Anyone got a FLUKE T+ PRO Electrical Tester?

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wptski

Senior Member
Location
Warren, MI
big john said:
I was weary about getting a fluke T+ Pro. I had the electronic ideal Vol-Con that also claimed to be "low impedance" and when I got into industrial I started getting ghost readings everywhere. It would claim I had true 120V on a totally dead 277V circuit.

I've gotten semi-ghost readings with the T+Pro, but with the digital display combined with the lower impedance, I know when they're bogus. I.e.: 32V on a 277V circuit.

The flashlight and backlit display are great.

My only complaint is that the resistance reading won't resolve anything lower than, I think, 10 ohms. But if you really care about resistance you'll probably be using a DMM anyway.

-John
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Is the Vol-Con the digital version? That one's specs state 1M which seems a bit too high to eliminate ghost voltage.
 
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wptski

Senior Member
Location
Warren, MI
ptonsparky said:
The T-Pro along side my VOMs is low impedance. Placed on the same test points as my VOM, the readings are almost the same. Place another VOM on those test points and there is no change. Place another Tpro on the circuit and the voltage drops in half, then again for the third Tpro. This was on a very special motor control circuit that I hope to correct some day.

I suspect the current draw of a wiggy is considerably higher than the TPRO.
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Just measured a T+ Pro at 120V is draws 1.66ma. I know that its impedance varies with voltage because I was that by a Fluke Tech Support. I think that I posted that somewhere here but can't find the post.
 
ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
wptski said:
What was the point of doing that?

The T+ Pro has a duty cycle, so many minutes on a circuit to some many minutes off a circuit which is listed in its manual. It's not designed for continous duty.
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We have a 480v control circuit that is tied into 6 different motor controllers plus a control transformer. We had a problem with disconnecting all the power to the control circuit in that the voltage would drop a bit when each disconnect was shut off and after the final disconnect was pulled we still had some voltage. Suspected ghost. I do not have a wiggy so I just tried the multiple Tpros. It wasn't ghost, but one imaginative electrician that had created one cf of a control circuit. No way to fix it without starting completely over and they don't have time to shut down for another month.
 
hockeyoligist2

hockeyoligist2

Senior Member
Location
close to greenville sc
peter d said:
Yes, get one. You'll throw away your solenoidal tester in no time.
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I'm getting confused with all of the answers. The main reason I want one is for checking ghost voltage. I read, somewhere, that it worked like a solenoid tester. I don't have a wiggy, would that be a better choice? I got "bit" pretty bad about a month ago because I thought it was ghost voltage, 238v on one leg of a 480v circuit with the fuses pulled. After tracing the wires back through a jumbled up mess I found a jumper wire that someone put in many years ago.

I work on stuff that has been "jerry rigged" by many people over the years, some stuff is 30+ years old.
 
Z

zapped 1

Member
Location
north port fl
i love mine searched around the internet found mine fairly cheap love the fact it tests gfi also i still have my digital meter as backup because it also does ohms and resistance
 
76nemo

76nemo

Senior Member
Location
Ogdensburg, NY
big john said:
I was weary about getting a fluke T+ Pro. I had the electronic ideal Vol-Con that also claimed to be "low impedance" and when I got into industrial I started getting ghost readings everywhere. It would claim I had true 120V on a totally dead 277V circuit.

I've gotten semi-ghost readings with the T+Pro, but with the digital display combined with the lower impedance, I know when they're bogus. I.e.: 32V on a 277V circuit.

The flashlight and backlit display are great.

My only complaint is that the resistance reading won't resolve anything lower than, I think, 10 ohms. But if you really care about resistance you'll probably be using a DMM anyway.

-John
Click to expand...


John, that's 10K ohms with the T+Pro.
 
76nemo

76nemo

Senior Member
Location
Ogdensburg, NY
hockeyoligist2 said:
I'm getting confused with all of the answers. The main reason I want one is for checking ghost voltage. I read, somewhere, that it worked like a solenoid tester. I don't have a wiggy, would that be a better choice? I got "bit" pretty bad about a month ago because I thought it was ghost voltage, 238v on one leg of a 480v circuit with the fuses pulled. After tracing the wires back through a jumbled up mess I found a jumper wire that someone put in many years ago.

I work on stuff that has been "jerry rigged" by many people over the years, some stuff is 30+ years old.
Click to expand...


Just thoroughly read through the link I provided for some of your answers.
 
LarryFine

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
76nemo said:
There's always dual impedance DMM's, they read ohms and resistance too:D:D:D
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True enough, but a good portion of troubleshooting is in, let's say, less-than-comfortable places, and a Knopp K-60 is more rugged than most DMM's. Plus, I need to know 'go' or 'no-go' for power, not specific voltage.

A wiggie is fine for measuring across fuses for testing them while in place. Why pull all two or three when you can find the bad one?
 
76nemo

76nemo

Senior Member
Location
Ogdensburg, NY
LarryFine said:
True enough, but a good portion of troubleshooting is in, let's say, less-than-comfortable places, and a Knopp K-60 is more rugged than most DMM's. Plus, I need to know 'go' or 'no-go' for power, not specific voltage.

A wiggie is fine for measuring across fuses for testing them while in place. Why pull all two or three when you can find the bad one?
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You lost me Larry. Why are you putting the K-60 against dual impedance meters, we're speaking of the T+Pro???

The T+ Pro is the same size as traditional "solenoid" testers ;)

I just made a pun on words with ohms and resistance:D


In this matter, I think it boils down to "each their own".

I think the T+Pro would work fine for what Hockeyologist needs.
 
I

IMM_Doctor

Senior Member
Times Change - IMO

Times Change - IMO

I cut my teeth on a "Wiggy". Great SOLENOID tester. (No Bateries) Also, no continuity, no audible.

Later, migrated to Vol-Con. Just like a "Wiggy", but with Continuity. Lights!

The key word used so far is "migration". As the industy get smater, safer, and cheaper, migration is allways my path of choice. I don't have use for a 1970's Wiggy, or a 1990's Vol-Con in the year 2010.

My second tool has always been a Fluke DMM. So it was a no-brainer to migrate to the Fluke T+Pro. The number one reason to migrate was not for fuctionality, but for safety.

When using Wiggys or Vol-Cons, there is obvious arcing at point of contact around 480 vac high-power souces. (No thanks). Also I have had the retractable spingloaded sheathes on those testers let loose at unoportune times.

There was one post about the dislike of having something "vibrate" in ones hands when taking a voltage measurement, as being undesirable? The SOLE reason Fluke incorporated that feature into this product was to help us "old-timers" migrate from a buzzing, mechanical, solenoid tester to a digital, visual tester.

To be honest, my T+Pro just arrived in the mail today. I find it useful, and comparable to a "solenoid tester", as I checked the GFCI in my bathroom at home, but I have not applied it yet to the uses in the field (commercial / industrial) where I require a "LOW IMPEDANCE" measurment.

I will use the new tester as much as possible in my industrial adventures, and have more "real-world" feed-back on future posts.
 
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