Finally a video about the Fluke 45 multimeter. Have one myself for a few years now, bought it in new and mint condition (not yellow, and still with the factory cal. seal). Paid *way* too much for it though. No GPIB, but that isn't a problem. A lot of people on the internet say it's a basic and overpriced meter, probably in comparison with today's standards, but I love it to bits! Use it all the time. Heck, we even have one floating around at work, and when doing simple measurements I actually use the pass/fail functionality. It's incredibly easy to set up, once you know how. Would be cool to see if this one has the same thing my one does, when enabling the second display, for accuracy you want to put it in the "slow" mode, else it adds up approx. 2 or 3 volts to a measurement. for instance with a DC measurement in the main display an an AC measurement in the second.
I work in a factory where the Fluke 45 are still the main bench meter used by all the manufacturing technicians. They're calibrated annually and still work great. Great video as always Dave!
Had 2 different Fluke 45's over the last 10 years and never knew they had rechargeable batteries as an option or that the milliamp fuse came out the front. just unplugged and powered on, no worky. Must not have the option or bad battery. Thanks a lot Dave! thumbs up here.
The 8V battery option was clearly a gel cell, hence the nominal 8VDC voltage. I use to use some 6V batteries of the same rolled plate design for projects. They were also popular in some early cellular transportable phones for standalone power. I am surprised, though, that they opted for lead acid batteries rather than NiCd batteries, which were quite popular throughout the 80s. BTW, that final copyright date actually reads "1986", not "1996”.
It looks like that VFD dims significantly when more segments are shown; it might not be dim from age. Give Vcc a probe and check out pin 42(?) on the display. This could be a repair video yet!
Multimeters can not fix melted connectors nor failed ASICs, only outright replacements can do that...and that requires that Dave justify the expenditure as worthwhile considering how inexpensive LCD flat panels are nowadays. Only Dave can decide if it makes sense to throw good money after such a cause...unless some viewer wishes to send him all the necessary parts free of charge. After awhile you have the story of the 300 year old family axe that has had the head replaced 4 times and the handle a dozen more...is it still, really, the same axe after all the parts have been swapped for new...and is it really worth the time and effort for something that requires such an investment in time and money when a new and better one can be had so inexpensively? In any repair there is a point where one just has to draw a line...and it is not our one to draw.
+Ethan Poole It is not a "repair" in the conventional sense, where the goal is to restore the unit to service as cheaply as possible and if that can't be economically done, the unit is discarded. Here, the goal is to make a repair video. The TV itself is almost immaterial and I imagine Dave has no shortage of TVs. The same is true of this video. Dave bought the Fluke in hopes of making a repair video, but it requires no repair. That's all right. Take it apart anyway.
+The Kaiser the tv is un-economical to repair. If you can't understand that economics of a repair are just as significant as the process, then don't get into the business of repair... You'll be _out_ of business in no time. Please, just drop this.
+richfiles If a 40" LCD TV costs $399 for a new unit, and a repair part costs $50-100, why the hell would I buy a whole new TV? Seems rather uneconomical.
+2dfx One must also include the value of time... In a business, time is money, so it often _is_ uneconomical to repair. To a hobbyist, or a person with free time, they can afford to spend more time on it. They may be more willing to gamble a part expenditure, especially if they believe that if it fails to repair the TV, they might be able to resell it. A business does not want to bother with that. They will charge ALL expenses to the customer. Dave's case is different from both the hobbyist and the business perspective though. Since these videos are for learning and entertainment... There is low value, for Dave, in a measly board swap video. For Dave, his time is also valued, but the he also have time value in the value of a video... If a video is just gonna be "buy this board that costs a reasonable percentage of the value of a new TV set and replace it"... It's not a very good repair video. He gets no value from spending a good chunk of change on a replacement board to repair a set that _he does not need_, for a video that is not needed. If the LCD module is bad, then the cost is most of the TV itself... VERY uneconomical to repair. If it's one of the big ASICs, then you're looking at replacing a major board. Last time i repaired an LCD, an inverter board replacement cost me $80. When the second board failed, i chose to do a component level repair, and it cost me $22 to rebuild both boards, and have spare parts, incase it failed again. Maybe it is one of the ASICs... replace the board on a maybe then... If it's economical to take that gamble on a product you want repaired, then that's your money to gamble, but Dave _don't need_ the tv, and he's isolated the most probable repair to either a board or a screen replacement. Either are expensive, though one more than the other. Since he doesn't need the TV though, it's not worth his _time_ nor the expense in parts to make a video that basically just says "Swap this board" and then shows a final functioning (maybe) product.
Got one of these off ebay last year. It is a great bench multimeter. Thanks for the link to the service manual. My unit has a dead battery pack. Not sure if I should attempt to add some new cells or just junk the battery option.
Dave - You could get that VFD running a bit brighter by bumping up the filament voltage. See if you can sneak another turn through the transformer. Or bring up the anode voltage a bit.
Dave, This is great! I have one of these meters that I got for free. It was in pieces and I had to rebuild it. I love it. Thanks for all of the great info!
I inherited one of these from a dear departed uncle... he had two, so my cousin still has one. It is in *mint* condition, very bright display... I'd never used the dual display part of it, nice to know how to work it now! I'll have to open it and see if there's a battery etc... thanks very much for the information.
Hi Dave, love your videos - always varied and interesting. It's great to listen to somebody who has a passion! I was wondering whether you'd have the time or inclination to look at some historic computers, such as ww2's Colossus? All the best.
The Fluke 45 is the ONLY meter, then and now, that can measure the DC and AC ripple on a voltage correctly without switching relays for every measurement. This is because there are different AC and DC paths into the Fluke IC and the switching is done solid state. I have tried every meter on the market and none can do it. They either use relay switching or must use the same range for AC which makes that wildly inaccurate for mV ripple. Very frustrating that this 30 year piece of crap can not be replaced. If you know a meter that you think can do it, let me know.
Got one of this Fluke 45 since 2003. A dumpster save in a Pirelli factory in england where they throw away an entire electronic lab. Got authrorization from the CEO himself to take it from the bin. Got only remorse to take more like scope or power supply. :( Thank you to make me discover some functions of it. Will bring it to work tomorrow!!
The PSU giving 2 isolated 5V rails is to have a digital and an analogue 5V supply, nothing like separate supplies for isolating noise. Looks like the main capacitor is at EOL though, the sleeve is shrinking off. Not surprising as it has had a few decades of power applied with it being charged to peak voltage, followed by high ripple current in operation. Bonus is there is no Schaeffner filter pack to do an unexpected smoke test for you, though it looks like the mains input MOV has been designed out.
wow dave the start of the video was really first world problems. "I just bought a vintage high end multimeter for Au$100 and it works perfectly! c'mon!"
Bought a 220-115V 2kVA unit yesterday. Looks like it can easily be converted to an isolation transformer as there are 2 parallel tapped windings on separate cores. Must look at making a 1kVA isolation unit out of it. Was $8 on auction, and it is darn heavy. Just have to replace a broken 10A overcurrent breaker and put a decent mains cable on it. Polarised US sockets though, will have to look at changing them or just using some US power leads instead.
If you want to fix the yellow plastics, use cream peroxide, wrap it in saran wrap, then hit it with a uv lamp for a few hours. Will look as good as new....
I got mine at a ham fest for $60USD...the display window is a bit melted from someone possibly placing a soldering iron a little too close but it's quite functional. It's a daily use bit of kit in my home lab. You can see it in some of my videos actually!
@25m15s: "...just a zener diode..." Worth noting that 6.3v (as shown) is the optimum zener/avalanche voltage for stability over time and temperature. Cheers.
Your meter is quite interesting, you have a different layout to the 3 that I have. Mine have a 440mA HRC fuse for the 100mA current input on the board as well as the glass fuse in the jack itself. I also think mine have a smaller shield over the ADC. Also the battery is 4 sealed lead acid cells, I've done some research on them to try to get one for my meters but they're pretty hard to find for any reasonable price. Yours also seemed to have more SMD parts instead of through hole.
Dave, you should do a tear down on one of those two wheeled self balancing scooters all the UA-camrs are using. Its interesting to see the difference of the early and better quality ones sold by io hawk vs the cheap knockoffs all over amazon and such. Would love to see some mods on it too for best performance.
I just "inherited" one of these from my workplace as a "get rid of this stuff" thing...It seems to be in full working order along with a nice bright Flouro display :)
The most iconic bench multimeter. :) I hold 4 of them as backup multimeter:) I remember when I hooked up to serial port to make logging and I cant get binary data into my Panasonic PBX serial logger software. I did not sleep 2 night on it what a problem in My own writed software lines :))) Then I realized.. is ASCII already! Facepalm.... :) I love them!
I had a Fluke 8026 (about £400 at the time) the power connection overloaded and caused a fire. My insurer visited, took notes & photos, took away the 8026. Eventually they came back to say that the 8026 was no longer available & would I accept the Fluke 45 instead. I thought for a while (about 45 nS) and I still have it, the battery is dead and no longer available but the accuracy of the meter is still perfect.
I have one of these, Love it. BUT its a shame Fluke discontinued replacement VFD displays, Mine is dim as well. Only other solution is to reverse engineer the 4-bit Micro protocol, and roll your own PCB with maybe a dot matrix display.
thekaduu What if you are, like myself, on a ship? I saw heavier things shaking there. Especially if they were alive, seconds before I dropped them into the shark-tank and they realised that they are not at the top of the food chain..
+Ernst Stavro Blofeld Well.. if you are on the ship all the time, like my Captain brother, you'd buy something else. I'm sure your company, if any good, would not buy you or let you buy this if it is not suitable for your environment. Being on a ship, you should know that there are procedures and specifictions for almost everyting (short of taking a shit in your own cabin). My comment was adressing the other 99% of the people. Sorry.
This has about the same age as my Wavetek model 52 multimeter 1987 and that one is way more advanced with a dot graphic LCD than this Fluke 45. Can measure current and voltage at the same time (no relay used for that) and also calculates power. I only have one channel but can support 4 internal channels and display all that. It will use a relay if I want to measure voltage on the front and on the back same channel. I use the serial and save directly to a csv file. It also had a battery power potion and only uses about 0.5W form a DC input. I made a video back in 2012 and is on my channel. Is my main multimeter now and I just love it :) It also looks way more modern than this Fluke 45 in my opinion. I only payed about $50 including sipping for the Wavetek model 52 :)
I would clean the vfd glass and the inside of the filter. May get a fair bit more brightness out of it unless it's already done. I would have expected the display to be more unevenly worn out. Were the vfd voltages OK?
+Boffin I tend to agree. I fixed probably a hundred VCRs back in the day that had dim VFDs. Just had to sniff out the high ESR cap and replace it usually. Suspect C45 in the supply
+MrCapacitator off the forum, would like to see if this works on the display. Yes, and I've done it many times with good results. The filament oxidizes which reduces the number of electrons that can be emitted at the same drive current. Driving it with higher current (constant current power supply is necessary) to white hot condition for 5-10 seconds will breathe new life into the display. It's unlikely that the phosphors are damaged if the whole display is dim. You might find a few "shapes" such as a leading zero or the decimal will be permanently dimmed, but an overall rejuvenation will minimize brightness differences. It's not a permanent solution, but it does give you a few years. I did it to both of my bedside clocks and they've managed to look good for almost four years of 24/7 operation.
The new Fluke 8846a also has a vacuum fluorescent display. If I pay $1500 for that thing, will it still be working after 15 years or will it be a dim thing like this review unit? That's what's pushing me toward the HP.
Depends entirely upon how many runtime hours you accrue during those 15 years. This meter may very well have been run most every day for the past 25 years before Dave purchased it. For certain your display will dim, but, unless you are working in full sunlight or a very brightly lit room, it should remain sufficiently visible for several decades of fairly heavy use, many more if more lightly used and powered off when not in use. Generally, though, it will be the most heavily used segments that dim the most...the fact that Dave's display seems rather uniformly dim suggests the VFD voltage rail may be sagging and in need of capacitor replacement and/or adjustment. It is all trade offs, though. VFDs have the advantage of wide viewing angles and quick update rates whereas many of the older LCD displays lack backlighting and can be difficult to read from certain lighting and viewing angles (especially in a darkened room). A backlit LCD, however, makes for a very nice display.
What a nice old meter, its simple enough on the attenuator/adc side for a bonehead like me to understand but has a processor controll system to do the math and all the whistles and bells :-D
+Mystickneon I know some of the time, the dimness is a result of the plastic and glass "Smoking over" with dust and crap. Clean it with some IPA and should be able to make it a tad brighter!
Dave, should pass the meter over to me. I'm sure I could make it not work.. just need to pass it to a friend. They seem to be able to break anything just by aproaching it! :D
Anyone have issues with the battery low indicator coming on after a power failure, seemingly from the battery not having enough voltage because charging didn't happen post power failure?
+Антон Богатырчук If people send him some, I'm certain he would happily tear them down. Even if it is a simple meter, he may do a "2 minute teardown" during a mailbag.
8840A's a real precision benchtop multimeter with 4 wire and 5.5 digits. This thing is between a handheld and a 8840A. The real use of these is to substitute for a handheld in a lab so you don't spend 10 minutes looking for it every time you need it, and you don't need to search for batteries when your careless co-workers leave it switched on.
Any MOSFET PSU expert here? I am trying to repair an Apple G4 MDD computer power supply with a blown main cap (390uF, 420V), blown inrush current limiter and two, one of them fried, MOSFETs STW20NM50 (550V, 20A, 214W, 4V gate) discontinued, replacement $20!!. Since that MOSFET is no longer available could I replace it with a much cheaper $3 STW20NK50Z (500V, 17A, 170W)? Or some other mosfet, or is the NK undersized and dangerous? Many thanks.
These meters are very reliable. I have an early production unit as Dave does. And, I ran into the same problem as Dave trying to find a accurate schematic for it. Fortunately, the only difference I could readily see was concerning the input protection circuit. Mine was bought from eBay for $60, but needed repair. The relay driver IC was dead. But, upon repairing it I now have a very nice, capable bench meter. And, because I repair vacuum tube (as well as solid state) guitar amplifiers the audio impedance references are useful to me.
I thought my isolation transformer was cool but I had to build print the box and build a subframe and wire it all hahaha. I'm a hobbyist though and don't need that type of goodness haha
I'm having real trouble streaming this video. I can watch others (same or other channel) on 720 without a hiccup. Anyone else have this problem? Does youtube not like this video?
Most of these vintage bench multimeters are sold for USD250 above in eBay. They are old and pricey. Also eBay global shipping charges import duty. If your item cost USD 250, you have to pay USD 135-150 for import duty. It is horrible and annoying.
Thank-you So Much Dave for featuring our isolation transformer and the breakdown of how it works! We are celebrating our 35 year here!
I think Dave is the only person who would buy a meter "as-is" and complain it works!
So funny. I found where he complains about it working. LOL
Finally a video about the Fluke 45 multimeter. Have one myself for a few years now, bought it in new and mint condition (not yellow, and still with the factory cal. seal). Paid *way* too much for it though. No GPIB, but that isn't a problem.
A lot of people on the internet say it's a basic and overpriced meter, probably in comparison with today's standards, but I love it to bits! Use it all the time. Heck, we even have one floating around at work, and when doing simple measurements I actually use the pass/fail functionality. It's incredibly easy to set up, once you know how.
Would be cool to see if this one has the same thing my one does, when enabling the second display, for accuracy you want to put it in the "slow" mode, else it adds up approx. 2 or 3 volts to a measurement. for instance with a DC measurement in the main display an an AC measurement in the second.
I work in a factory where the Fluke 45 are still the main bench meter used by all the manufacturing technicians. They're calibrated annually and still work great. Great video as always Dave!
Had 2 different Fluke 45's over the last 10 years and never knew they had rechargeable batteries as an option or that the milliamp fuse came out the front. just unplugged and powered on, no worky. Must not have the option or bad battery. Thanks a lot Dave! thumbs up here.
I love my Fluke 45. I've had it for years. Still use it today.
The 8V battery option was clearly a gel cell, hence the nominal 8VDC voltage. I use to use some 6V batteries of the same rolled plate design for projects. They were also popular in some early cellular transportable phones for standalone power. I am surprised, though, that they opted for lead acid batteries rather than NiCd batteries, which were quite popular throughout the 80s.
BTW, that final copyright date actually reads "1986", not "1996”.
P
Could we get a plastic deyellowing video?
+joblessalex Was gonna ask for the same, that's something to fix.
+joblessalex i saw (i don´t remember where) a deyellowing technique with baking soda or hydrogen peroxide or something like that
+lean04 It's isopropal alcohol under UV light, if I remember right.
+joblessalex It's really easy. Just google it...
This is what you're looking for (removing the yellowing): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retr0bright
I have a luxurious Keihtley 6+ digits but my everyday multimeter is my Fluke45 since 28 years and I still love it !
It looks like that VFD dims significantly when more segments are shown; it might not be dim from age. Give Vcc a probe and check out pin 42(?) on the display. This could be a repair video yet!
You could use that Multimeter to finish the repair of the Samsung LCD TV.
Multimeters can not fix melted connectors nor failed ASICs, only outright replacements can do that...and that requires that Dave justify the expenditure as worthwhile considering how inexpensive LCD flat panels are nowadays. Only Dave can decide if it makes sense to throw good money after such a cause...unless some viewer wishes to send him all the necessary parts free of charge. After awhile you have the story of the 300 year old family axe that has had the head replaced 4 times and the handle a dozen more...is it still, really, the same axe after all the parts have been swapped for new...and is it really worth the time and effort for something that requires such an investment in time and money when a new and better one can be had so inexpensively? In any repair there is a point where one just has to draw a line...and it is not our one to draw.
+Ethan Poole It is not a "repair" in the conventional sense, where the goal is to restore the unit to service as cheaply as possible and if that can't be economically done, the unit is discarded. Here, the goal is to make a repair video. The TV itself is almost immaterial and I imagine Dave has no shortage of TVs.
The same is true of this video. Dave bought the Fluke in hopes of making a repair video, but it requires no repair. That's all right. Take it apart anyway.
+The Kaiser the tv is un-economical to repair. If you can't understand that economics of a repair are just as significant as the process, then don't get into the business of repair... You'll be _out_ of business in no time. Please, just drop this.
+richfiles If a 40" LCD TV costs $399 for a new unit, and a repair part costs $50-100, why the hell would I buy a whole new TV? Seems rather uneconomical.
+2dfx One must also include the value of time... In a business, time is money, so it often _is_ uneconomical to repair. To a hobbyist, or a person with free time, they can afford to spend more time on it. They may be more willing to gamble a part expenditure, especially if they believe that if it fails to repair the TV, they might be able to resell it. A business does not want to bother with that. They will charge ALL expenses to the customer. Dave's case is different from both the hobbyist and the business perspective though.
Since these videos are for learning and entertainment... There is low value, for Dave, in a measly board swap video. For Dave, his time is also valued, but the he also have time value in the value of a video... If a video is just gonna be "buy this board that costs a reasonable percentage of the value of a new TV set and replace it"... It's not a very good repair video. He gets no value from spending a good chunk of change on a replacement board to repair a set that _he does not need_, for a video that is not needed. If the LCD module is bad, then the cost is most of the TV itself... VERY uneconomical to repair. If it's one of the big ASICs, then you're looking at replacing a major board. Last time i repaired an LCD, an inverter board replacement cost me $80. When the second board failed, i chose to do a component level repair, and it cost me $22 to rebuild both boards, and have spare parts, incase it failed again.
Maybe it is one of the ASICs... replace the board on a maybe then... If it's economical to take that gamble on a product you want repaired, then that's your money to gamble, but Dave _don't need_ the tv, and he's isolated the most probable repair to either a board or a screen replacement. Either are expensive, though one more than the other. Since he doesn't need the TV though, it's not worth his _time_ nor the expense in parts to make a video that basically just says "Swap this board" and then shows a final functioning (maybe) product.
Got one of these off ebay last year. It is a great bench multimeter. Thanks for the link to the service manual. My unit has a dead battery pack. Not sure if I should attempt to add some new cells or just junk the battery option.
Dave - You could get that VFD running a bit brighter by bumping up the filament voltage. See if you can sneak another turn through the transformer. Or bring up the anode voltage a bit.
Dave, This is great! I have one of these meters that I got for free. It was in pieces and I had to rebuild it. I love it. Thanks for all of the great info!
I inherited one of these from a dear departed uncle... he had two, so my cousin still has one. It is in *mint* condition, very bright display... I'd never used the dual display part of it, nice to know how to work it now! I'll have to open it and see if there's a battery etc... thanks very much for the information.
Love the video. You really know how to fill the videos with enthusiasm!
Thanks!
Hi Dave, love your videos - always varied and interesting. It's great to listen to somebody who has a passion! I was wondering whether you'd have the time or inclination to look at some historic computers, such as ww2's Colossus? All the best.
8:34 0.05%+5d @ 10mA is +/-0.005mA+5 so it's in spec by quite a bit. 0.26% out would be 9.974mA instead of 9.9974mA.
The Fluke 45 is the ONLY meter, then and now, that can measure the DC and AC ripple on a voltage correctly without switching relays for every measurement. This is because there are different AC and DC paths into the Fluke IC and the switching is done solid state.
I have tried every meter on the market and none can do it. They either use relay switching or must use the same range for AC which makes that wildly inaccurate for mV ripple. Very frustrating that this 30 year piece of crap can not be replaced.
If you know a meter that you think can do it, let me know.
Got one of this Fluke 45 since 2003. A dumpster save in a Pirelli factory in england where they throw away an entire electronic lab. Got authrorization from the CEO himself to take it from the bin. Got only remorse to take more like scope or power supply. :(
Thank you to make me discover some functions of it. Will bring it to work tomorrow!!
Wow, last calibration 2012. That beast has seen a lot of use! Nice!
I have a Fluke 45..Great meter for the workbench !
The PSU giving 2 isolated 5V rails is to have a digital and an analogue 5V supply, nothing like separate supplies for isolating noise.
Looks like the main capacitor is at EOL though, the sleeve is shrinking off. Not surprising as it has had a few decades of power applied with it being charged to peak voltage, followed by high ripple current in operation. Bonus is there is no Schaeffner filter pack to do an unexpected smoke test for you, though it looks like the mains input MOV has been designed out.
wow dave the start of the video was really first world problems.
"I just bought a vintage high end multimeter for Au$100 and it works perfectly! c'mon!"
+Erik Bruijn When you are buying it for a potential repair video, yes, it's a bummer.
+EEVblog We could cooperate on this. If you send me equipment intended for repair videos then I will break it for you. ;)
+Erik Bruijn Straya - The lucky country.
+Erik Bruijn For that kind of money, you would expect it to work. When that unit was new, it probably only cost $50-100 to make.
+Razor2048 I think that's unlikely. The parts alone were probably $100 in the dollars of the era.
Bought a 220-115V 2kVA unit yesterday. Looks like it can easily be converted to an isolation transformer as there are 2 parallel tapped windings on separate cores. Must look at making a 1kVA isolation unit out of it. Was $8 on auction, and it is darn heavy. Just have to replace a broken 10A overcurrent breaker and put a decent mains cable on it. Polarised US sockets though, will have to look at changing them or just using some US power leads instead.
Dave, where's the shakeproof washer on that Tortech-unit?
I got mine for free; dumpster diving at work (yes, I got permission to take it). As far as I can tell, it's 100% working.
If you want to fix the yellow plastics, use cream peroxide, wrap it in saran wrap, then hit it with a uv lamp for a few hours. Will look as good as new....
I got mine at a ham fest for $60USD...the display window is a bit melted from someone possibly placing a soldering iron a little too close but it's quite functional. It's a daily use bit of kit in my home lab. You can see it in some of my videos actually!
There were 2 production models of the model 45. I have one, that I repaired (Svc note: uP 3-pin reset mod for calibration fix).
@25m15s: "...just a zener diode..." Worth noting that 6.3v (as shown) is the optimum zener/avalanche voltage for stability over time and temperature. Cheers.
Wow, that's some impressive speed on that autorange on the 45.
Your meter is quite interesting, you have a different layout to the 3 that I have. Mine have a 440mA HRC fuse for the 100mA current input on the board as well as the glass fuse in the jack itself. I also think mine have a smaller shield over the ADC. Also the battery is 4 sealed lead acid cells, I've done some research on them to try to get one for my meters but they're pretty hard to find for any reasonable price. Yours also seemed to have more SMD parts instead of through hole.
Hey dave, the VFD board it says 1986, not 1996. lol
+HTFCirno2000 Dave might need glasses he missed a few numbers in this one. :)
Calibrated on my birthday! Pretty snazzy meter
It seems the schematic is for newer version. Mine has two fuses on board and UPD75212 in QFP.
Dave, you should do a tear down on one of those two wheeled self balancing scooters all the UA-camrs are using. Its interesting to see the difference of the early and better quality ones sold by io hawk vs the cheap knockoffs all over amazon and such. Would love to see some mods on it too for best performance.
Dave you need to grow a long gray beard, you have the knowledge.
+TheEPROM9 One doesn't grow a gray beard. They just show up one day.
This comment was purchased from Vietnam
I just "inherited" one of these from my workplace as a "get rid of this stuff" thing...It seems to be in full working order along with a nice bright Flouro display :)
The most iconic bench multimeter. :) I hold 4 of them as backup multimeter:) I remember when I hooked up to serial port to make logging and I cant get binary data into my Panasonic PBX serial logger software. I did not sleep 2 night on it what a problem in My own writed software lines :))) Then I realized.. is ASCII already! Facepalm.... :) I love them!
Dave ,
You wanted to repair , what about getting the display brighter ;)
I had a Fluke 8026 (about £400 at the time) the power connection overloaded and caused a fire. My insurer visited, took notes & photos, took away the 8026. Eventually they came back to say that the 8026 was no longer available & would I accept the Fluke 45 instead. I thought for a while (about 45 nS) and I still have it, the battery is dead and no longer available but the accuracy of the meter is still perfect.
Always extremely informative!! THANKS!
I have one of these, Love it. BUT its a shame Fluke discontinued replacement VFD displays, Mine is dim as well. Only other solution is to reverse engineer the 4-bit Micro protocol, and roll your own PCB with maybe a dot matrix display.
Could we get a video of you replacing the display with a" new old"?
Tortech - good company. They did a custom toroidal transformer wind for me back in 2008...
+Anamnesia Maybe, maybe not. Where is their shake proof washer?
+Ernst Stavro Blofeld damn thing is so heavy, it won't shake ;) Why bother putting one in?
thekaduu What if you are, like myself, on a ship? I saw heavier things shaking there. Especially if they were alive, seconds before I dropped them into the shark-tank and they realised that they are not at the top of the food chain..
+Ernst Stavro Blofeld Well.. if you are on the ship all the time, like my Captain brother, you'd buy something else. I'm sure your company, if any good, would not buy you or let you buy this if it is not suitable for your environment. Being on a ship, you should know that there are procedures and specifictions for almost everyting (short of taking a shit in your own cabin). My comment was adressing the other 99% of the people. Sorry.
This has about the same age as my Wavetek model 52 multimeter 1987 and that one is way more advanced with a dot graphic LCD than this Fluke 45. Can measure current and voltage at the same time (no relay used for that) and also calculates power. I only have one channel but can support 4 internal channels and display all that. It will use a relay if I want to measure voltage on the front and on the back same channel.
I use the serial and save directly to a csv file. It also had a battery power potion and only uses about 0.5W form a DC input.
I made a video back in 2012 and is on my channel. Is my main multimeter now and I just love it :) It also looks way more modern than this Fluke 45 in my opinion.
I only payed about $50 including sipping for the Wavetek model 52 :)
I would clean the vfd glass and the inside of the filter. May get a fair bit more brightness out of it unless it's already done. I would have expected the display to be more unevenly worn out. Were the vfd voltages OK?
I wished dave dimmed the lighting so we could see the meters screen better. otherwise good video
Dave, look at the datecode of TruRMS AD chip!
Nice meter Dave do u think u will swap the display?
the "45" is a great box to test the BATTERISER with - By cracky!
My dad owned a Fluke 8020A, from then on, only Fluke.
powerwave formerly allgon and nowadays a part of andrew i believe, manufactures rf repeaters and sorts
Nice score Dave.
Are you going to sort out the VF screen?
I am slowly realising that every component in this Teardown is extremely common! I guess that's what you call "General Knowledge".
Powerwave went bankrupt in 2013. And Intel purchased it's IP. Cool to see their equipment will continue on.
I love Austin Tacious Too
my grandfather still has one in the box not opened that I kind of want to go and get but I don't know if its still really useful
Just got on of these on ebay for $25 supposedly works:) gonna be nice next to my 3478a
Did it come with a batteriser?
Dave, if you want to purchase a device with the intent of having to do a repair video you should have me buy it for you.
Great buy
Check the voltage on that VFD, maybe it's not making -30, and maybe that's why it's dim.
+Boffin I tend to agree. I fixed probably a hundred VCRs back in the day that had dim VFDs. Just had to sniff out the high ESR cap and replace it usually. Suspect C45 in the supply
Could try fixing the low brightness VFD, apparently they can be rejuvenated though how successfully I don't know.
+MrCapacitator off the forum, would like to see if this works on the display.
Yes, and I've done it many times with good results. The filament oxidizes which reduces the number of electrons that can be emitted at the same drive current. Driving it with higher current (constant current power supply is necessary) to white hot condition for 5-10 seconds will breathe new life into the display. It's unlikely that the phosphors are damaged if the whole display is dim. You might find a few "shapes" such as a leading zero or the decimal will be permanently dimmed, but an overall rejuvenation will minimize brightness differences.
It's not a permanent solution, but it does give you a few years. I did it to both of my bedside clocks and they've managed to look good for almost four years of 24/7 operation.
Hi Dave,
Sorry for the off topic but I'm not getting any activation code for the forum :( (no its not in the spam folder)
Auto focus on the computer monitor ftw
The electrons had fallen out...WOW
The new Fluke 8846a also has a vacuum fluorescent display. If I pay $1500 for that thing, will it still be working after 15 years or will it be a dim thing like this review unit? That's what's pushing me toward the HP.
Depends entirely upon how many runtime hours you accrue during those 15 years. This meter may very well have been run most every day for the past 25 years before Dave purchased it. For certain your display will dim, but, unless you are working in full sunlight or a very brightly lit room, it should remain sufficiently visible for several decades of fairly heavy use, many more if more lightly used and powered off when not in use. Generally, though, it will be the most heavily used segments that dim the most...the fact that Dave's display seems rather uniformly dim suggests the VFD voltage rail may be sagging and in need of capacitor replacement and/or adjustment.
It is all trade offs, though. VFDs have the advantage of wide viewing angles and quick update rates whereas many of the older LCD displays lack backlighting and can be difficult to read from certain lighting and viewing angles (especially in a darkened room). A backlit LCD, however, makes for a very nice display.
I'm sorry davie. but are you saying Joul or duel ???
Not gettin into it, not gettin out of it ... That's how I like my reference components.
Before the World Wide Web :).
Not before the Internet.
What a nice old meter, its simple enough on the attenuator/adc side for a bonehead like me to understand but has a processor controll system to do the math and all the whistles and bells :-D
31:13 it is 1986 not 1996
Could the brightness of the display be tweaked somehow, similar to how an LED display could?
+Mystickneon If he can mod the power supply to provide a little bit more filament voltage, the display will be brighter.
+rocketman221projects Some people here think that a cap is gone.
+Dorf Schmidt That's possible too. A low anode voltage would cause it to dim.
+Mystickneon I know some of the time, the dimness is a result of the plastic and glass "Smoking over" with dust and crap. Clean it with some IPA and should be able to make it a tad brighter!
Dave, should pass the meter over to me. I'm sure I could make it not work.. just need to pass it to a friend. They seem to be able to break anything just by aproaching it! :D
you connected the device to the PC without explain how did you do that?
RS-232? Thought that was self explanatory
What's with the video of the stand-up comic, near the end?
+Sasha Whitefur
Austen Tayshus - Australiana
*****
I meant, why was it there?
He quoted the video
I must have missd that part, thanks. :)
Does anyone know what the "1RV" located by the ground symbol means? I've never seen it before. Thanks in advance.
Anyone have issues with the battery low indicator coming on after a power failure, seemingly from the battery not having enough voltage because charging didn't happen post power failure?
1986 though.. 31:12
Would be а review of the old USSR multimeters?
Sorry if my english is bad. I am subscriber from Ukraine.
+Антон Богатырчук If people send him some, I'm certain he would happily tear them down. Even if it is a simple meter, he may do a "2 minute teardown" during a mailbag.
I'm pretty sure he did one at one point. Unfortunately I can't remember the brand name of the meter to look it up.
you got a real thumbs up from me :-) Thanks again for a good video!
Better or worse than Fluke 8840A?
8840A's a real precision benchtop multimeter with 4 wire and 5.5 digits. This thing is between a handheld and a 8840A. The real use of these is to substitute for a handheld in a lab so you don't spend 10 minutes looking for it every time you need it, and you don't need to search for batteries when your careless co-workers leave it switched on.
Oh no! You voided the warranty! lol
Any MOSFET PSU expert here?
I am trying to repair an Apple G4 MDD computer power supply with a blown main cap (390uF, 420V), blown inrush current limiter and two, one of them fried, MOSFETs STW20NM50 (550V, 20A, 214W, 4V gate) discontinued, replacement $20!!. Since that MOSFET is no longer available could I replace it with a much cheaper $3 STW20NK50Z (500V, 17A, 170W)? Or some other mosfet, or is the NK undersized and dangerous? Many thanks.
Uh, 1993, brings back bad memories... War, famine...
But, you turned it on before you took it apart..................
NoinNinAtyNoin I love your videos and your so fun to listen to. I love the accent.
These meters are very reliable. I have an early production unit as Dave does. And, I ran into the same problem as Dave trying to find a accurate schematic for it. Fortunately, the only difference I could readily see was concerning the input protection circuit. Mine was bought from eBay for $60, but needed repair. The relay driver IC was dead. But, upon repairing it I now have a very nice, capable bench meter. And, because I repair vacuum tube (as well as solid state) guitar amplifiers the audio impedance references are useful to me.
That cap needs to be replaced, the plastic has pulled back off the top of it.
I thought my isolation transformer was cool but I had to build print the box and build a subframe and wire it all hahaha. I'm a hobbyist though and don't need that type of goodness haha
I used some of these I'm my mech labs.
I'm having real trouble streaming this video. I can watch others (same or other channel) on 720 without a hiccup. Anyone else have this problem? Does youtube not like this video?
I have one, but mine is like new 😊
They use this in the labs at my university hahaha.
It's a disappointment when a piece of electronics works properly?
It is when you have a business/hobby making educational videos on electrical engineering, including repair videos.
Most of these vintage bench multimeters are sold for USD250 above in eBay. They are old and pricey. Also eBay global shipping charges import duty. If your item cost USD 250, you have to pay USD 135-150 for import duty. It is horrible and annoying.
usa, usa, usa haha another great vid Dave two thumbs up!