohm range. Only 200 mV/ohm
1:22 was the voltage set to 100V when you switched it on???!!
Oh! I got it the drawing shows the opposite! I thought the white in the drawings represent the white in the switches!! It is confusing! BAD DESIGN!! >:-(
Yup. When I got my "for parts or repair" fluke on ebay, I opened it up, plugged in the daughter card correctly, and it worked. Not bad for twelve dollars.
I own one of these. It measures a voltage and after disconmecting the leads the display still displays a number around the measured value and only when the leads are shortened the display goes to nill. Is this behaviour normal for this multimeter?
The 4 lead option is great, with the .003% tolerance. I usually have a pair of 8842s running at any given time. Tektronix or Agilent bought Keithly. Agilent is now Keysight, which started as Bill & Dave or Hewlett Packard. Simpson or Triplett analog mechanical meters are not at all fun to restore. They have a shedload of goofy precision off the wall non-standard value resistors inside them, so I wind up tacking together .01% resistors in parallel to get them halfassed working again. VFDs are neat, but...... yeah, not after 30 years. This was the cat's ass meter when I was in high school. It's still good enough to do most of what I do.
Tek bought Keithly. I cant remember who owns Tektronix now.
Nice meter. I got an 8840A a few years back. It has a busted transformer. I ended up winding my own as a replacement.
Thanks, just picked one up on eBay for $45, because of error 30. It has the option 5 just no option 9. Everything thing else is good! Thanks
Another Fluke 45 user here. Might consider upgrading to this bigger brother Fluke.
Thank you, I just bought one, same thing, for parts AC not working, even has a calibration sticker... Error 30 and the pic of the back shows it never had the AC circuit installed at all... Not going to tell the seller his mistake, until it is in my hands.
I found exactly one of these exact model at my local flea market, and I didn´t buy it, and that´s why Im watching this video,
(to know more about it) Now I know that I will buy it next sunday...
What's the difference between the 8842 and the 8840?
Yep - $100 or so to buy one on eBay but then three or four times that in shipping to get the thing here (NZ). I have an 8840A with a dead display. They are very susceptible to damage if these units are dropped.
bought one for 140€ from Finland... calibrated 2014, so probably going to be fine for long time.
Just scored one of these for $58 on Ebay. It has the fading display, but pretty sure I can repair it. Might make a repair video.
I wish the IEEE GPIB connector was RS-232 instead. I have no idea how I'd adapte that to R$-232 for controlling the meter from my arduino :)
Please do the 5450A cal video using the wekomm, sounds interesting.
How does the Fluke 8840a compare to this Fluke 8842a?
You should look for a schematic of the AC measurement module and hack it in that would be an excellent video to watch
If you want to repair one I have an 8840A just went wrong, you can borrow it ;-) Otherwise, I have to buy a 121GW instead.
This is one of my trusted favourites! I miss the auto calibration and ranging clicking of the relays inside. A workhorse with simple calibration steps for the DIY.
I use this from 1997 - 1998. It also had a very high quality A/D converter for its accuracy including a precision reference voltage.
Hm, 275 for a broken unit here... or ~80 for a used working one, but 380 bucks delivery from the US, what the fedex?
Also if the manual has the schematics, maybe one can hack together their own AC board...
And suddenly broken ones sky-rocket to $300 :D
Hey Dave have you given away the Rohde & Schwarz RTB2004 Oscilloscope ?
Crap, I need to buy one now, as since this video, 8842A prices on evilBay will now rocket into space. These 8842A indeed have reference better than many 6.5digit meters :) Actually same reference as 24000$ 8.5digit Fluke 8508A or 30K$ Fluke 5520A ;)
I picked up one of these on ebay last week after seeing this video and interestingly my unit does NOT have the LT FLU-1 voltage reference, but instead is marked with the Motorola logo and has the following part number: SZA 2638 K8850. I could not find anything online about this part and I'm curious if anyone knows anything about i relative to the LT FLU-1. Meanwhile, this unit of mine does not power up, and there was a hand written note adhered to the Z8 microcontroller chip indicating it was no good. So I have lots to sort out!
It goes well with the fluke 45, same case design!
Are the 09 AC options interchangeable between an 8840A and an 8842A? Thanks
eBay price in Germany 250 to 300€
J Bender mehhhh hier in DE mal wieder zu teuer :(
J Benders eBay price for two 2016 calibrated 8840As in the US? 130 shipped!
yes, I guess all the cheaper ones were sold right after this video came out
everything is expensive in germany; somehow got used to it... :-|
Yeah UK stuff is the same. Even the broken stuff is really expensive. I wonder why ?
Checking one on eBay, thanks for the AC option tip!
I liked the big readable display on that keysight multimeter so I looked up the price out of curiosity, £2600 :-O
Just scored one of these on eBay for $100 cause the listing was mislabeled
If you don't want it, send it to me. I love old Fluke stuff but they're hard to come by in my country.
A meter you have, (the HP 3468) I have as well. I do not use it as often as you, but are there areas where you find it unsatisfactory?
How to fix the Display?? Is there a Led replacement?
I have an option 9 board for this meter lying around.
Long time, I know. Still have this?
Hello. What are you think about hantek hdm3065?
Plus the customary eleventy hundred & seven AUD delivery from the US. . .
Fluke 8842A are listed at $350~450 nothing on ebay at $100, and the meters are scratched worn and broken..All the new 5.5 digit flukes meters cost thousands and have basic DCV accuracy at 0.015% not the amazing 0.003%
14:00 Almost certainly for heat dissipation purposes.
Anyone know where to get a 10M replacement divider network for these ?
You going to be wanting that extra user installable module.
Nice find but what about the missing stuff on the back where the holes are? Are you going to get the -09 board to get this fully operational?
Nah, I have no real need.
Have you had a look at any Tektronix scopes?
The 1705a was what I used for years to find satellites- nothing at any price can replace its accuracy even today
add the ac module please
I got one from ebay, but I found something weird, after I measure the voltage, my probes don't touch anything, but the reading won't go back to 0, it slowly dropped little by little, until I short the probe. Is that normal? Never used bench multimeter before. Thank you
just use >200 range! :-)
Oh, Dave. Functionalality?!
Function.
Function is the word.
And as a gift you get a huge input impedance at the range of up to 20 V.
And all cheap Fluke's are gone for a while after this video is released.. :D
What are the back cables that are not plugged into any thing?
4-port resistance ports. You can select either the front ones or the back ones via the front switch.
Can you do a video on 4 Switch Buck Boost Dc/Dc converter controllers? That would be an in-depth high level video.
Such as a LT8390 or LM5175.
Can we get a video on how to convert a VFD to LCD?
If you have GPIB interface... ruclips.net/video/riF5uHFU0GU/видео.html
This has to be my favorite RUclips Channel. "Awwwhhh. *inhales*. The first thing I notice is the red silk screen, check this out. Awhhhaahh. Awhhhaahh! Look at that! Look at the red silk screen markers! Oh, that's sex-on-a-stick. Look at that...
yes, Dave is wonderful. Love his blog.
*If you like true excitement, maybe check out the Beautiful-Electronics Blog
oh my god, we're using those at our university! :D love using it!
Postage is over 100 dollars, something has to be done about local and international post prices.
Seems crazy that it has no AC Ranges standard out of box, this does not seem right, must be another setting perhaps.
In the UK these seem to cost as much as a 34401A better off just going for that.
Didn't realise the quality of the reference.
Hmm nice old fluke dave, worth getting the true rms pcb :-)
Just picked up a mint fluke 45 with current cal for 25 bucks. Not quite the 8842 but good enough for me
Love stuff like this. Too bad it's a bit too deep for the shelves above my workbench.
Thanks for sharing 😀👍
Whats good for cleaning electrical contacts?
rubbing alcohol
Joe Spaz Like 99% rubbing alcohol?
You turned it on before taking it apart !
Why is it so cheap in Aus, over here in the good old UK, its over £300
I wonder, what would happen if you used a meter to test it self (That is, using its own probes to test stuff inside the same machine)? Would it work? would it give you false numbers because its trying to measure itself? Or would I just create a black hole that would destroy earth?
Well in theory it would work, but you would run into a couple of problems.
Chiefly if you are attempting to measure inside an instrument then you are probably attempting to troubleshoot said meter and thus its accuracy is in question. Second problem would be that it could cause minute issues and throw off the accuracy or cause erratic behavior.
One issue I was thinking that might be a problem is that when using a meter to test itself it might end up picking up on its own calculations/metering/whateveryouwannacallit and perhaps cause a positive feed back where things just get weird.
Also I imagine that under normal circumstances unskilled users probably shouldn't be cracking open oscilliscopes and meters if they've been calibrated as I assume one can easily mess something up and throw things off. Then again your average or beginner users might not need super high precision accuracy for normal and beginner projects.
As i said, using a meter to test itself could cause minute issues. It is a rabbit hole really, maybe it would work or maybe (for example) it would cause minor noise that escalates into a large glitch. Besides the theory of what could happen there is also the simple fact that if you are experienced enough to be troubleshooting a multimeter you should have two.
Best bargain quality LCR meter?
What sort of situation would require pinpoint voltages? I mean, if something is off by like ~5% is that really going to cause problems?
Depends on what you are doing. In scientific labs, it may, say looking at a solar cell's charging voltage/current in relation to light levels, and using the IEEE 488 interface to log the results. I first ran into the Fluie 8842A when it was part of a Genrad GR2276 In-Circuit Tester Intrumentation Option. It was programmed through the IEEE 488 port, and was for measurements the needed high accuracy measurements (exceeding the tester's own 3 digits after the decimal place accuracy). In other cases, its high speed mode was used, or the ability to measure low value resistances. In most home or commercial settings, probably not needed.
On one hand no a/c is a show stopper. On the other how often do you measure low voltage a/c? I never have and a scope is perfect for that.
I'm sure the red silk screen on green looks fantastic for non-color-blind folks, but it is completely unreadable for those with deuteranopia. Reading resistors is hard enough for us color-blind people as it is, please don't use red silk-screen and help us 3% of the population.
interesting point
Haha, I am red-green color deficient as well, I was just thinking exactly the same thing when I watched the video!
Edwin de Jong I'm also red/green colorblind, I wish LED manufacturers would get rid of the common red/green LED's found in consumer electronics and switch to red/blue or something like that. It would sure make my life easier.
I grew up playing a synthesizer that had a red-green blinking led. I had never noticed the difference until a friend of mine asked what the different colours meant.
Finding that was quite a fluke.
Waaa Waaa Waaa....
When you make $ on the video($400) and not the reselling price of a repaired unit($100), the "beyond reasonable repair" price it a lot higher. You could spend another $100 and still be way ahead, rather than not making a video and selling the repaired unit.