[volt-nuts] A Fluke 732A: Return it or keep it?

[J. L. Trantham]

Michael,

Definitely need to keep it on, ship it hot, and have an external battery
pack attached.  IIRC, the internal batteries are good only for about 4
hours.  I have not tested that though.  I think I read this in the manual or
one of the list members mentioned it.  That's why the connector is on the
back, to allow attaching an external battery pack for longer duration away
from AC power.

I would love to get mine calibrated with Fluke but I think I want to wait a
few more months before undertaking this.  Any suggestions from the group on
how long to leave it on?  What 'drift' rate I would want before concluding
it is 'stable'?  I have a 3458A Opt 002 that I can use to track it with and
another 3458A that I can track the thermistor with.

Removing the battery pack is easy, just remove four screws and slide it out.
Certainly worth doing if you are going to keep it.

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:volt-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Michael Hong
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2014 10:22 PM
To: volt-nuts at febo.com
Subject: Re: [volt-nuts] A Fluke 732A: Return it or keep it?

Thank you all for your concerns.

I will reply out of order, sorry.

IN CAL right came on as I poked(turned) with a slim screw driver. Yes, I
know it supposed to be on after calibration.

AC PWR light turned and stayed on ever since I plugged in the main
yesterday.

When I pulled out the main plug as you said, voltages went down immediately.
Probably the battery is completely gone.

I have been asking quote on this standard from Fluke down to local no name
guy long before I buy it.
I have no intention of calibrating this by myself. That defeats the purpose
of the purchase.
Because it will be my primary standard.

I just wanted to turn slightly to both directions to see if the
potentiometer is working since the 732A's volts looked out of ranges. I
calibrated 8 720As with Nanovolt Null meter and Keithley 155 last week, so I
have no fun left to turning the small thing.

The battery is big concern to me. When I called Fluke, one of the rep said
it should be shipped to them "hot" Because 732A's battery life is very
limited, it should be shipped using Morning Service. I was going to call
FedEx if they have 12 hours service. And I belive most cal lab require the
732A to be delivered "hot." The manual says so.

Thermistor value is now 4470.1132 ohm It changes less than 50mmohm/hour now.

Once I purchase one more 732A, I will experiment how  close it come back to
before turn-off value.

Again thank you all.

Best Regards,

Michael
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