Fluke 117 vs Fluke 87V: electrician's multimeter versus industrial/VFD multimeter head-to-head

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The short answer: match the meter to the circuit you work on

Buy the Fluke 117 if most of your day is building wiring and service work: receptacles, lighting circuits, panels, thermostats, and the 120/240 V supply feeding a welder or shop machine. Buy the Fluke 87V if you regularly troubleshoot variable frequency drives, motor control circuits, 4-20 mA loops, or intermittent faults on industrial equipment.

The two meters are not good and better versions of the same tool. They solve different measurement problems. The 117 is built to answer the question “is this conductor live, and is the voltage real?” quickly and safely. The 87V is built to answer “what is this signal actually doing?” on circuits where the waveform is not a clean sine wave. If you pick by price or by the number of features on the box, you can end up paying for a low-pass filter you never switch on, or relying on a meter that gives you a number on a drive output that doesn’t mean what you think it means.

What the Fluke 117 is built for: fast, trustworthy answers on building circuits

The 117’s identity is the voltage-checking workflow. VoltAlert is a built-in non-contact voltage detector, so you can sweep a box, cable, or terminal before putting a probe on it. AutoVolt selects AC or DC and the range for you, which removes a common mistake: leaving the dial on the wrong function and reading nothing on a live circuit.

The feature that matters most in building work is LoZ, a low input impedance mode. A standard high-impedance meter draws almost no current, so it can display ghost voltage (also called phantom voltage), the induced voltage that appears on an unloaded conductor running beside live ones. A circuit that reads 60 to 90 V with a high-impedance meter may collapse to near zero once the meter loads it. For an electrician deciding whether a dead-looking conductor is truly dead, that distinction matters daily.

The 117 is a true-RMS meter with resistance, continuity, diode test, capacitance, frequency, and Min/Max/Avg functions, plus a backlit display. It sits in the CAT III 600 V class, appropriate for distribution-level building wiring such as panels, feeders, and branch circuits. Its display resolution is much coarser than the 87V’s, which is fine for confirming 120 V, 240 V, a stuck contactor, or a thermostat circuit.

What the Fluke 87V is built for: drives, signals, and intermittent faults

The 87V is an industrial meter. Its headline feature is a low-pass filter for measuring on VFD outputs. A drive produces its output by PWM (pulse-width modulation): a fast-switching carrier frequency that simulates a sine wave. A true-RMS meter without a filter sees the switching edges and harmonics and often reads far from what the motor experiences. With the filter engaged, the meter reads the fundamental voltage and frequency at the drive output or the motor leads, which is the number you compare against the nameplate and the drive’s displayed output.

Peak Capture records fast transients down to 250 µs, which helps with inrush events, momentary dropouts, and the intermittent faults that vanish while you’re staring at the display. The 87V also reads temperature with a K-type thermocouple probe, which suits bearing, terminal, and enclosure checks. A higher-count display, a response bar graph that helps you see fluctuating readings, and fine mV DC resolution support sensor work and 4-20 mA loop checks.

It carries a higher safety rating than the 117, with CAT IV 600 V and CAT III 1000 V classes. That matters for service-entrance work and higher-energy industrial panels, but the rating only protects you when you use proper test leads and fused current inputs.

Side-by-side: where each meter wins

Check the exact listing before ordering. Some retail pages describe features differently, and the 87V is sold both as a bare meter and in kits such as the 87V/E2 Industrial Electrician Combo Kit. Confirm which accessories are included, and whether the listing is a current model with the Fluke limited lifetime warranty.

Choosing by job: building and service electrical vs. industrial troubleshooting

Residential and light commercial electricians, HVAC techs, and service plumbers get the most from the 117. They test live circuits constantly, they run into ghost voltage on long cable runs, and they rarely need a filtered drive reading. A welding-shop owner checking a 240 V receptacle before plugging in a machine, or confirming a breaker is truly de-energized before replacing it, is in the same category.

Industrial maintenance techs, controls technicians, and anyone servicing conveyors, pumps, fans, or machine tools get the most from the 87V. If you have to confirm drive output, chase a contactor that drops out once an hour, or verify a 4-20 mA transmitter, the 117 will leave you guessing. Techs who service inverter-based equipment such as VFD-driven motors benefit from the same filtered-measurement logic.

If your work covers both, the better pairing is usually a 117 on your belt for quick safety checks plus an 87V in the truck for hard problems, rather than one meter forced to do everything. If you can have only one and drives are part of your regular calls, the 87V is the safer choice because it can still do basic voltage and continuity work. If drives are rare, the 117’s safety workflow is worth more.

Ownership: leads, fuses, and the mistakes that cause bad readings

Both meters protect their current inputs with fuses, and the fuse is the part buyers forget. Use only the correct HRC fuse type and rating for the meter. Substituting a cheap glass fuse removes the protection the CAT rating assumes. An open fuse is also the usual reason a meter reads zero on the amp range or fails a current test.

Test leads matter as much as the meter. Worn insulation, loose tips, or unrated leads undermine the safety class. Many techs add alligator clips or a back-probe set for tight connectors and control terminals. If you buy the 87V for temperature work, a K-type thermocouple probe is the accessory to confirm is in the box, since not every listing includes one.

Common failure modes: measuring a drive output without enabling the filter, relying on non-contact detection as the only proof that a conductor is dead, leaving the leads in the amp jacks and then probing voltage, and ignoring the burden voltage when measuring small currents on sensitive circuits. Re-verify a meter on a known source before and after a lockout/tagout check, and replace the batteries when the display dims, since low-battery readings can drift.

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FAQ

Can the Fluke 117 measure VFD output accurately?

Not reliably. The 117 has no low-pass filter, so on a drive’s PWM output it can display a value that doesn’t match the fundamental voltage the motor sees. It’s fine for checking the drive’s input power, but use the 87V’s filter (or a dedicated tool) for output measurements.

Does the Fluke 87V have non-contact voltage detection like the 117?

The 87V is built around the low-pass filter, Peak Capture, and temperature measurement rather than a built-in VoltAlert detector. If you want non-contact detection, the 117 includes it, or you can pair an 87V with a separate non-contact tester. Check the product listing for the exact feature set before you buy.

Is the 87V worth the extra money for an electrician who doesn’t work on drives?

Usually not. Its main advantages are filtered VFD measurements, Peak Capture, temperature, and finer signal resolution. If your daily work is building wiring, the 117’s VoltAlert, AutoVolt, and LoZ will be used far more often.

Which meter handles ghost voltage better?

The 117, because it has a LoZ mode that loads the circuit so induced voltage collapses toward zero. A conventional high-impedance reading can show a convincing but false voltage on an unloaded conductor.