I’ve just chosen that 376FC. Love the form factor and the logging capabilities. The logging capabilities was a massive upside for me in the industrial field being and Industrial electrician. Also the low pass filter was a big one.In New Zealand that 378FC is costing us roughly $1800+GST, I have a mortgage and it was just too expensive to justify. The 376FC however was about $1200+GST, I could just squeeze it into the budget. Days after buying, I’ve found a second hand 378FC for sale at a similar price to my 376 😅 😂
I have Been using the 378 fc , for the last two weeks , it has proved an excellent tool to match motors in plantrooms to the relevent protective devices and associated control switch on mcc control panels with no ledgend. I have also started verification of our energy management system meters . The FC function is a game changer . Paired with a 279 rc multimeter great kit for trouble shooting . Expensive equipment but quickly a good investment .
I've compared both 376 as well as the 377 FC side by side, and although I love the features of the 377, I really liked the 376 better. The size of the jaw of the 376 was way more practical to use in smaller distribution panels, and the meter itself fit my hand better. The FieldSense option proved to be a bit of a disappointment as the readings were unstable / cycling most of the time. Having to connect the ground using the alligator clip was a bit of a hassle as well, and somehow went against my idea of quick, one handed current measurements. That said, both tools are great in their own respect. Somehow, the 377/378 form factor wasn't for me.
Been using the 377 FC, comparing it to my 902 FC I’m a Hvac service tech. Not having temp or micro amps didnt deter me from wanting it. The fieldsense/Inrush/Hz/phase rotation drew my attention. Im a bit disappointed in the fieldsense function, the portion of the clamp where the conductor needs to be to sense is to small of a area for detection if you have slightly to much left or right or not touching the yellow area it throws off the readings dramatically and will cycle from detection. Same for just using AC current. Second the fieldsense voltage readings fluctuate way to much to even try pen pointing a electrical diagnostic like a voltage drop from a contactor, the amp draw reading is stable just not voltage. It’s pretty much just voltage detection and load indication to warn it’s live instead of being a actually diagnostic measurement. That’s not to much of a set back for me but I still would have loved that future to be more precise specially for how much this meter cost. Think the clamp area should have more area for reading as well, I can put my 902 anywhere instead the clamp it will give me steady readings. Phase rotation should have been able to do on the meter screen as well as the app instead of just the app in my opinion, I have the amprobe 320 it does phase rotation and motor direction but it’s only on the meter with three leads. I don’t mind that and I get fluke is trying to make everything less contact for safety reasons. I really like the iflex, if anybody has ever seen a RTU with multiple staging and VFDS then you know those conductors are in some tight spots even my 902 can’t sometimes get in between, so you have to start tracing to a point where you can pull out the conductor enough to clamp. I might do a review on it after some more use and getting more comfortable with it. I love flukes stuff thanks for the vids 🤘🏻
Love the comment. I think I agree with everything you said. I always say the non contact voltage is more so you can tell is you are on 120, 240, or 480. Not to be used for troubleshooting, because the accuracy if placed correctly in the jaw is only like 3%. I so wish Fluke could have put the phase rotation on the screen, but I think they just ran out of real estate and didn't prioritize it.
@@fridayswithbrandon wouldn’t a software update through the fluke app be able to fit that onto the meter itself? Pls, with your connection push for that idea ✌🏽
377/378 are great caps but for the price and being top of the range I feel it should have included: Bar Graph; diode test; AC+DC TRMS and low Z volts. Can you measure P, Q, S, PF? This seem totally within the capability of the instrument.
Good video mate 👍 I was wondering about the phase rotation feature . It's disappointing to me that they use the clamp for it because , I need to check rotation BEFORE start up , not after it's already running ! Some equipment cannot tolerate wrong rotation so it's critical to check beforehand. And what's really disappointing is that cheaper meters do offer the phase rotation feature through the leads , some with only 2 leads and some even have 3 leads like the Amprobe 320 and 330 . I don't know man for the price they're asking it just seems underwhelming to be fair .
You make some good points. I don't think it is for everyone. Everyone person and individual would need to decide if it's right for them and their application. Thanks for the comment.
Bought the 378fc pretty soon after it’s release, and very glad I did. 377 wasn’t considered with such a small price difference for features that can eliminate another piece of equipment. (Bye 9040!) Waiting for it’s new partner 289 to get here…
For measuring the AC voltage “120V _ L-N” & cable size “≥4/0 AWG” AC Voltage - Field Sense: the reading can be [from 109 to 131 V_L-N]. - on the app [189 to 227 V_ L-L]. The accuracy - 5 % ±5 digits (45 Hz to 66 Hz) “the resolution 1V” Compared to AC Voltage -Test Leads: The reading can be [from 118.3 to 121.7 V_L-N]. The accuracy - 1 % ±5 digits (20 Hz to 500 Hz) “the resolution 0.1V” Conclusion: Its inaccurate & has limitation [frequency range, can’t be used for DC measurement or with iflex] The power quality thing is just marketing thing “useless”. If you were at substation or any important point at the network you would find the right devices already installed "for monitoring". For example if you would check an electrical panel “3-ph” for house and you have this fancy device to tell that there is something wrong with PF that you can’t even measure it as a number you only getting indication - who cares about low PF for the house's load as you cant tell about the PF correction “compensation” - or if the house's load is unbalanced at certain point in time who cares you cant tell the user to power on 3 air conditioners at the same time to keep the load balanced... let alone speaking about crest factor or the total harmonic distortion. Some would say hey for industrial use they will pay for low PF and they pay for VAR. its correct but at this point in the network you will find pre-installed device to monitor these and mainly there will use a certain way for PF compensation such as capacitor bank. And for unbalance load issue - mainly they use big machine which powered by 3-phase. Actually if i bought this fancy device i would never justify the purchase by saying thing about the fancy features as i would give 3 main reasons behind making the purchase decision [1- i can afford it , 2- its nice to have, 3- its reliable ]
There are thousands of videos about meassuring devices multimeters and clampmeters that accutally don't tell us anything important about the meassuring it self,how precise the meassurements are. Yours is one of them
I have a 376fc, 3 of the A3001fc, and a rotation meter. Do you think it’s worth spending the $800+ on a 378 to essentially condense everything into one? The only downside I see is missing on monitoring 3phases and the neutral at the same time, oh and the extra cost of course. Benefits would be having one meter to do everything except the concurrent monitoring and not to mention throwing one meter in my bag instead of 5. Any thoughts?
You spelled out the pros and cons very well. I think you have to decide if it’s worth the expense. If you can get the company to go for it I would. If it’s your own money and you want to treat yourself than go for it! But if you don’t have the money then wait till it’s the right time for you.
@@fridayswithbrandon thanks man. I figured it came down to the cost. Appreciate you confirming and love the videos! Any chance you wanna do a 28 II vs 87 V MAX comparison? Still don’t get the difference
hello, just a quick question, what happens to 377 or 378 If i use the FieldSense Clamp to measure Voltage of a wire without a ground lead connection ? will a voltage and current number still show up on the screen with some inaccuracy? or nothing will even be display, nothing wil work without the ground lead connection ?,,,, thankyou
Current will work fine. Voltage if it works will probably be roughly twice what it actually is. If you cant find a ground you can always grab the black test lead with your finger tips and it can use your internal impedance as a ground.