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United States

Fluke

The name people buy, behind listings that say almost nothing

Two Fluke instruments appear on this site, and both reviews say the same thing.

What it is genuinely good at

The 1577 combines an insulation tester and a full multimeter, which means one instrument and one set of leads for a job that otherwise needs two. The VoltAlert detector has a flat tip, which lands the same way every time against a terminal or a busbar.

Where it is ordinary

The listings. Three published lines on the detector; four on the insulation multimeter. No measurement category on either, where the PeakTech instruments in the same hubs state theirs in full at a fifth of the price.

That is a statement about what a buyer can read before ordering, not about the instruments — Fluke publishes full technical data elsewhere.

The one to look at first

The 1577, if you do installation work daily and carrying one instrument instead of two is worth the difference.

Every Fluke product we have reviewed

Fluke parts and consumables

  • Fluke 203406 replacement fuses in a five-piece blister pack

    Fluke Fast-acting fuse, 11 A, 1000 V, five-pack

    The Fluke part, five to a pack — and the only fuse on this shelf whose own page never states its size.

    Current rating
    11 A nominal, stated. This shelf's introduction asks for the current rating first among the electrical figures, and this is one of two things the page is clear about. It matches the YUNFOOK and differs from the Klein's 10 A, which is exactly the kind of difference this shelf's buying tip warns not to paper over
    Voltage rating
    1000 V, stated as "maximum voltage to ground: 1000V". That wording is more precise than the bare figure the other two give, and it is the right way to state it: what a fuse in a current input has to withstand is the potential between the input and earth
    Breaking characteristic
    Fast-acting, stated in the title. No breaking capacity in kiloamps is published, and neither of the other two American fuses on this shelf publishes one either
    Stated dimension or range
    NOT PUBLISHED. This shelf's introduction names dimensions as the FIRST of the four things a manufacturer specifies about this component, and the only dimensions on this page are the BLISTER's — 19.05 × 13.716 × 0.508 cm (7.5 × 5.4 × 0.2 in). The Klein and the YUNFOOK both state 10 × 38 mm (0.39 × 1.50 in); this page leaves a buyer to work it out from the part number
    Body type
    NOT PUBLISHED. Nothing on the page says ceramic or glass. The shelf's tag line is that a glass fuse in a meter specifying ceramic is not a substitute, and this is a 1000 V part — the energy level at which the distinction stops being academic
    Supplied
    FIVE fuses, $42.42, so $8.48 each. That sits between the YUNFOOK at $5.85 and the Klein at $15.99. A five-pack is the right quantity for a bench that blows them: the fuse in a current input is the component that goes when somebody probes a live circuit in the 10 A socket
    Also stated
    Country of origin: United States. The four bullets on this listing are generic catalog fields — "Product Type: Precision Measuring", "Package Dimensions", "Country Of Origin", "Package Quantity: 1" — rather than anything about the fuse. The whole specification is in the title and a two-line description
    Amazon reference
    B00937V94W
    EAN
    0009596904600
    • Eight forty-eight a fuse, five in the pack
    • The voltage stated properly, as potential to ground
    • No dimensions on the page — the hub asks for them first

    Best for: A workshop running Fluke meters, where the part number in the manual is the specification and spares are kept by the handful

    ≈ $42
    Check price on Amazon
  • Fluke TL175 TwistGuard test leads with extendable tip shrouds

    Fluke TwistGuard leads with wear indication

    The only leads here that show you their own wear — and, at $33.83, one of two sets that never name a category.

    Stated rating
    NO CATEGORY NAMED. The listing says the TwistGuard shroud "meets the highest electrical safety requirements" and never writes CAT II, III or IV, nor a voltage. This shelf's tag line is "the leads carry the same CAT rating as the meter, or they do not", and at $33.83 it is among the most expensive sets here — the Bionso at $29.99 also names no category. Three Klein sets here publish CAT III 1000 V and CAT IV 600 V in a bullet
    Insulation
    DOUBLE INSULATED SILICONE, and the second layer does a job: "WearGuard lead wire wear indication. Each test lead is covered by two layers of silicone insulation; inner contrasting color is exposed when the leads are nicked, scuffed, or otherwise damaged and in need of replacement." Stated to withstand high temperatures and remain flexible in cold, with no figures. Extra-heavy-duty strain relief at both the probe end and the plug end
    Plugs and tips
    2 mm (0.08 in) probe tips with a PATENTED TWISTGUARD EXTENDABLE TIP SHROUD: twist the shroud and the amount of exposed metal changes, so the same probe suits a shrouded terminal and an open test point. Removable 4 mm (0.16 in) LANTERN TIPS thread on. The input plugs are "standard 4 mm (0.16 in) SHROUDED banana plugs" — the only listing on this shelf that calls its plugs shrouded, which this shelf's introduction names among its five comparisons
    Durability
    TESTED BEYOND 30,000 BENDS WITHOUT FAILURE, stated. It is the only durability figure published on this shelf, and it is the right figure for the part this shelf's introduction calls "the part of a meter that gets stood on". The strain relief is called out separately at both ends, which is where a lead actually dies
    Length
    NOT PUBLISHED. Every other set here that states a length gives one — 91 cm (35.8 in), 103 cm (40.6 in), 104 cm (40.9 in), 109 cm (42.9 in), 125 cm (49.2 in), 1 m (3 ft) — and this one does not, on a page that otherwise publishes more than any of them
    Also stated
    120 grams. Fluke writes that the TL175 "are the only test leads as tough as your meter", which is a claim about the pairing rather than a specification. The whole listing is built on two named technologies, a bend count and a shroud, and omits the category and the length
    Amazon reference
    B005CTI592
    EAN
    0021111461641
    • Two silicone layers, the inner one a wear warning
    • An adjustable tip shroud — no other lead here has one
    • No measurement category anywhere on the page

    Best for: Anyone who follows this shelf's buying tip literally, because these leads do the inspection for you

    ≈ $34
    Check price on Amazon

Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.