Around 40,000 electronic multimeters are being voluntarily recalled by Fluke Corp. of Everett, Washington in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Sales in the United States totaled 17,200. Volt, ohm, and ammeter measurements may all be taken using a multimeter. AC voltage measurements exceeding 500 volts might take the recalled equipment up to 18 seconds to show. The delayed readout might lead users to incorrectly conclude that dangerously high voltage is not present. Users run the danger of being shocked, electrocuted, or suffering thermal burns if high voltage is present.
No injuries were recorded, however, Fluke has received four complaints from Canada and Australia about customers experiencing a delayed reaction while detecting high voltage.
The recalled Fluke digital multimeters have a voltage range of up to 1,000 VAC/DC (VDC). Flashke and either 175 or 177 or 179 are printed on the face of the device. The tester’s body is approximately 7.25 inches long and 3.5 inches broad, and it is yellow and black in color. Any products with a serial number lower than 79000000 are being recalled. Under the instrument’s hinged stand on the rear is where you’ll find the serial number. These tests sold for $170 to $215 between January 2001 and October 2001 at retail locations such as home improvement shops and industrial wholesalers around the country.
Many FC Clamp Meters manufactured by Fluke Corporation have been recalled. Certain 374 FC, 375 FC, 376 FC, and 902 FC Clamp Meters may be unsafe, according to Fluke. Fluke has chosen to voluntarily recall all impacted items and provide free repair to consumers as a preventative measure.
Threat to Security
There may be a manufacturing issue in certain Clamp Meters that might make a safety protection component useless. If dangerous voltage is delivered to the terminals when the rotary switch is in a position not rated for the voltage, protection against arc explosions, burns, and electric shock may be minimal at best.
The (Ohms) function is standard across all models, whereas the A (microamperes), T (temperature), and C (capacitance) functions are exclusive to the 902 FC. It is a reasonable misuse to apply utility power energy to the connections when using any of these products. When the voltage and current in a short circuit increase in an electrical system, so do the chances of harm and the severity of any injuries that may occur.
The 1587 FC Insulation Multimeter from Fluke, in conjunction with Fluke Connect, allows you to rapidly and accurately diagnose electrical issues, make repairs, and share your results with coworkers without risking physical contact.
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Fluke Connect provides additional diagnostics.
Thanks to its compatibility with the free Fluke Connect® Measurements software, the Fluke 1587 FC can accomplish the following things:
- Before everything else, safety should be a priority. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way; instead, observe the results of your tests from a safe distance.
- Check your work and show that you care about accuracy by seeing and sharing measurements from your smartphone via Wi-Fi.
- You can pinpoint the source of the issue in a hurry by storing and comparing readings taken at different times on a portable wireless device.
- Testing for moisture and contamination in insulation may be found more quickly using PI/DAR timed ratio tests and TrendIt TM graphs.
- Fluke Connect’s cloud-based or mobile-based data storage services remove the need to manually record readings. Eliminates mistakes and stores information for future analysis
- Temperature compensation to create accurate baselines and meaningful historical comparisons.
- Fluke Connect® Assets allows for real-time choices in the field based on historical asset monitoring and trends to detect insulation deterioration over time (sold separately)
- Using Fluke Connect, it’s possible to save and recall data. Data-gathering standards that render paper records obsolete
- Detection of voltages more than 30 V stops the insulation test.
- Allows precise temperature baselines to be established automatically
- Fluke Connect® Assets allows for the recording of asset history and the monitoring of asset trends in order to detect gradual asset deterioration (sold separately)
- Includes a VFD low-pass filter for precise readings from VFD-controlled motor drives.
- Capacitive voltage auto-discharge for human safety.
- Can test for alternating current (AC), direct current (DC), millivolts (mV), amps (A), resistance, and continuity.
- The smoothed readings of the capacitance, diode test, temperature, minimum and maximum, frequency measurements, and insulation test are all included.
- Turns off by itself to save battery life.
If you take care of your digital multimeter, it should endure for many years. At some point, your multimeter may stop working, and you’ll need to choose either to get it fixed or replace it. Use the Digital Multimeter Troubleshooting and Repair Guide as a last resort before purchasing a replacement multimeter. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that in 2009, Americans and companies dumped 2.37 million tons of electronic waste, including TVs, computers, mobile phones, and hard copy peripherals (such as printers, scanners, and fax machines).
Make sure the battery is charged and try turning on the digital multimeter.
A weak or dead battery might be at blame if the multimeter won’t switch on or the readout is too faint. Alternatively, if the battery has to be replaced, that’s easy enough to do. If your multimeter is turning on but giving you misleading readings, the problem may lie in the test leads. Touch the test probes of your multimeter together after setting it to the resistance reading mode. The ohm meter should be set at 0.0.
It is likely that you will need to replace the probe leads if the resistance readings are consistently higher than one ohm or if the readings are inconsistent. If you still haven’t found the source of the problem, taking apart your digital multimeter is the next logical step. Using a little screwdriver, unscrew the case’s fasteners. Now that you’ve accessed the multimeter, you may examine the fuse by removing it. Whether the fuse is made of transparent glass, check its inside to determine if the tiny wire indoors is still intact. Just repair it if it’s blown. You’ll need another multimeter to test the resistance of a ceramic fuse. It has to be replaced if there is no resistance. (Refer to the user guide for your multimeter to determine the appropriate fuse.)
For any frayed or corroded cables or other connections.
Any broken solder joints should be desoldered using a soldering iron and wick, and then resoldered.
Examine the inside of the multimeter casing for any screws or components that may be loose, and tighten them as necessary. Put the pieces back together, choose the resistance measurement mode, and contact the probe leads on your digital multimeter. Ideally, it would have a resistance of less than one ohm. Repairing a digital multimeter is as simple as following a few steps. It may be time to get a new multimeter if it still isn’t working properly.
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