Fluke 233 Meter Review - Important Follow-up

I have experienced the same problems with my unit (as Mike & Patrick have noted above) ... I have used my unit very 'lightly' ... total "ON" time is probably < 20-hours.  I always turn if off when I am not using it to conserve on batteries ... well, so I THOUGHT. 

The batteries are being slowly depleated even without use ... seems like a design flaw (or oversight).  I wonder if there is a way to fix this with a firmware update that would power down the unit completely?

Gregory

I have experienced the same problems with my unit (as Mike & Patrick have noted above) ... I have used my unit very 'lightly' ... total "ON" time is probably < 20-hours.  I always turn if off when I am not using it to conserve on batteries ... well, so I THOUGHT. 

The batteries are being slowly depleated even without use ... seems like a design flaw (or oversight).  I wonder if there is a way to fix this with a firmware update that would power down the unit completely?

Gregory

I'm glad I checked this forum today, I think the auto-email thing ceased to function a few months ago. I think it is about time for me to follow this up directly with Fluke. This is now at least 4 people who I know of that have experienced unacceptably short battery life. I'm not sure they can be flash upgraded, as neither section has anything resembling a JTAG connector. There are some test points, but they look more analogue in nature. Let us see what Fluke have to say.

Hello Viewers, The 233 is unique in its design and implementation with its wireless display utilizing both iR and RF communication between the meter base and the remote display. While docked the meter utilizes iR communication and when the display and base are separated RF communication is used. When new the meter is shipped with paper tabs inserted into the battery compartment for both the base and the display to keep the batteries disconnected from the meters power supplies. This is to insure that the batteries have a full charge and the customer gets the longest battery life possible. The reason for a short battery shelf life is that when the meter is turned off and the display is mated, the iR communication is still active. This was done by design to give the user the most flexibility when using their 233 meter. The design allows the user to power on and to wake up the meter while the display and body are disconnected. It simplifies the meters operation. This use model was important to customers during our initial research for the 233. The alternative would have been to have two separate power buttons, one for the base and one for the display. Our research indicated that this was a less attractive solution to our implementation of one power up option for both parts. The trade off is the unit consumes more power but gives the users more flexibility. If the meter were to go into battery save mode and the iR communication were not active, the display and meter body would need to be re-connected before the display could power up. This option and two separate power up processes were not attractive in our research. To optimize the battery life, for intermittent use or extended periods of storage, it is recommended that the paper tabs be re-inserted into the battery compartments or the batteries be removed completely. Jim Newell Sales & Application Engineer Fluke Corporation

I never pay more than 50 cents each for premium alkaline cells, Duracell, Energizer, etc..  Usually less.  I would not consider 7 - 8 dollars per year to be "Very Expensive"

K5HJ, unfortunately we don't all live in countries where premium alkalines are 50c each. £150 over 10 years is utterly ridiculous.

On a more positive note, Jim, might I suggest some inexpensive yet effective design amendments for the next revision of the 233? Principally that the IR transmit LEDs are driven through higher value current limiting resistors. The range only need be short and they are currenly bright enough to be seen by my camera across the other side of the room. Additionally, rather than running the IR transmit ALL the time, reduce it to a couple of bursts a second. By my calculations, this would increase battery life to a more reasonable 2.5 years. Latency between operating the power switch and activating the display should not be compromised in any way, as the IR will start to transmit on power-up and the head unit should be interrupt driven anyway. It just means that there will be a maximum delay of 0.5 seconds when undocking/docking when switched off, which the user will not notice anyway as the unit is off.

When it comes to a re-design, docking and undocking detection must be a priority. There are many passive methods that can be used to detect a status change, whether it be a pair of switches, a magnet+sensor, or a shorting contact built into the docking rails. These would all allow the controllers to fall back to a micropower state rather than being active all the time, driving a current hungry output. As they replace the IR functionality, none of these methods would compromise functionality demanded by your marketing executives.

It seems to be a problem with other Fluke instruments as well.

My Fluke 123 scopemeter is suffering even worse from this.

I use it maybe 15 minutes once a month, and every second time I need it, it's out of power, partly due to 1mA standby current, partly due to poor rechargeable batteries, that sure were cheap for Fluke to include, but not really suitable for the purpose.

At least Fluke could write this in their datasheet, instead of letting people find out after paying for something that does not work as expected.

......add to that, a software error that does not allow for a battery refresh, and you see where this is heading.

This by the way seems to go for the TiS cameras as well.

I will go as far as saying that this was the last Fluke product I intend to buy, as Agilent offers at least the same or better quality these days, and cheaper.

Hello Zad,

Thank you for taking the time for your important feedback. I will pass your comments on to the product design team for future consideration.

Jim Newell

Regarding the 233 ... At the time, I had just accepted the poor battery life ... then got frustrated and started to research the internet for a solution.  Sure enough ... Fluke will update the firmware at no charge (and provide calibration).  You are responsible for the shipping charges to send the item to them, however.

It is better to call them:  888.993.5853 ... I experienced problems with their website.

The "music on hold" is very distorted (if you call them and are put on hold) .. I brought this to their attention and they just kind of laughed it off ("yeah, I've heard that before").  You would think that a company that is associated with precision measurement equipment would have a more professional telephone system.

I will update this post when I receive the meter back from Fluke.

Gregory

Well, I must say Fluke is trying hard. The concept of Fluke 233 is very good and I hope they keep this product alive for a long time like the 87V. I hope they don't think the CNX series can replace this.

Yes, there is a firmware update to improve the battery life. However, I think (I am not able to get confirmation from Fluke), there is also a hardware change for those serial nos >22500000. There is also a slight change in the way you wake up the display when it goes to sleep if it is not docked.

The supplementary manual can be found here:

http://assets.fluke.com/manuals/233_____umeng0009.pdf

"Change #4

On page 13, replace the Battery Saver section with the following:

Battery Saver(Sleep Mode) Units with S/N <224999999

The Meter powers-down (Sleep mode) if there is no function change, range change, or button push for

20 minutes. The lowest power drain occurs when the display module is docked with the Meter base. When

the display is docked and the Meter is in sleep mode or off, a power drain continues from intermittent

communication between the radios.

To wake up the Meter, push a button or turn the function switch.

To disable the Sleep mode, hold down the g button while turning the Meter on. The Sleep mode is always

disabled in the MIN MAX AVG mode.

To optimize battery life, it is recommended one battery be removed from the meter base and display for

extended periods of storage or intermittent use.

Battery Saver(Sleep Mode) Units with S/N >225000000

The Meter powers-down (Sleep mode) if there is no function change, range change, or button push for

20 minutes.

To wake up the Meter, Remate the display or turn the function switch.

To disable the Sleep mode, hold down the g button while turning the Meter on. The Sleep mode is always

disabled in the MIN MAX AVG mode"

Now although I say Fluke tries hard, I think their customer surveys are not up to standard. Either that or they are not telling the customers the entire story such that they get what the customers wanted but at the expense of something greater; just like the case of Fluke 233 and some other product which I prefer not to bring it up.

Regardless, I hope you have some good results to share with us. Thanks.

Regarding Fluke's customer service, I think you're spot on.

They always offer to look into the issues, or take the product in for a check.

Unfortunately the result usually brings little to nothing, and leaves the customers as they were.

I posted earlier in this thread about battery issues with the Fluke 12x series scopemeters.

Same story.

After that I decided to sort the issue myself, and reported back to Fluke how to solve it.

That's like half a year ago by now, but nothing has changed. They keep shipping a product they know is flawed, even though the fix is rather simple and surely easily implemetable.

In this case the fix was to change the type of rechargeable batteries.

Thanks for the heads-up on this.

I have tried twice to contact Fluke's customer support concerning this issue. On neither occasion have I received a reply. I don't really fancy spending money on-hold on the phone or sending it off only for there to be 'no fault found', so I think I will just leave it in it's box on the shelf where it is now, and bring it out when I need a spare meter. The real fix would be to increase the current limiting resistor on the IR transmitter. It only has to work over a distance of 1cm or so when the unit is docked. Beyond that, it is classed as undocked and it switches to the RF link anyway.

I get the feeling that this is a result of parent company Danaher's cost-cutting in action.