Fluke 87-V True RMS Industrial Multimeter

As described

The Good:This is a great meter. It has every function and feature I need for amp builds and the 87-V will meet the needs of hobbyists and professionals alike. The overall build quality is good but, not as good as the Fluke 117 I bought several years ago. The 87-V seems rugged enough for professional use and I recommend the Casling Hard Case for convienence and storage. Time will tell about the reliability and durability of the 87-V.The Bad:It's expensive and lacks some basics that should be included for the price. That is the reason for 3 stars.The leads included are VERY, VERY stiff - not the soft silicone you expect in a meter at this price point (see picture). It's frustrating to fight stiff, coiled leads while working, especially over lethal voltages - a frustration I don't need.Fluke does NOT include a manual. Instead they put a GO GREEN card in the box with a link where you download and print out a manual. But when I printed the manual the text took up less than half page - there's nothing nothing Green about that. Moreover, instead of having a nice small manual that I can put in the carry case to double check operation, functions, and safety, I have 52 pages of 8 1/2 by 11 paper that I'm not likely to have with me when needed. (see picture). Fluke's customer service folks were patronizing and dismissive when I called about getting a manual. Fluke no longer prints manuals, another very basic item you expect at this price point.

I love Fluke products. They are high quality and they just work. I purchased a new Fluke 87 V meter as I dropped my old Fluke meter. I was working on my son’s truck in the winter time and the meter slid off of the hood of the truck onto the concrete parting lot.My old Fluke meter was 30 years old and it still worked well. The case shattered and I was unable to purchase case parts from Fluke as it was so old. This new Fluke 87 V is an excellent meter. I love all of the features of the meter and the backlit display.For me it is a perfect meter with all of the features I need. I do wish it came with the magnetic hanging strap. I went ahead and purchased the strap but I felt it was over priced for what you are getting.

The Fluke 80 series is Fluke's "bread and butter" meter and the 87-V or "87 Five" is has been pretty much “THE standard in multimeters” since its introduction. It's an industry professional's tool that's jam packed with useful and accurate measurements that make it appealing to electricians and electronics professionals alike. Frankly there isn't too much this meter doesn't have. It's a 6000 count meter with a push button 20,000 ct hi-resolution mode. It measures Amps (up to 10), mA and uA, as well as capacitance, V and mV, temperature, frequency, resistance AND conductance, and of course it has a continuity buzzer as well as a diode check. As of this update in Aug 2015 there are several meters that have entered the market with a higher accuracy or at least higher resolution but none that I feel are a higher quality than the 87-V. That said I do feel that it’s time for Fluke to build its successor. The 87-V’s design is nearly 30 years old and technology has advanced meaning that it’s time to see a newer design.What sets the 87-V apart...This is a 6000 count display with 4 updates per second, plus a 33 segment bar graph with 40 updates per second. The bar graph I find extremely responsive and reliable. There is also a two stage back light. The screen is large and clear, the location of range switch and mode selectors is well thought out. The light works well in low and no light situations. This is a True-RMS meter as you would expect from Fluke (and any meter in this price range.) Lacking True-RMS isn't such a big deal if you're taking measurements from a clean / pure AC sine wave source, but if your measuring an AC source that’s distorted or not a sine wave at all (example: a modified sine wave inverter), your measurement can be off quite a bit. The 87-V features a CAT IV rating. It has a maximum working voltage of 600V in both AC and DC ranges at CAT IV with a CAT III rating to 1000V AC and DC.. The CAT ratings can be a bit ambiguous but I'll attempt to summarize CAT III and CAT IV. Basically with the CAT III safety range, you can work on most panel boards / switch gear and anything downstream of them (i.e. - feeders, outlets, hard wired equipment, and anything plugged into them.) CAT IV is the highest rating and it adds service drops and underground installations. So basically CAT III is the MINIMUM rating you want on your meter. DO NOT exceed the CAT rating of ANY meter because doing so, in a Murphy’s Law scenario could expose the user to a potentially fatal shock or a catastrophic failure of the meter. The voltage that accompanies the CAT rating isn't all that complicated. It's simply the maximum "working voltage” or "max line voltage" of the meter on that part of the electrical system. Maximum surge and destructive voltage can be a little harder to find if not posted in the literature. However I believe the 87-V features a max transient voltage is 8kV. The 87-V is built tough. No, not quite a tank (that’s where the 28-II comes in ;) ) but tough none the less. Fluke builds solid meters. The 87-V has a well thought out casing design that does well in protecting the two most vulnerable parts of a meter, the screen and the range switch. It feels good in the hand thanks to its 5 sided rubber holster. Also there are some terrific tear down videos on the web if you're interested in the guts of the device. The range switch is great both smooth to turn and positively clicks into place. It's sort of recessed a bit so it's shielded from face down impacts. As you would expect on a meter of this class/price the over current protection is excellent. Most people fail to realize just how much force 10A can carry. This meter uses high quality ceramic HRC fuses on both A and mA/uA circuits as well as all of the standard additional suppression devices to give the user maximum protection. The case is designed with a deep lip as well to protect against debris being blown out the sides in the event of a truly catastrophic failure. I have to say the AC Volts accuracy is decent at 0.7% + 2 counts at normal "mains voltages" and frequencies. But the DC Volts accuracy is the stat to truly right home about. +/- 0.05% + 1 ct... WOW! Not bad at all for a handheld unit!!! The resistance accuracy is quite good too. +/- 0.4% + 1 up to 600k ohms, and +/- 0.7% + 1 up to 6M ohms, lastly +/- 1% + 3 up to 50M. Next I have to say I love, love, LOVE AUTO Hold... Fluke's are not necessarily the only company with this technology, but they more or less brought it to the market. Basically it's a hold feature that waits for the probes complete a circuit and it automatically reads, stores, and displays that information. This is useful for technicians or anyone for that matter with the unfortunate handicap of only having two hands and no good place to hang their meter. As mentioned above this meter has a full Amperage range (divided into three groups A, mA, and uA.) With a highest finite resolution of 0.1uA and a +/- 1.0% + 2 (all AC Amps ranges) and a +/- 0.2% + 2 or 4 (all DC Amps ranges) this meter will show you (with greatest detail) what's going on in just about any circuit up to 10A. This is a POWERFUL tool for persons doing electronics work and professionals trouble shooting control circuitry.Let’s talk resolution and accuracy….This meter has good numeric resolution, the screen being 6000 counts. In brief terms I will attempt to make the relationship with resolution, accuracy, and counts about as clear as mud for you. First we’ll talk about resolution… A 6000 count display will display three digits after the MOST significant digit up to that digit being a 6, after the most significant digit reaches 6, the meter drops to two digits after the most significant digit. In other words, it will display 5.999V but shortly after the reading crosses the 6V threshold the meter will display 6.01V on the screen. This is true at any range. So it drops a digit every factor of 10 up to 600.0 (i.e - 6.000, 60.00, 600.0, then up to 1000 in whole numbers) Now following that, the 87-V has a second mode. Holding the backlight button will put the meter in "hi-resolution" mode. What this means is that it will display 20,000 counts on the display while cutting the update speed to 2 updates per second. So in hi-res mode the 87-V will display 2.0000, 20.000, 200.00 and up to 1000.0 at the expense of a slower numeric update on screen. Now just because a meter CAN display these super accurate measurements, doesn’t mean it will, so next is accuracy & counts... "Not confused yet? You will be…" We'll use this meter's DC accuracy as our explanation and in its standard 6k count display mode. Basically, you look at the reading on the display; we'll imagine taking a reading from a precision voltage source of 1.000V. Next you add AND subtract 0.05 percent to get a range (in our example 0.9995V & 1.0005V) then you add and subtract 1 count. A "count" is the least significant digit displayed on screen. However the "5's" in the previous range won't be viewable on screen so the count will actually be applied to the next digit up (the least significant “viewable” digit.) So with our example, the farthest out our meter display should be is 0.998V and 1.002V. Let's talk about that same test in hi-res mode. Again the only drawback to this mode is it cuts the update speed from 4 updates to 2 updates per second. With this same test in Hi-Res mode the meter would be fed a base value of 1.0000V with a stated accuracy range between 1.0005 and 0.9995 and then adding in the 1 count would push the furthest out displayed readings to 1.0006 and 0.9994. That's a high degree of accuracy! Notice the actual measurement accuracy didn’t increase just the display’s accuracy. There is actually a ratio that is “supposed to be followed for screen resolution as compared to the accuracy of the meter though it seems many manufacturers don’t follow it anymore. Also the basic DC volts accuracy is traditionally the most accurate measurement mode, not all measurements on this instrument are nearly that accurate, but this is still impressive for a handheld unit. Also bear in mind that this is just the meter's quoted spec. In most cases this range can be plotted on a bell curve so the displayed reading will rarely deviate that far from the actual value. Many “out of the box” videos I’ve seen have the 87-V spot on or a count or two out.. One final thing, accuracy decreases as the meter ages. A 10 year old meter won’t be as accurate as a brand new model of the same series. They can be recalibrated but at a cost. Just forewarned, nothing lasts forever.What else is the 87V packing…I'm very pleased with the Relative / "Delta" button. This allows the meter to "Zero" at a given reading and show relative change. This would be quite useful when taking precision resistance measurements and needing factor out the resistance of the leads OR when using a plug-in amp probe. I love the continuity check on this machine, you will too! It's a fast and confident latched tonal system that give accurate continuity readings even in electronics work and at high speed for quick troubleshooting. The capacitance tester is pretty respectable. Accuracy isn't too bad for it (+/- 1% + 2 cts in all ranges) and its measurement range goes down to 0.01 nF. That's pretty darn good. The diode check is pretty decent too. It's ranged to 3V with 0.001V resolution and 2% + 1 accuracy. That said I’m not much of an authority on electronics diagnostics so a real electronics technician/designer may wish to chime in. The manual that comes with the 87-V is great. It's written in over a dozen languages but it's still simple and easy to understand while at the same time giving the user a lot of the key points and features about this meter. This also comes with a CD-Rom for more detailed info. And of course you should read this booklet start to finish before using your meter for the first time! The temperature measurement is a nice touch. The included temperature probe isn't the greatest quality, but it does work. The only thing I don't care for is the fact that it's a rigid wire. It will eventually wear out and break, but I still have to say I'm pleased to see both the feature and the probe included with the base model meter. I like the inverse function included with the resistance test. It actually measures “conductance”. I doubt I'll ever use it, but I think it's nice. This meter includes a low pass filter to be used on the AC Volts measurement. I'm honestly not qualified to discuss the principle, but I’ll try. Harmonics are a common problem in data centers and around large motor driven industrial equipment. Basically is a physics principle that says when 60Hz AC current is “changed” to a different frequency it generates a harmonic, i.e. - a frequency that is some multiple of the original. For instance if a technician is taking voltage readings from a VFD (a device that regulates voltage and frequency for large AC motors to give them variable speed) the low pass filter will help the meter yield an accurate RMS voltage measurement if there are mixed frequencies over 1khz in the machine. Also it would likely help in areas where large DC converters are being used there by generating noise. This could also be useful in the telecom industry where RF noise could travel on power lines and inside equipment. Again I might be leaving out key information but this is a general explanation. Speaking of frequency measurement, the 87-V will measure to 50kHz. One more feature the 87-V includes the traditional min/max/avg button. This button will let you see the minimum, maximum, and average values (as recorded over time) once you hit it. After it begins recording, using the min/max button will cycle through the readings and show you those values and of course take you back to the present measurement as well.Areas that have room for improvement...I would've liked to have seen a LoZ (low impedance) range on this unit. That is personally very useful to me. However I think it is also very useful in industry and the unit itself would be an even more invaluable asset if it was included. This range is used for testing circuits that have a small amount of induced current such as in parallel runs of wire AKA "Ghost Voltages." There is an adaptor you can buy made by fluke that gives you this ability. It's the SV225 Stray Voltage Eliminator. However this adaptor sells for around $50-60 which is a bit much for a plug in adaptor that more or less bridges a 3K ohm resistor between the leads. Next up the battery compartment. The 87-V still uses the old school 9V “flying lead” (a short length of wire soldered to the board with a battery connector at the end. I would love to see a revision made that has board soldiered tabs and a proper method to secure the battery. As it is now, this an Achilles heel of the 87-V. Accessories? I just bought the base meter, however I think that if the cost difference isn't too crazy or unless you find some unbelievable sale on just the meter, you should invest in one of the kits that Fluke offers. That way you're not piecing together accessories that personally I think should come included with the meter. The first of which is a case. One of my major complaints about Fluke is their lack of cases being included with many of their instruments. How much does one really cost? Honestly... But instead they have us spending another 10 or 20 bucks for one. Next is the probes included. They are the TL75s. Now there is nothing wrong with these probes, they are CAT IV 600V and CAT III 1000V rated, their length is standard, and their comfortable enough. However, for a meter that sells even online for $300-400, I would've hoped that they would’ve included the new TL175’s (recent replacements for the TL71’s.) These are Fluke's premium silicone rubber leads. And what really gets me is the cost difference. Here on Amazon, TL75’s run about $10-20, and TL175’s run about $25... That's just Fluke trying to save a buck in my opinion. For an instrument that is supposed to set the standard, I would think they'd include the set of leads that matches that standard. You could say I’m just being picky, but I’d like to see them offer a bit more value. Incidentally what you receive with the base meter is the 87-V, the TL75’s, a pair of banana clips, and the manuals. Lastly I mentioned that this design first appeared on the market in the 90’s. It’s still a great meter. However some day they will choose to replace it, when that happens I’d like to see a screen resolution of 60,000 – 100,000 counts. If they included this and the features I’ve already mentioned they’ll have a market killer on their hands. There literally would be no reason to buy anything else in a DMM. Just in case you wondering mine is a Rev 13 or 14 (can’t remember which) which shows they are continually improving the 87-V so saying you’re getting 90’s technology is a bit of a farce.So assuming you've stuck with me and read all of this, you might be thinking, sounds like a good meter... But $350? Really?! WHY?! When you get to this tier of quality, they don't spare many expenses. One place they don't spare any expense is in the area of proofing and testing. They send their meters to the people at CE, CSA, and UL as well as other major ratings and standards organizations. Some people will disagree with me here but most companies build a meter to a price. From the day the team meets to start putting ideas on paper, they have a price in mind and seldom deviate from it. Fluke on the other hand trades on reputation and the knowledge that if they build it for a "market" or a particular use, make it as safe, accurate, and reliable as possible, "they will come." Sure...I'm sure they have a price in mind, but it certainly doesn't suffer from the handicap of having to be met no matter what. Honestly the Fluke 87-V is thought of in many circles as the industry standard. This reputation came from quality and usability, not from Fluke fans or snobs. Between its high degree of accuracy, its feature set, its safety rating, and its durability; this meter becomes the preferred choice for many different users in many different industries. Although, it might be a bit overkill for the average DIYer, this meter is definitely enticing for users that need or demand high accuracy and don't mind paying for it. So my final advice is this. If you think that $300-400 is too much for a test instrument for you and the feature set is too advanced, then sure by all means pass. However, there is NO substitute for quality. And what if you need something with this accuracy and feature set? Many cheaper meters claim to have similar specs, however something gets sacrificed to get there. Accuracy out of the box may be good but will it hold? How long will that instrument last? How safe is it? When it comes to electricity, if you buy cheap, you may not live long enough to buy twice! Honestly $300-400 is a bargain if you're just going have to replace that “cheaper alternative” in a couple of years. As for me, there are a few meters that compete on fairly equal footing with the 87-V but its still my favorite. I have a Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit Extra and an Ideal 61-486 which have many of the same features of the 87-V with higher screen resolutions. BUT I just keep coming back to the 87-V. It’s my favorite “go to” meter. From feel to interface, from trust to dependability, I just like it and still think it’s the best meter in its class.

Unfortunately after the end of the return policy I have discovered that the AC function of this meter is very inaccurate compared to a Fluke 289. It reads about 103 volts for a 125 volt source, making the meter useless for this kind of measurement. The other odd thing is that the meter indicates that it has been calibrated twice, indicating that Fluke had difficulty calibrating the meter to start with. I find it difficult to believe that this much measurement error can be calibrated out. So no, I can not recommend this meter, a twenty five dollar meter would be much more accurate.

First, Fluke itself: Fluke makes best-quality meters. In fact, they are overwhelmingly regarded as the best meters available. That's not to say there aren't other very good brands (e.g., Agilent, Hioki), or that 2nd tier brands (e.g., Extech, Meterman) don't have their place - they do. But Fluke meters in general offer the combination of best specifications, best build, and best protection (for you as well as the meter). The thing is, you will pay top dollar.The 87 is a very tough meter in very widespread use in the field. The 80 series meters, like the 70 series that preceeded them, have a reputation for holding their accuracy and lasting for decades. They are well-fused and well-shielded, tightly-sealed, and stories of Fluke meters surviving falls, high voltages and currents, weather, and a myriad of other challenges are legion.Look carefully at specs and responsiveness. The 87 is exceptionally responsive. Continuity detection, for example, is extraordinarily fast, to the point where it's hard NOT to trigger the beep when testing by touching the probes, no matter how quickly and briefly you try to touch them together. Compare that to other meters with lesser response characteristics and it will dawn on you how easy it is to miss an intermittent. Basic accuracy is very good in the 80 series and also limited to +1 or +2 digits in most ranges. Compare that to many others where it's often +4, or even more, plus the 87 can be put into 20,000 count mode, and relative mode can be used to get more accuracy as well where you need it.Finally, the 80 series carries a lifetime warranty. Considering Amazon's aggressive pricing on these meters, the premium over a lesser meter like, say, the Fluke 117 (which carries only a 3-year warranty) is low enough that it makes sense to upgrade to the better meter.FYI - the Pelican 1200 case is an excellent fit for this meter, as long as you don't need to carry a lot of accessories.  Pelican 1200 Case w/Foam (Black)  Probably the most rugged case you can buy. Pelican 1200 Case w/Foam (Black)