Fluke 189 Multimeter

Thread Starter

402DF855

Joined Feb 9, 2013
271
My Fluke 189 wasn't powering up even with new batteries. Then I popped the cover off, found nothing, put it back together and now it powers up but half the LCD is blank.

Any suggestions to fix or have it serviced? I've had this for maybe 5 years, but not used it a lot.

ThxA01.JPG
 

AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,344
The half display thing is probably the elastomeric strip connecting the display to the board. I don't know how to fix that.
Google "elastomeric connector repair" may help.
 

Thread Starter

402DF855

Joined Feb 9, 2013
271
Just remembered I have a White's metal detector that does the same thing. Half the LCD would be blank sometimes. Power cycle usually worked. The Fluke doesn't correct itself.
 
With age, the zebra-strips get squished and compress, and make a flaky connection.
What I do is take it apart, pull them out and soak them in hot water and a little (height) stretch and they're OK. You have to be gentle and not break the LCD. Other multimeters (Wavetek, Beckman) the LCD carrier warps with age so you have to unwarp them.
 

Irving

Joined Jan 30, 2016
3,843
The elastomeric strip is compressed between the PCB and the LCD screen. Over time they harden and lose contact, so when you powered it on its quite possible that it didn't show anything but was active internally. When you took the back off it may have shifted enough to make partial contact. You could take it off again and lift the board out...most Flukes (I have an 87) will power up 'naked'. Gently lift the LCD off the elastomer - on some its held on by a clip - remove the elastomer and warm it gently with a hairdryer. You can get spares from Fluke or they will service & calibrate it for a fee... or there are independant repairers.
 

Thread Starter

402DF855

Joined Feb 9, 2013
271
Thanks for the help, it is back to working now. I took the PCB out and looked at the LCD connection, and when I reassembled it the display was working. I suspect I had not torqued down the 4 screws holding the case together, and thus the LCD wasn't making a good connection. I had used a cordless and didn't want to over torque the screws and strip the plastic.

Still, this doesn't explain the original problem with no display prior to opening it. In that case the blue button didn't cause a chirp sound which seemed to be a supply voltage issue.

Again, thanks for the advice.
 
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