# Fluke T5 vs. Fluke T+Pro



## Buddha In Babylon (Mar 23, 2009)

I've been looking at both of those for a couple months now, trying to decide what to buy. My buddy has that wiggy model, which has a badass continuity feature. It vibrates and has a loud buzzer that indicates continuity. I don't know that the T-5 is the same. i've never used one i'm afraid....But i'm gonna pick up the T5-600, as soon as i get the chance. I have the Greenlee CM-450, and it's not that great. The continuity "beep" is so quiet, i have to hold the meter itself up to my ear, just to be sure i am hearing it on a loud jobsite.


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

I own both, but would rather have the T+ because it will not detect ghost voltages.

~Matt


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## BadContact (Mar 28, 2010)

TOOL_5150 said:


> I own both, but would rather have the T+ because it will not detect ghost voltages.
> 
> ~Matt


Since you have both, have you ever used the T5 and found a ghost voltage that the T+ didn't show?


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

BadContact said:


> Since you have both, have you ever used the T5 and found a ghost voltage that the T+ didn't show?


Yep, I've encountered ghost voltage using a T5. A T5 is high impedance and a T+ is low impedance therefore a T+ won't show ghost voltage.


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## BadContact (Mar 28, 2010)

wptski said:


> a T+ is low impedance therefore a T+ won't show ghost voltage.


That's what they say, I was wondering how it works in real life. Have you compared them side by side?


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

BadContact said:


> That's what they say, I was wondering how it works in real life. Have you compared them side by side?


Yes, the T5 acts just like a high impedance DMM when it comes to ghost voltage.


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## BadContact (Mar 28, 2010)

wptski said:


> Yes, the T5 acts just like a high impedance DMM when it comes to ghost voltage.


I understand that..............



I am asking about the T+Pro, if anyone has used it side by side with a T5 and found it to be less susceptible to ghost voltages? Is the T+Pro truly as good as a solenoid tester?


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## Pilky (Oct 20, 2009)

My fluke T5 is in the mail now...

Got it cheap on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-Corpora...ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1269891472&sr=8-6


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## Mike_586 (Mar 24, 2009)

BadContact said:


> I understand that..............
> 
> 
> 
> I am asking about the T+Pro, if anyone has used it side by side with a T5 and found it to be less susceptible to ghost voltages? Is the T+Pro truly as good as a solenoid tester?



The T+Pro is a solenoid tester.


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

Mike_586 said:


> The T+Pro is a solenoid tester.


The T+ Pro is NOT a solenoid tester!

It "emulates" a solenoid tester, because it has a low impedance. A solenoid tester has a SOLENOID in it that is just a winding of wire. When that wire measures voltage, it moves a mechanical plunger in the coil. That coil has a very low impedance of about 10,000 ohms.

The T+ is a completely solid-state unit, like a DMM. But, unlike a DMM with around a 10,000,000 ohm input impedance, it has only a 70,000 ohm impedance. This is still much higher than a solenoid, but low enough to eliminate most ghost voltages.


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## BadContact (Mar 28, 2010)

Brice Wayne, your post is what I was looking for. As you can see, there is a lot of misinformation being spread about the T+Pro and I wanted to know the truth.

In addition to what you said about the T+Pro emulating a solenoid tester, it also has a vibrating feature to mimic the typical solenoid tester's vibration.

So the T+Pro is 70,000 ohm impedance, do you know how that compares with the LoZ feature of the Fluke DMM's such as the 117?


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

BadContact said:


> I understand that..............
> 
> 
> 
> I am asking about the T+Pro, if anyone has used it side by side with a T5 and found it to be less susceptible to ghost voltages? Is the T+Pro truly as good as a solenoid tester?


Okay, sometime ago I just decided to check a outdoor extension cord that I just got done using. I read L-N at 120V, L-G at around 50V and N-G at around 50V with a T5-600. I got my Fluke 189 and read around the same values.

I had but never used my Fluke SV225 stray voltage adapter. Using it with the 189 it read L-N at 120V, L-G and N-G at 0V. The ground wire was open somewhere in the cord.

I kept that cord and later got a T+ Pro which reads the same as the 189/SV225 combo.

I'm not a electrician but carry the T5-600 in my truck along with another SV225 kit which includes a set of test leads and couplers so I can use the SV225 with the T5-600 if needed.


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

BadContact said:


> Brice Wayne, your post is what I was looking for. As you can see, there is a lot of misinformation being spread about the T+Pro and I wanted to know the truth.
> 
> In addition to what you said about the T+Pro emulating a solenoid tester, it also has a vibrating feature to mimic the typical solenoid tester's vibration.
> 
> So the T+Pro is 70,000 ohm impedance, do you know how that compares with the LoZ feature of the Fluke DMM's such as the 117?


It isn't as high 70K and varies depending on voltage. A Fluke SV225 is 3K.


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

BadContact said:


> Since you have both, have you ever used the T5 and found a ghost voltage that the T+ didn't show?


You bet. If you dont want to see ghost voltages [i sure dont] I much rather use the T+Pro If I am just checking voltages or need a smaller amp reading I use the T5

~Matt


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## Mike_586 (Mar 24, 2009)

Bruce Wayne said:


> The T+ Pro is NOT a solenoid tester!


Yeah my mistake.

I only briefly looked at the stats on one of those things a few months back and _remembered_ seeing 9.99kΩ impedance (actually it was its range of 0Ω to 9.99kΩ of resistance that it could read) and that it had a duty cycle and vibrated and assumed it was a solenoid tester built to better standards.


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## cdnelectrician (Mar 14, 2008)

I love my T+ pro, I think it is the best electrical tester out there for quick go, no-go tests. I thought about the T5 but I can't see myself using the amperage function much, I would rather trust stuff like that to my Fluke 337. (Which now sits at home because they supply us with 337's at work if needed.)

And the phase rotation feature on the T+pro comes in handy, and has a backlit display which the T5 does not have.

On a side note, I thought that the T5 had a neon voltage indicating light which should be low impedance?


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

BadContact said:


> So the T+Pro is 70,000 ohm impedance, do you know how that compares with the LoZ feature of the Fluke DMM's such as the 117?


Bad,

The 117 is a 3K (3,000) ohm impedance. I'm not sure why they took it that low. 10K is low enough to eliminate ghost voltages. 

The 3k of the 117 is actually done with thermistors, and not resistors. So, as they heat up with a real voltage present, they will increase in value. For example, if you put a 117 across a live 120V line, it will initially draw 40 mA (120V / 3,000 ohms). But, as that heats up, it will increase in value to around 15,000 ohms, and lower the current down to about 8 mA.


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

Bruce Wayne said:


> Bad,
> 
> The 117 is a 3K (3,000) ohm impedance. I'm not sure why they took it that low. 10K is low enough to eliminate ghost voltages.
> 
> The 3k of the 117 is actually done with thermistors, and not resistors. So, as they heat up with a real voltage present, they will increase in value. For example, if you put a 117 across a live 120V line, it will initially draw 40 mA (120V / 3,000 ohms). But, as that heats up, it will increase in value to around 15,000 ohms, and lower the current down to about 8 mA.


It's not mentioned on the 117 but with the their 289, a certain amount of cooling time is required after using LoZ for accuracy with some functions.


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## mikeg_05 (Jan 1, 2009)

cdnelectrician said:


> I love my T+ pro, I think it is the best electrical tester out there for quick go, no-go tests. I thought about the T5 but I can't see myself using the amperage function much, I would rather trust stuff like that to my Fluke 337. (Which now sits at home because they supply us with 337's at work if needed.)
> 
> And the phase rotation feature on the T+pro comes in handy, and has a backlit display which the T5 does not have.
> 
> On a side note, I thought that the T5 had a neon voltage indicating light which should be low impedance?


Ditto I carry the T+pro on me 90% of the time and when I need to do amp checks or more indepth stuff I break out the fluke 336


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## CanadianJeff (May 8, 2009)

I have a T5-1000 from a previous job and a T+Pro for my current job. We have to use T+Pro (supplied by them) because they want us to use Cat. IV meters.
One problem I've come across with T+Pro is when a co-worker was using it to measure DC voltage on a brake coil. It showed some obscure AC voltage instead of the correct DC voltage (90 or 180 or whatever the case was) as measured by a Fluke 87.


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## jdsmith (Oct 23, 2007)

CanadianJeff said:


> I have a T5-1000 from a previous job and a T+Pro for my current job. We have to use T+Pro (supplied by them) because they want us to use Cat. IV meters.
> One problem I've come across with T+Pro is when a co-worker was using it to measure DC voltage on a brake coil. It showed some obscure AC voltage instead of the correct DC voltage (90 or 180 or whatever the case was) as measured by a Fluke 87.


I had that problem once as well. It is also a bit annoying to have to wait 3 seconds to figure out if the circuit you're on is live and whether it's AC or DC before displaying the value. But this is only a cheap, lightweight tester - if I need more accuracy that's why I have a 289 in the truck.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

OpenTerminal said:


> For all the people who have been patiently waiting for the last 12 years to see which meter I decided on, you’ll be happy to know that I switched to and am very happy with the T+ Pro.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

I have a T- something or another with an extra wide amprobe version. I think it fits up to 1/0. It's great because I am always determining current on 12 gauge wiring and going to truck to fetch a large clamp on ammeter is time consuming, whereas I put the T-something or another and my Knopp tester in my tool bag every day and carry it to whatever job I am on. Always test Neutrals on commercial work unless I'm sure of the conduit going straight to the panel for any that have multiple hots, and I have em all off. Then also there is that guy who found a neutral path back to the source by just tacking onto the closest white wire he found in the ceiling above the lift out tiles..... so the only way to be certain is to check for current flow, cause the volt tick won't find it sometimes. I bet a bunch of you guys don't make it a habit to always check for current on neutrals , or maybe you shut down the whole panels and then don't need to worry about it. That's even better , but I don't do that very often. Continuity check is useful also. My version has that.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

Bro….it is amazing how quick he’s gone after he shows up.

It’s like this UPS driver that throws your package by the door, rings the doorbell and is halfway down the street before you can even get to the front door.

Unbelievable.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

It went by so fast, I wonder if it was Speedy Petey that did it.........


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

macmikeman said:


> It went by so fast, I wonder if it was Speedy Petey that did it.........


What happened to Speedy?

And Celtic?


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## 460 Delta (May 9, 2018)

Speedy hasn’t been around since November. I don’t think he’s a mod anymore either.


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