Strange fluke 1653b question

[Gringoking88]

Hi all,

Firstly hello and thanks for making this site so helpful, I'm trying to make a career change to be a domestic electrician and this site as been brilliant, so thanks.

Now for my question, I have recently purchased a fluke 1653b off eBay and I got it calibrated straight away for piece of mind, it came back all fine and passed all tests etc. I went to use it and when using the remote probe the readings I'm getting are taking ages to load. For example if doing an continuinty test it will read initially at say 3 ohms then slowly and erratically drop down to a more normal level, by slowly I mean literally I mean a few minutes. However if I do the same test on the same circuit using the test button on the fluke itself the reading is pretty much instant. I have also tried a different remote probe but still have the same problem.

Can anyone please suggest why this might be???? I have also tried changing the batteries just incase but this made no difference.

Thanks very much in advance,

Martin

 

[Richard Burns]

Have you checked the probe connections are clean on the back of the meter.
The fault sounds strange but if the readings are being inhibited by a poor connection to the probe then they may take time to settle.
A quick cotton bud with alcohol swab can work wonders. but don't get the connections too wet!

Welcome to the forum, BTW.

 

[calpol91]

I had something similar with a metrel.... i got that off ebay too, couldnt sort it, ended up chucking it back on ebay as faulty for £100.

that passed calibration too. i tried new leads and it did seem to solve the problem for afew weeks but then it came back. i did as richard said too and cleaned what i could out but never made a difference. probably why it was on ebay in the first place.

Zs, IR, RCD tests etc all seemed ok, just continuity. i dont know much about flukes but you could try changing any fuses?! dont know if that will help.

 

[shanky887614]

Hi all,

Firstly hello and thanks for making this site so helpful, I'm trying to make a career change to be a domestic electrician and this site as been brilliant, so thanks.

Now for my question, I have recently purchased a fluke 1653b off eBay and I got it calibrated straight away for piece of mind, it came back all fine and passed all tests etc. I went to use it and when using the remote probe the readings I'm getting are taking ages to load. For example if doing an continuinty test it will read initially at say 3 ohms then slowly and erratically drop down to a more normal level, by slowly I mean literally I mean a few minutes. However if I do the same test on the same circuit using the test button on the fluke itself the reading is pretty much instant. I have also tried a different remote probe but still have the same problem.

Can anyone please suggest why this might be???? I have also tried changing the batteries just incase but this made no difference.

Thanks very much in advance,

Martin

there is a battery test on the fluke.

turn it to V and press the right function button, it will tell you the current battery voltage

 

[Gringoking88]

Have you checked the probe connections are clean on the back of the meter.
The fault sounds strange but if the readings are being inhibited by a poor connection to the probe then they may take time to settle.
A quick cotton bud with alcohol swab can work wonders. but don't get the connections too wet!

Welcome to the forum, BTW.

Hi Richard,

Thanks for this, I was initially thinking along the same lines, but the strange thing is if I use the same remote probe but not use the test button on the probe and use the test button on the machine itself the readings are fine?????? Strange but true lol.

Thanks,

Martin

 

[Gringoking88]

I borrowed a friends remote probe today and it does exactly the same thing when used in my machine. I just dont understand why it works fine when using the test button on the machine.

 

[Gringoking88]

Hi Shanky,

Thanks for this, this is probably my lack of experience but im confused as to what you mean about this battery test function???? What I did do was try a new set of batteries in it, was hoping this would make a difference but again no change!!!!

 

[shanky887614]

Hi Shanky,

Thanks for this, this is probably my lack of experience but im confused as to what you mean about this battery test function???? What I did do was try a new set of batteries in it, was hoping this would make a difference but again no change!!!!

does the screen change as soon as you press the button? it might be the extra pin on those test leads not working properly on your tester (might be mucky.

the reason i mentioned the battery test is it saves time guessing and swaping batteries (i know some of the 1553 meggers go loopy on low batteries)

im pretty sure mine isnt any slower but then mine is a 1654 that has hardly been used

 

[Richard Burns]

I borrowed a friends remote probe today and it does exactly the same thing when used in my machine. I just dont understand why it works fine when using the test button on the machine.

When you use the remote probe the test button will be connected through the arrowed connections shown on the picture below on the meter, if the connection to the test probe cable is OK then pressing the meter test button will work fine, however if the connections to the remote button are faulty then the meter may struggle.
Check that the probe is fully in place and that there is no damage to, or dirt on, these contacts.

 

[Gringoking88]

All thanks very much for the responses above. Turns out it had a faulty pcb board which unfortunately is. 250 quid fix unless anyone knows anywhere that will do it for less?

 

[Richard Burns]

From the fault you describe, the "PCB board fault" would be that the wires from those two contacts are not firmly soldered to the board, possibly a repair you may be able to undertake, since the meter will not be under warranty. However this does depend on your willingness to risk breaking the whole thing!
The alternative, since the meter as a whole is working correctly, is to use the meter without the remote probe and just get hook or clamp probes for the test leads so you do not need to hold them in place.

 

[Gringoking88]

Thanks again for all the advice, decided to bite the bullet and get the thing repaired!