Unwell Fluke 1652

[EFLImpudence]

If I switch on a (working!) 1652 with just the PE lead missing, I can, despite "LEAd" showing in the display, undertake a L-N loop impedance measurement, simply by selecting that function and pressing the 'Test' button. It can't do any other tests, but that's primarily because they all require a PE lead to be connected to something. It therefore seems that absence of a lead (and appearance of "LEAd") does not, per se, stop the machine working. EFLI ... can you confirm that is true of your machine?

Yes that is the same, and
you could, of course, do an L-E (high current) test by putting the N lead to Earth.

** In theory, one should be able to undertake some voltage measurements with the L or PE lead (just one of them) missing - N-PE voltage and L-N voltage respectively. However, unless I've been very unlucky in acquiring two 1652s with the same 'fault', it seems that the only voltage one can measure is L-PE. The manual indicates that one can use the F1 button to toggle to L-N or N-PE, but that has never worked with either of my machines (although the F1 button has 'worked as expected' with respect to all other types of measurement). EFLI ... is that also true of your machine?

Toggle between L-PE and L-N does not work.

I can do battery test so it is 'working' as such

 

[JohnW2]

Yes that is the same, and you could, of course, do an L-E (high current) test by putting the N lead to Earth.

Thanks for confirming. Yes, one obviously could do that, but that wasn't the point - my point was that the presence of a (legitimate) "LEAd" message does not, per se, prevent the machine functioning normally if the test in question does not require the missing lead.

Toggle between L-PE and L-N does not work.

Again, thanks for confirming. As I said, that toggling of voltage measurements never worked with my old machine, and doesn't with the 'new' one. I suspect the problem is that the manual (at least, the one I have) covers a range of machines, and maybe some of them do have that toggling functionality. The manual also suggests hat one can toggle between L-N, L-PE and N-PE (again, with F1 key) for IR testing but, again, neither of my machines have ever done that.

I can do battery test so it is 'working' as such

That's F3 isn't it? As I said before, my F1 button, per se, is clearly 'working', since I can use it to toggle between L-N and L-PE loop tests and for 'toggling' through the range of available IΔn levels for RCD tests.

There seem to have been some new developments regarding my 'old' 1652, which I'll be writing about a bit later, once I have got my head around them!

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

When I did the battery test, it read 4.7V.

On checking they are in fact 7.3V - everything seems alright.

Any ideas?

 

[JohnW2]

When I did the battery test, it read 4.7V. On checking they are in fact 7.3V - everything seems alright. Any ideas?

Interesting. I think there's something odd about this 'battery test'. I put a brand new set of (alkaline) batteries into my new machine and, as it should, it was just under 9V when checked with a multimeter. However, the Fluke's 'battery test' reported 7.2V.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

Right, thanks. I don't suppose it affects anything else.

 

[JohnW2]

Right, thanks. I don't suppose it affects anything else.

I wouldn't think so, other than that when it thinks the battery voltage has fallen to 6V it is meant to start getting excited with warnings etc.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

There seem to have been some new developments regarding my 'old' 1652, which I'll be writing about a bit later, once I have got my head around them!

This is far too confusing, inconsistent and variable for me to explain properly at present, but an initial update ...

Yesterday, after having observed that the presence of the "LEAd" message does not prevent a 1652 doing any tests for which the required leads are present, I felt that I had to check that I had not been totally silly all along, by not realising that my old machine would still work, despite the "LEAd" message appearing when I switched it on!

I therefore re-visited my old machine (still 'in pieces'), after what has probably been 3-4 weeks of 'neglect' (with batteries disconnected).

When I first switched it on, I thought that all was lost, because I repeatedly got the dreaded "Err1" message ('return to manufacturer). I then spent quite a long time playing with switching it on/off, with most/all possible combinations of leads and fuses present/absent. Somewhere along the line it suddenly started 'working' to at least some extent, and that has (so far) remained the case. However, all sorts of bizarre things are happening, and not all of them consistently. For example ...

When I switch it on with leads plugged in, it sometimes, but not always, momentarily shows the "LEAd" message, but that goes away. Just occasionally, it produces the "Err1" or "FUSE" message on power up, but that problem seems to go away if I just power down/up again.

The "LEAd" message has occasionally popped up briefly (but gone away spontaneously) whilst I've been using the machine.

Sometimes, when (after successfully switching the machine on) I connect the leads to 'the mains', it immediately shows the "FUSE" message, and refuses to do anything. It may be a 'coincidence' but, on several occasions I have got that problem to go away by bypassing the L fuse (the 'internal' one), despite the fact that the fuse is fine and the holder also seems fine. Wiggling the fuse makes no difference.

Prior to the recent illness, the machine was producing (per my 'testing box') pretty accurate results for all functions. However, now there seem to be all sorts of inaccuracies. It is under-reading voltage by about 5% (might not sound as much, but it means that, say, 240V is showing as about 228V). It is seemingly over-reading loop impedances by a bit over 5%, and low resistance ('continuity') measurements currently seem to be 'all over the place'.

Other than the measurement errors, little is particularly consistent, and most issues seem to be at least partially related to 'leads present' and 'fuse' tests. I've tried shaking/prodding etc. and can find no evidence of mechanical intermittency.

Given that the machine has partially recovered after a period of 'neglect', I wonder if some environmental factors may have been at play. It usually lives in my cellar, which has a very damp atmosphere, so maybe it would be worthwhile bringing it up into a more warm/dry environment for a bit.

If/when I have more to say, I'll report back!

Kind Regards, John