Apparently, Fluke has obsoleted this (I’m not sure if this community is aware of that, and I’m not even really certain exactly when they did that). The only alternative I am aware of is the Keithley 8620, which is explicitly not a “low-emf” fixture. Are there any other known good options for this?

Anything wrong with piece of U-bent copper wire? Works great and easily available in any lab which has copper cable to cut. I used it for years without any issue. On September 2, 2025 9:03:58 PM EDT, Radu via volt-nuts <volt-nuts@lists.febo.com> wrote: >Apparently, Fluke has obsoleted this (I’m not sure if this community is aware of that, and I’m not even really certain exactly when they did that). The only alternative I am aware of is the Keithley 8620, which is explicitly not a “low-emf” fixture. > >Are there any other known good options for this? >_______________________________________________ >volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to volt-nuts-leave@lists.febo.com >To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there. BR, Illya Tsemenko

Maybe nothing, though there’s the convenience of the PCB with the pullout plastic loop. Less chance of contamination on the copper connector - both heat/emf with any associated stabilization wait and/or finger grease etc. - but as we’re discussing alternatives, would you please elaborate on what specifically you’re using for this type of short? What gauge copper, shorting how?

PCB has much larger thermal mass than a piece of wire. Also it's non trivial to obtain and maintain good copper banana jacks, so all the issues that are mentioned like airflow/heat gradients/contamination/oxidation are magnitude worse in convenient PCB method. Piece of copper wire on the other hand is readily available and can be cut/cleaned and bent at minute notice and discarded afterwards without much regret. Fluke itself wrote neat paper about typical misconceptions and errors shown in various shorting methods. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/copper-tellurium-perhaps-not-the-best/?action=dlattach;attach=2479121 I use AWG16 or AWG20 bare copper wire, a piece about 150mm length, bend it into four "U-shaped pins" and shove each "pin" into banana socket for safety jacks in bench DMM, or just wrap around proper binding posts for more serious long-scale DMMs. To keep wire secure I've plugged each socket with "calibrated" Q-tip which does not have much thermal mass and goes just tight enough. Here's a photo from previous use for adjusting and calibrating Keithley 2002 DMM: https://xdevs.com/doc/Keithley/2002/fix_lc/kei2002_cal.jpg This short settles in a minute or two and very low-cost. No PCBs, no screws, no gold over nickel plating needed and takes 30 seconds to "manufacture". If you paranoid about finger oils, you can wear gloves too. Now with 884X DMM there is additional challenge with it's finicky split connectors but most other bench DMMs would have blind sockets which are not a problem. Hope this answers the question? P.S. One can also solve the "problem" root cause and get rid of the safety banana jacks altogether, as I did before for one of my Keithleys - https://xdevs.com/article/kei2002ltc/ On 09/02/2025 10:47 PM, Radu via volt-nuts wrote: > Maybe nothing, though there’s the convenience of the PCB with the pullout plastic loop. Less chance of contamination on the copper connector - both heat/emf with any associated stabilization wait and/or finger grease etc. - but as we’re discussing alternatives, would you please elaborate on what specifically you’re using for this type of short? What gauge copper, shorting how? > _______________________________________________ > volt-nuts mailing list -- volt-nuts@lists.febo.com -- To unsubscribe send an email to volt-nuts-leave@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to and follow the instructions there.

Illya, Yes, that’s very helpful clarifying your points. And it’s indeed pertinent to my conundrum, as the meter I’m focusing on with this is a Prema 6048, so purely banana-based connectors upfront. The “U-shaped” contraption seems like something that could work, and I’ll give it a shot. Come to think of it, my other long-scale unit at my bench is a 1281, and its connectors have odd O.C. dimensions and the Fluke short wouldn’t probably work anyway. Radu.

I’ll experiment with gold plated solid core copper wire - readily available from the large online retailers (in the US). This is what’s called “jewelry making wire” or some such. The issue of oxidation is concerning, and I’d be glad to find a solution that mostly takes that out of the way.

Illya, One thing I’d recommend is switching from the “calibrated” q-tips to the true metrology-grade ones (;)), such as this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T4HRZGJ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_6. Reason being the foam tip should be a bit better at not leaving residue (such as cotton fiber strands). Radu.