Fluke 87 Replacement LCD
Paul Hovnanian P.E.
I knocked the damned thing off the workbench and the display cracked
(again). But the usual on-line sources all list this as "out of stock".
It appears that Fluke no longer carries parts for the 87 (original).
From what I can see, all the service outfits that used to carry this
part got cleaned out fast when Fluke discontinued the part. So these
things must break quite often.
If these can't be had, I guess I'll be looking for a new multimeter with
the same specs. But I want one where: 1) high maintenance parts are
going to be kept in stock for the anticipated life of the product or 2)
a unit that is built well enough that the occasional plunge off the
bench doesn't cause irreplaceable parts to break.
I'd buy the the 87 mark 5, but I'm afraid that Fluke may not have solved
the fragile display problem and, in a few years, when that one takes a
tumble, I'll have to drop another $400 on the mark 6 model.
--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:Pa...@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Porsche: If I went any faster, I'd have to eat airline food.
William Sommerwerck
the LCD.
If I wanted a "newer, better" DVM, I'd sell you mine. But I don't.
Is this the right LCD for the original model?
You might also consider...
There's at least a half-dozen 87s on eBay at the moment.
PS: It's interesting that you can buy a kit to "fix" the fading display (by
replacing the elastomeric contacts). I fixed mine just by cleaning them with
a swab dunking in isopropyl alcohol.
StepNfetchit
N_Cook
news:4BBF900C...@Hovnanian.com...
Zebra is unlikely to match in dimensions , same with pinning not going to
match but has anyone successfully wired in (or whatever) via conductive
epoxy (or whatever) onto the lands of a totally different display and
soldered to the pcb. Anunciators may not be a match either
Perhaps a faux zebra made from many many short lengths of the finest magnet
wire , with stripped final mm or so and stagger laid-up before gluing. Then
actively checking valid segment lines to the various backblanes and ignoring
the ones failing to hit on a land. At least the sequencing of segments is
fairly consistent.
Mark Zacharias
news:4BBF900C...@Hovnanian.com...
Any LCD model suffers from the "fragile display problem".
The LCD elements are made of glass after all. The larger and more readable
the display, the more fragile as well.
You could get a Fluke 28 which is spec'd to survive a 10 foot drop.
Check engineer Dave Jones' reviews Part 1 and Part 2 at:
or on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkYm021p5qk
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlA7-fh5nDQ
Mark Z.
N_Cook
Fluke 77 , used for unpowered/cold checks. I managed to blow up my
work-a-day sacrificial el-cheapo no-name DVM a couple of weeks back putting
2000 V on the 1000V range. Not dumped , as the large LCD , for the Fluke.
Just tried the display on 50 Hz sig gen and straightforward segment pinning
(all segments ok) , I'd have to use the hFE anunciator perhaps as "2" mid
segment for 2.999 Fluke use as this is only 1.999 max. Land spacing 1.2mm so
easy staggered conductive epoxying of fine wires. Loads of other anunciators
not used on the original like nF,uF, deg C etc I did not know were there.
--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://diverse.4mg.com/index.htm
Paul Hovnanian P.E.
> Even if the unit is in the "holster", it might not survive a direct blow
> to the LCD.
>
> If I wanted a "newer, better" DVM, I'd sell you mine. But I don't.
>
> Is this the right LCD for the original model?
>
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/FLUKE-87-LCD-NEW-PN-832188-DMM-MULTIMETER-DISPLAY_W0QQitemZ160417261544QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item25599d27e8
Yep. That's it. Having the P/N (verified with the Fluke maint. manual) makes
it easier to find without having to drill down through all the 'dim
display' kits, Series 5 meters for sale, etc. The price is about what I
recall the last time this happened.
--
Paul Hovnanian pa...@hovnanian.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Have gnu, will travel.
Paul Hovnanian P.E.
Of course. So the solution is to find a manufacturer that will continue to
support its most popular models with spare parts. Even original source
parts (the mfg's P/N appears to be from Sharp) would be fine.
I went through the same problem with an old Fluke Scopemeter. A flexible PCB
developed a break. Fluke no longer supports the model. Fortunately, it was
repairable with some 'conductive repair paint'.
I've got cars 30+ years old for which I can still find new parts.
DaveC
<http://www.flukeonlinestore.com/1580789.html>
Also, this update kit includes a new display:
<http://www.flukeonlinestore.com/2096980.html>
I think it is supposed to upgrade some of the other 80-series to the display
size of the 87-5 (larger digits, etc.).
Includes a few other goodies, too.
Good luck.
JW
<pa...@hovnanian.com> wrote in Message id:
<AoGdnR3l0ZnJJV3W...@posted.isomediainc>:
>William Sommerwerck wrote:
>
>> Even if the unit is in the "holster", it might not survive a direct blow
>> to the LCD.
>>
>> If I wanted a "newer, better" DVM, I'd sell you mine. But I don't.
>>
>> Is this the right LCD for the original model?
>>
>>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/FLUKE-87-LCD-NEW-PN-832188-DMM-MULTIMETER-DISPLAY_W0QQitemZ160417261544QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item25599d27e8
>
>Yep. That's it. Having the P/N (verified with the Fluke maint. manual) makes
>it easier to find without having to drill down through all the 'dim
>display' kits, Series 5 meters for sale, etc. The price is about what I
>recall the last time this happened.
Here's a cheaper one *and* it has a return policy unlike the one above
which is [warning bells] as-is:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fluke-87-87-3-New-Multimeter-LCD-Glass-Display-Panel_W0QQitemZ370360978553QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item563b3c0c79
Paul Hovnanian P.E.
noticed a flaw in the design of the meter: The corners of the LCD glass
project beyond the corners of the plastic retaining bezel. Now I'm not
certain what the clearance will be once the assembly is installed in the
meter case. But its possible that, due to a violent shock, the meter
innards could shift inside the case resulting in the LCD glass corner to
strike the inside of the case. That's what appears to have happened when I
dropped my meter.
N_Cook
news:7fidnWrKZarNEU3W...@posted.isomediainc...
Preemptively grind into the bezel corners with centrided burr in a dremmel
Paul Hovnanian P.E.
If they were not so expensive (and difficult to come by), I'd try it. I
may practice on the old one to see if it can be done without cracking
it.
>
> Or simply don't subject your Fluke 87 to "violent shock".
A fall off a workbench while its in its yellow rubber case shouldn't
result in this kind of damage.
--
Paul Hovnanian mailto:Pa...@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you,
then you win. -Gandhi
bz
> Meat Plow wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:42:42 +0100, "N_Cook" <div...@tcp.co.uk>wrote:
>>
>> >Paul Hovnanian P.E. <pa...@hovnanian.com> wrote in message
>> >news:7fidnWrKZarNEU3W...@posted.isomediainc...
>> >> So I received the new LCD and installed it. Meter works fine now.
>> >> But I noticed a flaw in the design of the meter: The corners of the
>> >> LCD glass project beyond the corners of the plastic retaining bezel.
>> >> Now I'm not certain what the clearance will be once the assembly is
>> >> installed in the meter case. But its possible that, due to a violent
>> >> shock, the meter innards could shift inside the case resulting in
>> >> the LCD glass corner to strike the inside of the case. That's what
>> >> appears to have happened when I dropped my meter.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Paul Hovnanian pa...@hovnanian.com
>> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> - Have gnu, will travel.
>> >
>> >
>> >Preemptively grind into the bezel corners with centrided burr in a
>> >dremmel
>
> If they were not so expensive (and difficult to come by), I'd try it. I
> may practice on the old one to see if it can be done without cracking
> it.
>>
>> Or simply don't subject your Fluke 87 to "violent shock".
>
> A fall off a workbench while its in its yellow rubber case shouldn't
> result in this kind of damage.
>
How about packing some kind of 'shock absorber' or immobilizing material
around the mechanism so that a drop won't shift it?
Shapelock plastic seems to come in handy for many such tasks. If I don't
want it to stick to nearby plastic, I put a barrier of saran-wrap between
them. The shapelock WILL stick to the saran-wrap but the saran-wrap won't
stick to the other plastic.
--
bz 73 de N5BZ k
please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.
gregor...@gmail.com
Fluke Service performed this upgrade/change during a repair to my Fluke 87
almost a decade ago.
The new LCD is cleaner and easier to view. LED used for backlighting.
greg, w9gb
ans...@gmail.com
> Need one.
>
> I knocked the damned thing off the workbench and the display cracked
> (again). But the usual on-line sources all list this as "out of stock".
> It appears that Fluke no longer carries parts for the 87 (original).
> From what I can see, all the service outfits that used to carry this
> part got cleaned out fast when Fluke discontinued the part. So these
> things must break quite often.
>
> If these can't be had, I guess I'll be looking for a new multimeter with
> the same specs. But I want one where: 1) high maintenance parts are
> going to be kept in stock for the anticipated life of the product or 2)
> a unit that is built well enough that the occasional plunge off the
> bench doesn't cause irreplaceable parts to break.
>
> I'd buy the the 87 mark 5, but I'm afraid that Fluke may not have solved
> the fragile display problem and, in a few years, when that one takes a
> tumble, I'll have to drop another $400 on the mark 6 model.
>
William Sommerwerck
OEM.
Shaun
wrote in message
news:dd097d3e-121a-41ce...@googlegroups.com...
What series is it?
I have a Fluke 87 series III (3) with the yellow rubber holster and I've
found it to be very durable. Fluke supported these meters for many years
and they are well made! I used to fix them 18 to 22 years ago when they
first came out. There were fuseable resistors inside to protect the meter
in cases of over-voltage, I would test them and replace the odd one along
with fuses. I have replaced the odd display but not too often. Another
problem was too much dirt would collect inside the holes where the leads
plug in and meter give false alarms that the customer had the leads in the
wrong jacks.
I own two fluke meters, I think they are some of the best quality meters out
there. I don't sell them or repair them anymore; so this isn't a sales
pitch.
Shaun
William Sommerwerck
It's not clear to me why simply dropping the unit should break the LCD.
Regardless, if you don't have the polymer case, you should get one.
Michael Black
information now? Either he's found it long ago, or moved on.
He may not even be reading this newsgroup anymore, I recognize the name,
but not sure when I last saw a post from him.
But since you did reply to a four year old post, now you've resurrected
this thread, so others jump in, not noticing it's an old thread. And what
solutions were offered at the time? Nobody's going back to check, not
everyone uses google.
Michael
N_Cook
of them, always supposed gmail account and no followup from the bot/human.
Whats it all about,? auto content production for some parasitic site
somewhere?
Jon Elson
in practically from the beginning of the universe, like 1986 or something.
Jon
Bruce Esquibel
> Is it a human or a bot that is resurrecting this stuff, a whole series
> of them, always supposed gmail account and no followup from the bot/human.
> Whats it all about,? auto content production for some parasitic site
> somewhere?
If you hit this:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/Fluke$2087$20Replacement$20LCD/sci.electronics.repair/jIFHbxaiZ80/kvtvF86w9zsJ
Note the way that the date is pushed off to the side (the right side).
Google tried to make usenet their own (groups) and mix up the results within
general search results. The usenet posts are made to look like everyone on
usenet is part of google.
I wish they would get rid of that fucking thing and put back the original
dejanews archives.
-bruce
b...@ripco.com
Michael Black
participants four years ago.
There was absolutely no sense in resurrecting this thread, unless the new
guy is spamming.
The original poster got a suggestion, followed through on it, and posted
an update that the meter was back to normal (something that doesn't happen
enough when people do ask questions here). There was already the
discussion of whether or not dropping it should have broken it, and the
value of a rubber casing to protect it from falls.
Michael