My favorite mechanical cleaner for delicate stuff like contacts and gold plated PCB traces are the soft white drafting erasers that come in both rectangular cubes as well as click pen style. A bonus is that that you get a grime indication as any grime present discolors the white eraser bits falling away. It’s so soft and playable that only the lightest press is needed to begin getting results.
Well done, Ian. Sometimes they just need a bit of attention. I recently pulled a Fluke 189 out of e-waste at work. Its battery contacts were badly corroded and I found that new ones were available on Amazon for less than $20. I replaced them and now it works great. I really like the features of that meter, and it's dead-on accurate.
Looks like the sockets had been replaced judging by the soldering. I recently replaced mine due to broken pins and they did take a bit of heat to get the pins to take the solder. Great meter, got a 289 as well, also a great meter but a bit of a pain waiting for it to boot compared to the 189 switch on and measure. Keep the great videos coming.
My Fluke 189’s are my trusted standbys like analog VOM’s are to graybeards. I have fancier OLED DMMs, but my Fluke 189’s are my portable sources of truth.
I have an old audio amplifier connected to my computer and I had been having strange intermittent problems with it shutting off randomly. I looked online and people were saying that they had bad solder joints that they reflowed and restored it to working. I tried this and saw a few suspect joints in the power path and reflowed them and have had no issues since and it's been about 3 months. I never knew that solder joints could go bad over time like that.
Nicely done, Ian. My first bet was the zebra strips because of the LCD. But, of course, that didn't explain the keypad not working. Always enjoy your videos, thank you! Regards, David
Either that or the battery contacts. I had the same "surprise" with my Fluke, It was working fine except in Ohm's mode where it had to draw a little bit more current.
The large fuse contacts were likely soldered on after PCB assembly, and they simply didn’t clean up the excess flux. You can even see the telltale splatters in the light. I’d clean it up too if I were already in there.
Best meter they ever made by miles. Probe sockets are fragile and prone to breakage. The outer case cleans up like new using a nail brush and fairy liquid. There's grease on the contact tracks in all of mine.
Yeah, it's probably good practise for screws that are being removed/inserted daily........but also generally I think screws like this if you operate the screwdriver lightly will find the original threads anyways. Basically, I never reverse the screwdriver......a habit of 40 years....:-)
Thank you, it was interesting. The only thing that confuses me is how you soldered the contacts for the probes. Most likely, this assembly has already been replaced previously, and the terminal is already oxidized along its entire length due to insufficient use of flux. It will not be well wetted with solder, especially in the depths of the hole. IMHO, it is better to unsolder the entire assembly, tin the pins and solder it again.
Sometimes the circuit board holes are so large that the solder has run down the shaft, and so it appears that we have a dry joint or similar. Best to make sure though! ;-)
Common problem on this range is broken pins on the terminal panel and Fluke have obsoleted a lot of the parts. Sometimes can be bodged with some TCW, not ideal but better than a completely unusable meter.
Very familiar with this model. I have one where the buttons have completely stopped working. I got a replacement button pad and had no joy. Oh well. I think I'll have to really troubleshoot it.
In general: do be careful with that fiberglass pen. Don't use them on soft gold plated (edge) connectors for example. At least first try some alcohol. I found over the years that ist most often more than sufficient.
For edge connectors the old pink rubber eraser - the tough kinda grainy one - seems to be just about right. That’s about as loosey-goosey of a material spec as one gets :)
@@absurdengineering Yes, that one is a milder solution. In between the pink eraser and the fiberglass pen you have the option of a "ink eraser", the variant used for erasing ink off technical drawings (Rotring pens and all that, shows my age I suppose). The ink eraser variant is more abrasive than the pink one, and less so than the fiberglass pen.
Available on Ebay or Amazon. The red handle ones are the most suitable for electronics. Use sparingly/lightly as it is easy to take the plating off a Pcb if you scrub too hard.
My favorite mechanical cleaner for delicate stuff like contacts and gold plated PCB traces are the soft white drafting erasers that come in both rectangular cubes as well as click pen style. A bonus is that that you get a grime indication as any grime present discolors the white eraser bits falling away. It’s so soft and playable that only the lightest press is needed to begin getting results.
Well done, Ian. Sometimes they just need a bit of attention. I recently pulled a Fluke 189 out of e-waste at work. Its battery contacts were badly corroded and I found that new ones were available on Amazon for less than $20. I replaced them and now it works great. I really like the features of that meter, and it's dead-on accurate.
Must admit, I like the 189 also. A no nonsense Fluke.
Welcome again, Ian. We all missed you.
Thank you kindly.
The fibre glass pen .... what a great invention!
Nice work. Fiberglass pen is indispensable! I usually pull, clean and repeat the fuses as well.
Looks like the sockets had been replaced judging by the soldering. I recently replaced mine due to broken pins and they did take a bit of heat to get the pins to take the solder. Great meter, got a 289 as well, also a great meter but a bit of a pain waiting for it to boot compared to the 189 switch on and measure. Keep the great videos coming.
Good stuff as always best meter fluke ever made in my opinion
That does it!
I am getting one of those fiberglass pens.
Love your videos.
My Fluke 189’s are my trusted standbys like analog VOM’s are to graybeards. I have fancier OLED DMMs, but my Fluke 189’s are my portable sources of truth.
I have an old audio amplifier connected to my computer and I had been having strange intermittent problems with it shutting off randomly. I looked online and people were saying that they had bad solder joints that they reflowed and restored it to working. I tried this and saw a few suspect joints in the power path and reflowed them and have had no issues since and it's been about 3 months. I never knew that solder joints could go bad over time like that.
Nicely done, Ian. My first bet was the zebra strips because of the LCD. But, of course, that didn't explain the keypad not working. Always enjoy your videos, thank you! Regards, David
I clean those zebra strips every time. I've seen marked improvement in the display lots of times by doing so.
Excellent service repair!
Excellent job Ian =D It was no fluke that you were able to save that!
Oh dear me!......I'm guessing you've been waiting years to release that one...:-)
Well done 😅😅😅 (both of you!)
@@IanScottJohnston Haha =D It's fluke that I came up with a cheesey reply lol!
Either that or the battery contacts. I had the same "surprise" with my Fluke, It was working fine except in Ohm's mode where it had to draw a little bit more current.
The large fuse contacts were likely soldered on after PCB assembly, and they simply didn’t clean up the excess flux. You can even see the telltale splatters in the light. I’d clean it up too if I were already in there.
Best meter they ever made by miles. Probe sockets are fragile and prone to breakage. The outer case cleans up like new using a nail brush and fairy liquid. There's grease on the contact tracks in all of mine.
Don’t let Mr EEVBlog see you put self tapping screws in without find the cut thread :)
Yeah, it's probably good practise for screws that are being removed/inserted daily........but also generally I think screws like this if you operate the screwdriver lightly will find the original threads anyways. Basically, I never reverse the screwdriver......a habit of 40 years....:-)
I. S. J. Gettin ‘er done!
Thank you, it was interesting. The only thing that confuses me is how you soldered the contacts for the probes. Most likely, this assembly has already been replaced previously, and the terminal is already oxidized along its entire length due to insufficient use of flux. It will not be well wetted with solder, especially in the depths of the hole. IMHO, it is better to unsolder the entire assembly, tin the pins and solder it again.
Sometimes the circuit board holes are so large that the solder has run down the shaft, and so it appears that we have a dry joint or similar. Best to make sure though! ;-)
Nice meter, nice repair 👍
Nice simple one...
Common problem on this range is broken pins on the terminal panel and Fluke have obsoleted a lot of the parts. Sometimes can be bodged with some TCW, not ideal but better than a completely unusable meter.
Very familiar with this model. I have one where the buttons have completely stopped working. I got a replacement button pad and had no joy. Oh well. I think I'll have to really troubleshoot it.
Nice fix.
In general: do be careful with that fiberglass pen. Don't use them on soft gold plated (edge) connectors for example. At least first try some alcohol. I found over the years that ist most often more than sufficient.
For edge connectors the old pink rubber eraser - the tough kinda grainy one - seems to be just about right. That’s about as loosey-goosey of a material spec as one gets :)
@@absurdengineering Yes, that one is a milder solution.
In between the pink eraser and the fiberglass pen you have the option of a "ink eraser", the variant used for erasing ink off technical drawings (Rotring pens and all that, shows my age I suppose). The ink eraser variant is more abrasive than the pink one, and less so than the fiberglass pen.
While you were in you should’ve checked the super cap for leakage.
I did have a look off camera and it's fine. No leakage whatsoever.
Yes, these DMMs are prone for leaky supercaps.
What "Glass fiber pen" is that? It seems to be a missing tool for my workbench.....
Available on Ebay or Amazon. The red handle ones are the most suitable for electronics. Use sparingly/lightly as it is easy to take the plating off a Pcb if you scrub too hard.
@IanScottJohnston Thanks! 3 for under $10, already on order.
It’s a tool that was originally used by draftsmen to scrape off ink from vellum, IIRC. EEs got a hold of it and the rest is history :)
got a fluke interrmetent not measuring , find oiut the black terminal is not soldered on the lcb board
Take out a couple ski doo's!
Jobs a good 'un....cheers.
You saved someone from having to blow $880 on a new Fluke 189.
I'll send you my account number......only joking!.....happy to hear you have a working 189 now!
CUIDADO! Essa marca vazam as baterias e ocorre perda total do aparelho! Tive três fluke onde ocorreu isso!
Yes, most batteries leak these days!
Fluke have lifetime warranty so send it to fluke
Why did you break it?