fluke thermocouple calibrator

Some of my friends were at an auction and picked up a Fluke 714B Thermocouple calibrator because they thought it looked like something i might be able to use.

I have little experience with calibrators, but it looks like a tool that could be useful for troubleshooting. It appears like it can measure Ma, which would be handy.

Have others been using these and have had good successs? I am a fan of Fluke in multimeters, they work great!

What all can we do with this tool?

You can manage to miscalibrate temperature devices if you are not careful about how the calibrator is used with its jack/leadwire adapter.

Any thermocouple calibrator can report or generate incorrect values if its cold junction (CJ) (ice point) sensor has not adjusted to the thermocouple jack connection temperature.

You must use the correct type thermocouple jack/lead wire adapter (provided with a new unit) when making a thermocouple reading or sourcing a thermocouple temperature signal. They are color coded. The Fluke manual has a table showing some of the different country thermocouple color codes.

There can be an error of multiple degrees when a T/C jack/leadwire that is not the same temperature as the calibrator is connected. The manual says, "wait one minute or more for the connector temperature to stabilize after you plug the miniplug into the TC input/output." This is to allow the CJ temperature sensor to adapt to the connector's temperature. One minute might not be enough, depending on the difference in temperature. Any difference in temperature between the jack and the calibrator is a direct error in the reading or the output of the calibrator. A 5 degree difference is a 5 degree error. Not good for people who think they're getting a ±1° calibration.

If the jack/leadwire adapters are missing, you can easily make your own using a standard Thermocouple Mini jack (available from any controls vendor) and a length of the same type thermocouple wire.

That Fluke model will do steps or ramps for cal checks at specfic temperature intervals.

That Fluke model will read mA but does not source a mA signal.