Fluke 8050A - MPU failure

[Michael A. Terrell]

How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail? Is there
any other processor that can replace it, and can the code be read from a
3870? I know it's bad, because I tested it in another 8050A.

 

[David K. Bryant]

How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail?

Mostek 3780 is the single-chip version of
the F8 (3850); a very strange device indeed.

If it were a 37P80 you could have an
external EPROM and you'd have a fighting
chance. It isn't so you're screwed.

Is there any other processor that can replace it,
and can the code be read from a 3870?

No & no. It's dead; let it go.


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to news@netfront.net ---

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:33:53 -0700, "David K. Bryant"
<dbryant_94585@earthlink.net> wrote:

How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail?

Mostek 3780 is the single-chip version of
the F8 (3850); a very strange device indeed.

Typo. It's a Mostek 3870. I worked on a radio that used one in the
late 1970's. It took me years to recover from the brain damage caused
by the weird programming (and I wasn't even the programmer on the
project).
<http://nice.kaze.com/MK3870.pdf>
Note that there are different 3870 mutations with varying amounts of
RAM and ROM.

The big problem is that the 3870 is mask programmable. Unless a Fluke
8050A chip can be found, a random 3870 chip won't work. There are a
few for sale on eBay, but I'm sure they won't play.

Even the EPROM version has mutations. There are some for sale on
eBay, but make sure that it's the same mutation as in your Fluke:
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/110890049631>
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/230743821399>
How you're going to extract the Fluke programming out of your blown
chip, and into an EPROM is unknown.

Note that many companies in the late 1970's shipped their products
with the EPROM version. They were making so many firmware changes
after shipping, that the mask programmable version wasn't practical.

If it were a 37P80 you could have an
external EPROM and you'd have a fighting
chance. It isn't so you're screwed.

Typo again. The piggy back EPROM version of the 3870 is a 38P70.
Another version is a 97400R. I may actually have one of these in the
Mostek dev sys, but a quick search didn't find it. I'll try again
later:
<http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/articleview.php?item=400>
<http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/3870/index.html >

Is there any other processor that can replace it,
and can the code be read from a 3870?

No & no. It's dead; let it go.

e-Waste or sell for parts on eBay.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:33:53 -0700, "David K. Bryant"
dbryant_94585@earthlink.net> wrote:

How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail?

Mostek 3780 is the single-chip version of
the F8 (3850); a very strange device indeed.

Typo. It's a Mostek 3870. I worked on a radio that used one in the
late 1970's. It took me years to recover from the brain damage caused
by the weird programming (and I wasn't even the programmer on the
project).
http://nice.kaze.com/MK3870.pdf
Note that there are different 3870 mutations with varying amounts of
RAM and ROM.

The big problem is that the 3870 is mask programmable. Unless a Fluke
8050A chip can be found, a random 3870 chip won't work. There are a
few for sale on eBay, but I'm sure they won't play.

Even the EPROM version has mutations. There are some for sale on
eBay, but make sure that it's the same mutation as in your Fluke:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110890049631

I have less than $50 in the dead meter.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230743821399

That's about what I have in the meter. I bought three for about
$100, one with the Ni-Cad option. Considering some places still want
$450 for one meter, that's not a bad deal. Two of the cases are in good
condition, and cleaned up nicely with household Ammonia and a
Scotchbrite pad.

How you're going to extract the Fluke programming out of your blown
chip, and into an EPROM is unknown.

Note that many companies in the late 1970's shipped their products
with the EPROM version. They were making so many firmware changes
after shipping, that the mask programmable version wasn't practical.

If it were a 37P80 you could have an
external EPROM and you'd have a fighting
chance. It isn't so you're screwed.

Typo again. The piggy back EPROM version of the 3870 is a 38P70.
Another version is a 97400R. I may actually have one of these in the
Mostek dev sys, but a quick search didn't find it. I'll try again
later:
http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/articleview.php?item=400
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/3870/index.html

Is there any other processor that can replace it,
and can the code be read from a 3870?

No & no. It's dead; let it go.

e-Waste or sell for parts on eBay.

I have three Fluke 8050A. I was wondering about trying to read one
of the good chips. I am aware that it's mask programed, and that '3870'
is a family instead of a single device. I tossed some of the EPROM
piggyback versions about 15 years ago, rather than try to clean and tin
the badly corroded pins. They were in some new 9 track computer tape
drives I had. I couldn't track down any interface data and junked them.
for the motors & drive circuits.


The unit works fine with a borrowed chip. Maybe I'll luck into
another working meter, with a damaged case or someone with a used chip
at a reasonable price

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 19:20:01 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

That's about what I have in the meter. I bought three for about
$100, one with the Ni-Cad option. Considering some places still want
$450 for one meter, that's not a bad deal.

That's rather high, even for a 4 1/2 digit meter. Checking the
eBay completed listings, I found about 8 meters had sold for about $40
including shipping. One went for $50.

I have three Fluke 8050A. I was wondering about trying to read one
of the good chips. I am aware that it's mask programed, and that '3870'
is a family instead of a single device.

Probably not. There was a bit that could be set to make the ROM
section excute only. I suspect this is the normal shipping condition.
I could try to find all the pieces of my F8 dev sys, and try to read
it, but I really don't want to burn the time. Sorry.

The unit works fine with a borrowed chip. Maybe I'll luck into
another working meter, with a damaged case or someone with a used chip
at a reasonable price

Nothing on eBay. However, a parts meter went for $25 including
shipping:
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/110919318070>

"The secret to engineering (and repair) is knowing when to give up."
(from one of my mentors years ago).

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 19:20:01 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
?mike.terrell@earthlink.net? wrote:

?That's about what I have in the meter. I bought three for about
?$100, one with the Ni-Cad option. Considering some places still want
?$450 for one meter, that's not a bad deal.

That's rather high, even for a 4 1/2 digit meter. Checking the
eBay completed listings, I found about 8 meters had sold for about $40
including shipping. One went for $50.

?I have three Fluke 8050A. I was wondering about trying to read one
?of the good chips. I am aware that it's mask programed, and that '3870'
?is a family instead of a single device.

Probably not. There was a bit that could be set to make the ROM
section excute only. I suspect this is the normal shipping condition.
I could try to find all the pieces of my F8 dev sys, and try to read
it, but I really don't want to burn the time. Sorry.

No big deal. I know several used test equipment dealers, and one who
owns a cal lab. He offered me a couple truckloads of equipment to
salvage, but I have no way to get it here.

?The unit works fine with a borrowed chip. Maybe I'll luck into
?another working meter, with a damaged case or someone with a used chip
?at a reasonable price

Nothing on eBay. However, a parts meter went for $25 including
shipping:
?http://www.ebay.com/itm/110919318070?

"The secret to engineering (and repair) is knowing when to give up."
(from one of my mentors years ago).

That meter is sitting here beside me. I won it, and repaired it in
under ten minutes. It will need new batteries to use as a portable
meter but that's under $10 I need about 36 C size Ni-cads at the moment
for various items.

 

[JW]

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:57:30 -0400 "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in Message id:
<zf2dne55cJU-r4LNnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@earthlink.com>:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 19:20:01 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
?mike.terrell@earthlink.net? wrote:

?That's about what I have in the meter. I bought three for about
?$100, one with the Ni-Cad option. Considering some places still want
?$450 for one meter, that's not a bad deal.

That's rather high, even for a 4 1/2 digit meter. Checking the
eBay completed listings, I found about 8 meters had sold for about $40
including shipping. One went for $50.

?I have three Fluke 8050A. I was wondering about trying to read one
?of the good chips. I am aware that it's mask programed, and that '3870'
?is a family instead of a single device.

Probably not. There was a bit that could be set to make the ROM
section excute only. I suspect this is the normal shipping condition.
I could try to find all the pieces of my F8 dev sys, and try to read
it, but I really don't want to burn the time. Sorry.


No big deal. I know several used test equipment dealers, and one who
owns a cal lab. He offered me a couple truckloads of equipment to
salvage, but I have no way to get it here.


?The unit works fine with a borrowed chip. Maybe I'll luck into
?another working meter, with a damaged case or someone with a used chip
?at a reasonable price

Nothing on eBay. However, a parts meter went for $25 including
shipping:
?http://www.ebay.com/itm/110919318070?

"The secret to engineering (and repair) is knowing when to give up."
(from one of my mentors years ago).


That meter is sitting here beside me. I won it, and repaired it in
under ten minutes. It will need new batteries to use as a portable
meter but that's under $10 I need about 36 C size Ni-cads at the moment
for various items.

Hi Mike,

You could try here in hopes that someone has a parts unit:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Fluke_DMM/

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

JW wrote:

Hi Mike,

You could try here in hopes that someone has a parts unit:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Fluke_DMM/

Thanks. If I don't find one before long, I'll part it out. It'll
end up in my boneyard.

Not much in it, at the moment:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.terrell/Boneyard.html

 

[josephkk]

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:02:34 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail? Is there
any other processor that can replace it, and can the code be read from a
3870? I know it's bad, because I tested it in another 8050A.

The only thing that can replace it is another 3870. Freaky weird uP that
3850 which uses it.

?-/

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

josephkk wrote:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:02:34 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail? Is there
any other processor that can replace it, and can the code be read from a
3870? I know it's bad, because I tested it in another 8050A.

The only thing that can replace it is another 3870. Freaky weird uP that
3850 which uses it.

I bought another 8050A meter, for a total of five, and was able to
repair four of them. Two had bad NiCad batteries, which kept them from
working. So, one of the first four worked, and the fifth.

I will leave the AC powered on my workbench, and take the battery
powered units with me for other work. I have under $100 in all five.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 09:30:13 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

I bought another 8050A meter, for a total of five, and was able to
repair four of them. Two had bad NiCad batteries, which kept them from
working. So, one of the first four worked, and the fifth.

I will leave the AC powered on my workbench, and take the battery
powered units with me for other work. I have under $100 in all five.

For $50, I just bought a large box of junk that includes some
allegedly defective Fluke meters. Two 8000A with leaking D batteries,
rotten battery contacts, blown Amps fuse, and covered with difficult
to remove calibration stickers. One 8030A with some of the segments
dead but otherwise ok. One 8010A with leaky batteries, a very dim LCD
display, and which looks like it's been under water for some time.

Two 8050A with missing Amps fuses, dead sub-C batteries, and difficult
to read LCD displays. The problem is that the stock 8050A will not
work without the batteries. However, there is a modification to fix
that:
<http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects-designs-and-technical-stuff/fluke-8050a-repair/msg79394/?PHPSESSID=922877c77efd0bbeb2ab4f906b1369ac#msg79394>
I want battery power, so I ordered some sub-C cells on eBay.
I'm also tempted to modify the 8050A display:
<http://lous.home.xs4all.nl/fluke/Fluke8050Asite.html>

That should keep me out of trouble for a while.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[John Robertson]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail? Is there
any other processor that can replace it, and can the code be read from a
3870? I know it's bad, because I tested it in another 8050A.

If you have a good 3870 then you can get Ed of DataSync to read it, then
track down a MK38P70 (eBay) and burn an eprom for the piggyback EPROM spot.

Reading these is a trick, you have to send code to the CPU to extract
one byte, then increment the counter and tell it to skip one space and
extract the next byte, and so on. This involves the "TEST" pin being set
to a particular voltage (track down documents) and a PIC or similar to
talk to the CPU with a bunch of code to get it to count correctly...

Not sure what Ed charges to read these...once read if you want to send
me the code I'll host it on the TTL FTP site so others can find it.

(Tech Tools mail List)

John :-#)#

--
(Please post followups or tech enquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

John Robertson wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail? Is there
any other processor that can replace it, and can the code be read from a
3870? I know it's bad, because I tested it in another 8050A.

If you have a good 3870 then you can get Ed of DataSync to read it, then
track down a MK38P70 (eBay) and burn an eprom for the piggyback EPROM spot.

Reading these is a trick, you have to send code to the CPU to extract
one byte, then increment the counter and tell it to skip one space and
extract the next byte, and so on. This involves the "TEST" pin being set
to a particular voltage (track down documents) and a PIC or similar to
talk to the CPU with a bunch of code to get it to count correctly...

Not sure what Ed charges to read these...once read if you want to send
me the code I'll host it on the TTL FTP site so others can find it.

(Tech Tools mail List)

I have the databook on those chips, so I might be able to read one
here. I'd have to build a fixture to read it, but it would be in line
with the work I used to do at Microdyne.


Who knows? With the code, it might be possible to make a header to
use a newer and easier to find IC? 25 years ago I wrote sofware to read
the OS in Commodore drives, and updated the orignial 'Disk Doctor' to
identify & read newer drives. That was fun, writing machine language to
disk one byte at a time, to modify the program I was using to do the
work. I also changed the user interface to make it easier to use.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 09:30:13 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

I bought another 8050A meter, for a total of five, and was able to
repair four of them. Two had bad NiCad batteries, which kept them from
working. So, one of the first four worked, and the fifth.

I will leave the AC powered on my workbench, and take the battery
powered units with me for other work. I have under $100 in all five.

For $50, I just bought a large box of junk that includes some
allegedly defective Fluke meters. Two 8000A with leaking D batteries,
rotten battery contacts, blown Amps fuse, and covered with difficult
to remove calibration stickers. One 8030A with some of the segments
dead but otherwise ok. One 8010A with leaky batteries, a very dim LCD
display, and which looks like it's been under water for some time.

I think I have an 8000 in the garage in the pile of equipment I
couldn't find parts for, 20 years ago.

Two 8050A with missing Amps fuses, dead sub-C batteries, and difficult
to read LCD displays. The problem is that the stock 8050A will not
work without the batteries. However, there is a modification to fix
that:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects-designs-and-technical-stuff/fluke-8050a-repair/msg79394/?PHPSESSID=922877c77efd0bbeb2ab4f906b1369ac#msg79394

The manual shows the minor differences in the two versions.

I want battery power, so I ordered some sub-C cells on eBay.
I'm also tempted to modify the 8050A display:
http://lous.home.xs4all.nl/fluke/Fluke8050Asite.html

That would be an inderesting module to make availible for repairs.

That should keep me out of trouble for a while.

YOU? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ;-)

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 09:30:13 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

I bought another 8050A meter, for a total of five, and was able to
repair four of them. Two had bad NiCad batteries, which kept them from
working. So, one of the first four worked, and the fifth.

I will leave the AC powered on my workbench, and take the battery
powered units with me for other work. I have under $100 in all five.

For $50, I just bought a large box of junk that includes some
allegedly defective Fluke meters. Two 8000A with leaking D batteries,
rotten battery contacts, blown Amps fuse, and covered with difficult
to remove calibration stickers. One 8030A with some of the segments
dead but otherwise ok. One 8010A with leaky batteries, a very dim LCD
display, and which looks like it's been under water for some time.

Two 8050A with missing Amps fuses, dead sub-C batteries, and difficult
to read LCD displays. The problem is that the stock 8050A will not
work without the batteries. However, there is a modification to fix
that:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects-designs-and-technical-stuff/fluke-8050a-repair/msg79394/?PHPSESSID=922877c77efd0bbeb2ab4f906b1369ac#msg79394
I want battery power, so I ordered some sub-C cells on eBay.
I'm also tempted to modify the 8050A display:
http://lous.home.xs4all.nl/fluke/Fluke8050Asite.html

That should keep me out of trouble for a while.

I bought 50 subc on Ebay that just arrived a few days ago. Eight for
the two Fluke 8050A meters, the rest for other test equipment. If
anything else fails, I'll have to order more.

There is a pile of damaged Fluke meters out in the shop that
accumulated over the last 25 years.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 09:30:13 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

I bought another 8050A meter, for a total of five, and was able to
repair four of them. Two had bad NiCad batteries, which kept them from
working. So, one of the first four worked, and the fifth.

I will leave the AC powered on my workbench, and take the battery
powered units with me for other work. I have under $100 in all five.

For $50, I just bought a large box of junk that includes some
allegedly defective Fluke meters. Two 8000A with leaking D batteries,
rotten battery contacts, blown Amps fuse, and covered with difficult
to remove calibration stickers. One 8030A with some of the segments
dead but otherwise ok. One 8010A with leaky batteries, a very dim LCD
display, and which looks like it's been under water for some time.

I think I have an 8000 in the garage in the pile of equipment I
couldn't find parts for, 20 years ago.

OK, I made it out to the shop & found a pair of Fluke 8000A meters
along with a lot of water damage. There is smashed & rusted stuff all
over the floor, an interior door fell apart, and the wood floor in part
of the shop collapsed, leaving the shelving leaning against each other.
I think it would be easier to write it all off, than to try to clean it
up. Anyone have a spare bulldozer & a half dozen construction
dumpsters?

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:04:12 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

OK, I made it out to the shop & found a pair of Fluke 8000A meters
along with a lot of water damage. There is smashed & rusted stuff all
over the floor, an interior door fell apart, and the wood floor in part
of the shop collapsed, leaving the shelving leaning against each other.
I think it would be easier to write it all off, than to try to clean it
up. Anyone have a spare bulldozer & a half dozen construction
dumpsters?

Save the Fluke meters and trash the rest. Probably too wet to burn
down the building. You could claim that the building was used for
soldering with the dreaded leaded solder and that chlorinated
hydrocarbon solvents were used and stored in the shop. That way, it
will be declared a toxic waste dump or superfund site which various
government agencies are obligated to clean up. Your government at
work (for you).



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:04:12 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

OK, I made it out to the shop & found a pair of Fluke 8000A meters
along with a lot of water damage. There is smashed & rusted stuff all
over the floor, an interior door fell apart, and the wood floor in part
of the shop collapsed, leaving the shelving leaning against each other.
I think it would be easier to write it all off, than to try to clean it
up. Anyone have a spare bulldozer & a half dozen construction
dumpsters?

Save the Fluke meters and trash the rest. Probably too wet to burn
down the building. You could claim that the building was used for
soldering with the dreaded leaded solder and that chlorinated
hydrocarbon solvents were used and stored in the shop. That way, it
will be declared a toxic waste dump or superfund site which various
government agencies are obligated to clean up. Your government at
work (for you).

It's a pole building with a steel roof and aluminum skin. Nothing
much to burn.


Florida would condem the property and I'd be homeless.

 

[JW]

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 09:30:13 -0500 "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in Message id:
<B5OdnRgf3P1jRC3NnZ2dnUVZ_jqdnZ2d@earthlink.com>:

josephkk wrote:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:02:34 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail? Is there
any other processor that can replace it, and can the code be read from a
3870? I know it's bad, because I tested it in another 8050A.

The only thing that can replace it is another 3870. Freaky weird uP that
3850 which uses it.


I bought another 8050A meter, for a total of five, and was able to
repair four of them. Two had bad NiCad batteries, which kept them from
working. So, one of the first four worked, and the fifth.

I will leave the AC powered on my workbench, and take the battery
powered units with me for other work. I have under $100 in all five.

One of the earlier fluke meters (I don't remember which one) had a battery
that was required to be installed in order to regulate the power supply.
If you took out the battery pack and tried to operate the meter on AC
power, you'd blow the damn thing! Was the 8050A that meter?

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

JW wrote:

On Sat, 24 Nov 2012 09:30:13 -0500 "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in Message id:
B5OdnRgf3P1jRC3NnZ2dnUVZ_jqdnZ2d@earthlink.com>:


josephkk wrote:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:02:34 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:


How common is it for the masked ROM Mostek 3870 MPU to fail? Is there
any other processor that can replace it, and can the code be read from a
3870? I know it's bad, because I tested it in another 8050A.

The only thing that can replace it is another 3870. Freaky weird uP that
3850 which uses it.


I bought another 8050A meter, for a total of five, and was able to
repair four of them. Two had bad NiCad batteries, which kept them from
working. So, one of the first four worked, and the fifth.

I will leave the AC powered on my workbench, and take the battery
powered units with me for other work. I have under $100 in all five.

One of the earlier fluke meters (I don't remember which one) had a battery
that was required to be installed in order to regulate the power supply.
If you took out the battery pack and tried to operate the meter on AC
power, you'd blow the damn thing! Was the 8050A that meter?

They don't work without the battery, but it didn't appear to damage
them.

I have a 8000A that uses four 'D Cell' nicads, but they leaked so bad
that I may not be able to repair it. BTW, I see these with really high
serial numbers on Ebay.

One 8000A has a SN of 1702 and has an extra set of jacks for 10A
which would make it option -05. It has a bad Siliconix SC522 A/D
converter.

The damaged meter is SN 65187. The A/D is good, but the circuit
board is damaged from the bad NiCads.

The power transformer is larger in the battery version, and it has a
large light bulb in the DC supply. The battery operated version has a
small DC-DC converter to power the meter. A manual is on BAMA:
http://bama.edebris.com/download/fluke/8000a/8000A.pdf