Recall notice - PowerFist Multimeter

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: Recall notice - PowerFist Multimeter

If I tried to make a current measurement, it could have went poof

Well if we remove temporarily from the equation the case about an accident due over current which is something more usual in the automotive repairs.

The truth is that the speed that those fuses get blown is crucial to protect and the dmm circuitry, and I am talking about some diodes near by the shunt.
Even a slow blow fuse it is capable to do damage on the dmm it self.

Up to date I have blown the 440mA Fuse twice and always accidentally, with 12V or less.
Fluke should offer and a choice for such fuses at 500V which are much cheaper.
I do not see the point people in automotive repairs or in CAT II which is the most common environments for the 90% of the electricians, to pay the price premium for 1000V fuses.

I have make some HRC fuses tear down so to see what we are paying after all.
http://www.ittsb.eu/forum/index.php?board=16.0

[tom66]

Re: Recall notice - PowerFist Multimeter

If you do not particularly care about 1000V rating (very few do) you could always use the excellent BS 1363 fuses. 1A, 3A, 5A, 7A, 10A and 13A are available, with 3A, 5A, and 13A being relatively cheap, less than £0.10 each. These are reliable and rugged fuses and will safely interrupt most faults that a regular home user (not an electrician) would encounter.

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: Recall notice - PowerFist Multimeter

Even if technically or practically it is possible to use 500V fuses, the true complete or acceptable approach would be the meter to be some what capable to auto-detect the fuse that is inserted to it.

Most serious DMM which use 1000V fuses, comes also with 1000V+ over-voltage alarm function.

The smart meter should be capable to detect the fuses and adjust this over voltage alarm according to fuse type.
Yes I am talking about something that is not here yet, but I have some ideas of how this is possible to be implemented, I case that I will be asked by an product engineer in the future. :-)

[MDOC]

Re: Recall notice - PowerFist Multimeter

Picture attached. The fuse shown is the blown mA for size reference. As you can see the 10A "fuse" is a bit longer.

What pisses me off is that the metal drill bit is heavy. If I had dropped the multimeter, the fuse could have moved every so slightly and made contact with the components on the pcb.

If I tried to make a current measurement, it could have went

Well, maybe. Only if you attempt to measure a current value that's above the original fuse rating, or you dropped it and the "fuse" dislodged. Otherwise, no fireworks.

And that's a screw, not a drill bit.