A quick look at Fluke 754 process calibrator performance

Intro

A quick manual calibration was performed on interesting Fluke 754 Documenting Process Calibrator during a friendly visit from SignalPath on February 24, 2024.

Series 750 is latest and greatest in series of hand-held process calibrators from Fluke. There are two models, 753 and 754 with only difference being support for HART transmitters without additional hardware.

These calibrators are quite hefty compared to already decently sized Fluke 87V. 754 even used quite expensive but very versatile for industrial field applications and very user friendly. 750 series replaced obsoleted Fluke 740 series calibrators with slight improvements in performance specifications. Both support family of Fluke’s Model 750 pressure modules.

It can be operated by the battery power or DC supply power, generate and measure DC voltage, AC voltage, DC current for 4-20 mA loops, measure DC current up to 100mA, Source and measure resistances up to 11 kΩ and source/measure temperature for thermocouples and read pressure sensors.

For calibration performance verification I’ve used trusty Fluke 5720A 7½ digit calibrator as a precision source of known signals and HP 3458A 8½ digit DMM as long-scale digitizer for 754 source functions. Fluke recommends using 5522A and 8508A in their calibration, but I believe my setup is more accurate :-)

For all benchmarks we followed calibration manual procedure described in the manual and 754 passed with flying colors. DC current measure function had interesting artifact with all currents being almost exactly -1 mA off when we deviated from manual and connected 5720A directly to the 754 input.

Adding series resistance around 10 Ω or adding HP 3458A DC input in series resolved this issue. Perhaps Fluke knew this issue and hence recommended using 8508A in series with 5522A calibrator source for DCI measure function test to mitigate such problem.

Calibration results, February 24, 2024

Cal type Test # 754 Range TargetValue Min spec, 1 year MEASURED Max spec, 1 year Deviation In spec?
DCV measure 1 0.1 V 0.000 V -0.000005 V 0.000001 V 0.000005 V 0.000% TRUE
DCV measure 2 0.1 V 0.100 V 0.099975 V 0.100000 V 0.100025 V 0.000% TRUE
DCV measure 3 0.1 V -0.100 V -0.100025 V -0.099993 V -0.099975 V 0.007% TRUE
DCV measure 4 3.0 V 0.000 V -0.00005 V 0.00000 V 0.00005 V 0.000% TRUE
DCV measure 5 3.0 V 1.00 V 0.99975 V 0.99995 V 1.00025 V 0.005% TRUE
DCV measure 6 3.0 V 2.00 V 1.99955 V 1.99990 V 2.00045 V 0.005% TRUE
DCV measure 7 3.0 V 3.00 V 2.99935 V 2.99986 V 3.00065 V 0.005% TRUE
DCV measure 8 3.0 V -3.00 V -3.00065 V -2.99985 V -2.99935 V 0.005% TRUE
DCV measure 9 30.0 V 0.00 V -0.00050 V 0.00000 V 0.00050 V 0.000% TRUE
DCV measure 10 30.0 V 30.00 V 29.99350 V 29.99870 V 29.98700 V 0.004% TRUE
DCV measure 11 30.0 V -30.00 V -30.00650 V -29.99870 V -29.99350 V 0.004% TRUE
DCV measure 12 300.0 V 0.00 V -0.050 V 0.000 V 0.050 V 0.000% TRUE
DCV measure 13 300.0 V 295.00 V 294.800 V 294.990 V 295.200 V 0.003% TRUE
DCV measure 14 300.0 V -295.00 V -295.200 V -294.990 V -294.800 V 0.003% TRUE
ACV measure 15 3.000 V , 500 Hz 0.260 V 0.257 V 0.260 V 0.263 V 0.000% TRUE
ACV measure 16 3.000 V , 500 Hz 3.000 V 2.983 V 2.999 V 3.017 V 0.033% TRUE
ACV measure 17 3.000 V , 40 Hz 0.260 V 0.257 V 0.261 V 0.263 V 2.000% TRUE
ACV measure 18 3.000 V , 40 Hz 3.000 V 2.983 V 3.001 V 3.017 V -0.033% TRUE
ACV measure 19 30.00 V , 500 Hz 2.600 V 2.567 V 2.600 V 2.633 V 0.000% TRUE
ACV measure 20 30.00 V , 500 Hz 30.000 V 29.830 V 30.020 V 30.170 V -0.067% TRUE
ACV measure 21 30.00 V , 40 Hz 2.600 V 2.567 V 2.610 V 2.633 V -0.383% TRUE
ACV measure 22 30.00 V , 40 Hz 30.000 V 29.830 V 30.030 V 30.170 V -0.100% TRUE
ACV measure 23 300.0 V , 500 Hz 27.0 V 26.665 V 27.000 V 27.335 V 0.000% TRUE
ACV measure 24 300.0 V , 500 Hz 295.0 V 293.325 V 294.300 V 296.675 V 0.238% TRUE
ACV measure 25 300.0 V , 40 Hz 27.0 V 26.665 V 27.000 V 27.335 V 0.000% TRUE
ACV measure 26 300.0 V , 50 Hz 295.0 V 293.325 V 295.100 V 296.675 V -0.034% TRUE
DCI measure* 27 30 mA 0.004 A 0.003995 A 0.003998 A 0.004005 A 0.050% TRUE
DCI measure* 28 30 mA 0.020 A 0.019993 A 0.019997 A 0.020007 A 0.015% TRUE
DCI measure* 29 30 mA 0.030 A 0.029992 A 0.029997 A 0.030008 A 0.010% TRUE
DCI measure* 30 30 mA -0.030 A -0.030008 A -0.029998 A -0.029992 A 0.007% TRUE
DCI measure* 31 100 mA 0.000 A -0.000020 A -0.000010 A 0.000020 A 0.000% TRUE
DCI measure* 32 100 mA 0.100 A 0.099970 A 0.099990 A 0.100030 A 0.010% TRUE
DCI measure* 33 100 mA -0.100 A -0.100030 A -0.099990 A -0.099970 A 0.010% TRUE
Resistance meas 34 10 Ω 0 Ω -0.050 Ω 0.0020 Ω 0.050 Ω 0.000% TRUE
Resistance meas 35 10 Ω 10 Ω 9.945 Ω 10.0040 Ω 10.055 Ω -0.040% TRUE
Resistance meas 36 100 Ω 0 Ω -0.050 Ω 0.0020 Ω 0.050 Ω 0.000% TRUE
Resistance meas 37 100 Ω 100 Ω 99.900 Ω 100.0000 Ω 100.100 Ω 0.000% TRUE
Resistance meas 38 1000 Ω 0 Ω -0.500 Ω 0.000 Ω 0.500 Ω 0.000% TRUE
Resistance meas 39 1000 Ω 1000 Ω 999.000 Ω 1000.00 Ω 1001.000 Ω 0.000% TRUE
Resistance meas 40 10000 Ω 0 Ω -0.010 Ω 0.00 Ω 0.010 Ω 0.000% TRUE
Resistance meas 41 10000 Ω 10000 Ω 9980.000 Ω 10000.00 Ω 10020.000 Ω 0.000% TRUE
DCV source 42 0.1 V 0.010 0.009994 V 0.0099968 V 0.0100060 V 0.032% TRUE
DCV source 43 0.1 V 0.100 0.099985 V 0.1000060 V 0.1000150 V -0.006% TRUE
DCV source 44 1.0 V 0.150 0.149940 V 0.1500020 V 0.1500700 V -0.001% TRUE
DCV source 45 1.0 V 1.000 0.999850 V 1.0000640 V 1.0001500 V -0.006% TRUE
DCV source 46 15.0 V 1.500 1.499350 V 1.5000080 V 1.5006500 V -0.001% TRUE
DCV source 47 15.0 V 10.000 9.998500 V 10.0007000 V 10.0015000 V -0.007% TRUE
DCI source 48 22 mA 0.002 A 0.0019968 A 0.0020004 A 0.0020032 A -0.017% TRUE
DCI source 49 22 mA 0.004 A 0.0039966 A 0.0040006 A 0.0040034 A -0.014% TRUE
DCI source 50 22 mA 0.012 A 0.0119958 A 0.0120004 A 0.0120042 A -0.003% TRUE
DCI source 51 22 mA 0.021 A 0.0209949 A 0.0210022 A 0.0210051 A -0.010% TRUE
Resistance source 52 10 Ω 0 Ω 0.0900 Ω 0.10200 Ω 0.1100 Ω -1.961% TRUE
Resistance source 53 10 Ω 1 Ω 0.9899 Ω 1.00280 Ω 1.0101 Ω -0.279% TRUE
Resistance source 54 10 Ω 10 Ω 9.9890 Ω 10.00180 Ω 10.0110 Ω -0.018% TRUE
Resistance source 55 100 Ω 20 Ω 19.9780 Ω 19.98400 Ω 20.0220 Ω 0.080% TRUE
Resistance source 56 100 Ω 100 Ω 99.9700 Ω 99.98000 Ω 100.0300 Ω 0.020% TRUE
Resistance source 57 1000 Ω 200 Ω 199.7600 Ω 199.967 Ω 200.2400 Ω 0.017% TRUE
Resistance source 58 1000 Ω 1000 Ω 999.6000 Ω 999.912 Ω 1000.4000 Ω 0.009% TRUE
Resistance source 59 10000 Ω 2000 Ω 1996.6000 Ω 1999.740 Ω 2003.4000 Ω 0.013% TRUE
Resistance source 60 10000 Ω 10000 Ω 9995.0000 Ω 9999.100 Ω 10005.0000 Ω 0.009% TRUE
Resistance source 61 10000 Ω 11000 Ω 10999.00 Ω 0.009% TRUE

Everything checked out nicely, no adjustment was necessary. Same report is also available in PDF format:

Discussion is very welcome thru comment section or at our own IRC chat server: xdevs.com (port 6010, channel: #xDevs.com).

Author: Ilya Tsemenko
Created: March 30, 2024, 6:06 p.m.
Modified: March 30, 2024, 6:56 p.m.

References