Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

Sorry - I was thinking of something else when that post came up and I misread.   

Never ever done that. Oh no, never ever ever. Perish the thought.

[Specmaster]

So it’s 4 years down the line and my SDS1202X-E drops dead then what do I do?

Not happening....go wash your mouth out ! 

Hahaha.

You never know which is the problem. Really though I don’t care for my perspective. Works out at £10.50 a month over its warrantied life which isn’t much.

Problem being that approach of it being just £10.50 a month is fine if you are a business user and I dare say that some of that cost can be written off as a tax loss, or if you have a higher than average income. But if you fall into a more average customer, you might well have either scrimped and saved for a long time to be able to purchase that pride and joy, or you might well have added the cost to your already over burdened CC. If that item (regardless of what it is) broke, and you took to be repaired and was greeted with the response from the manufacturer that it can't be repaired, or that the repair cost of new replacement boards etc is almost the same as a new product? There is no way that you could get a working product back without even more financial hardship when in reality it is more likely to a part that actually cost the manufacturer no more than a few cents or $ in the first place.

One thing that these 3rd party repair places have shown is that given access to the parts, these products ARE repairable with relative ease if you have the skills and the right equipment, and that just proves that the companies who oppose the right to repair are only thinking of their greed and adding even more to their wealth.

It needs to made into law that every manufacturer needs to offer a proper facility for decent proper repairs and this can be either by their own service depots at realistic prices or via 3rd parties.

[tggzzz]

That’s the problem I want sorted. And no manufacturer specified warranties should exist. Should be statutory  law.

Yep they are crazy rugged. Had one damaged device here in about 6 years and that was a face down drop of an ancientiPhone 7 into concrete. And I still got £100 for it  . iPads have survived kids for years. In fact the one I just sold end of last year was 7 years old and still going strong.

I dropped my non-new phone from the roof onto concrete. It survived and continued to work for years.

Then on the other hand, my Brother-in-Law dropped his iPhone10 onto the floor in the toilets at Gatwick Airport and smashed the screen on it. It is just pure luck of the draw, there are thousands of ways that things can hit the floor etc and just a fraction of a degree this or that way could make all the differance on the outcome.

I dropped my iPad onto a carpeted floor (deep pile and deep underlay as well), but it still managed to break my screen protector that I fitted to it when it was new. If I hadn't fitted that protector, my screen then it is highly likely that my actual screen might well have been smashed.

Just so.

Even so, 20ft onto concrete was a surprise.

[Specmaster]

Crappy screen protector 

The three kids have iPads and have bashed them around pretty heavily. Absolutely no breakage yet. I was surprised.

Nope, the screen protector is a proper decent Gorilla glass one, not one of those cheap plastic film jobbies. The protector is still fitted and under normal conditions you would be hard-pressed to see it is even broken. It has remained adhered to the screen and is only visible if the light hits the screen at the right angle.

[Specmaster]

Hmm.

I implore the pro repair people to repair this one 



The pink dots appear on screen recordings too...

Edit: the correct repair for this is to throw the fucking thing back over the fence at the manufacturer and get a full refund.

Agreed if it is still under warranty that is.

[tonyalbus]

Yeahhh!!

Look what arrived at my door:

Just to play and i need to send it back.....
is from our Dutch TE Store Eleshop.nl / eleshop.eu
 

[xrunner]

Received the hp E3611A. Checks out OK, but very dirty inside. May have been used outside, on the flight line ... who knows. Complete clean up in order. Checking coin jar for enough to go to the car wash.
 

[Saskia]

Just found a klingon battle cruiser model rocket nib. Haggled it down to 15 pesos

[Specmaster]

Received the hp E3611A. Checks out OK, but very dirty inside. May have been used outside, on the flight line ... who knows. Complete clean up in order. Checking coin jar for enough to go to the car wash.
 

Looks to me that it has been awash in some really dirty water at some or other in its life.

[med6753]

Received the hp E3611A. Checks out OK, but very dirty inside. May have been used outside, on the flight line ... who knows. Complete clean up in order. Checking coin jar for enough to go to the car wash.
 

Compared to what I've found inside some Tek's that dust level there is just a base coat. 

[med6753]

What's the official UTC start time of Discord again? I'm having a brain fart plus most of us are now on DST which just adds to the confusion. Going to try to join today at least for a little while. 

[xrunner]

Looks to me that it has been awash in some really dirty water at some or other in its life.

Compared to what I've found inside some Tek's that dust level there is just a base coat. 

Yea hard to say how the dirt got in there like that, there is no fan so it drifted in through the venting. I already did a first-pass with IPA, dried it off, and put a load on it. It's working just fine both CV & CC. Got a lot more cleaning to do though. I'll let it simmer all day for now. 

But, I got a chore to do today. I had to build some new shed doors and today my neighbor is helping me install them. Back to this kit tomorrow.

[Vince]

Compared to what I've found inside some Tek's that dust level there is just a base coat. 

Indeed... that's my type 531A when I got it... think I will wear gloves and a bio-hazard rated mask, whenever I get round to working on it...

[mansaxel]

What's the official UTC start time of Discord again? I'm having a brain fart plus most of us are now on DST which just adds to the confusion. Going to try to join today at least for a little while.

21:00 UTC.

[beanflying]

What's the official UTC start time of Discord again? I'm having a brain fart plus most of us are now on DST which just adds to the confusion. Going to try to join today at least for a little while.

21:00 UTC.

Way to confusing for my Brain we end Daylight Savings in an hour or so. So we get more sleep but not sure if that makes it 8 or 9am local. I will sleep on it .....

[SilverSolder]

Most of the time, the stuff that breaks are things like batteries, connectors, etc. etc. -  which manufacturers don't sell spares for either.  In fact, some batteries contain chips that specifically disable them and make then unrepairable...

I would say that if a big custom made chip fails, the device should probably be considered totalled...   but a battery??

[Cerebus]

They couldn't really do much for entertainment, except harass their "underlings", get drunk, go to church, & fornicate.(Not all at the same time!)

Try telling that last bit to the Earl of Rochester! 

[xrunner]

Compared to what I've found inside some Tek's that dust level there is just a base coat. 

Indeed... that's my type 531A when I got it... think I will wear gloves and a bio-hazard rated mask, whenever I get round to working on it...

Wait! Not fair Not Fair!

Those scopes had fans drawing in dirt. The E3611A had no help like that!

I know - life's not fair. 

[Cerebus]

OCXOs arrived:



So, 8 days for me versus BD's 6 days. Still not too shabby for something getting from a shack in the Middle Kingdom to a shack in Henry VIII's old hunting grounds for $19.16 USD (£12) all told.

I see what BD139 meant about getting them off the scraps of board. A peer at the cut board edge suggests anything from 6-10 layers and it looks like the outside layer may even be 2oz copper - those little 1 ¹/₄ inch squares of PCB have got a lot more heft to them than an isolated OCXO does. I'm going to have to have a medium-long think about what combination of oven, hot air, iron and desoldering tool to use.

[bd139]

I removed them with just the metcal. I wicked off the existing solder then added new leaded 60/40 and then just heated up each row quickly alternating and pulling the OCXO further off slightly each time. Not exactly scientific approach. Hot air would probably be easier.

So i paid for Saturday delivery with Telonic. It’s 15:40. No sign of delivery and I didn’t even get a dispatch note or tracking ID. But it says shipped on their tracking. Hmm. The mystery continues...

[BU508A]

OCXOs arrived:



So, 8 days for me versus BD's 6 days. Still not too shabby for something getting from a shack in the Middle Kingdom to a shack in Henry VIII's old hunting grounds for $19.16 USD (£12) all told.

I see what BD139 meant about getting them off the scraps of board. A peer at the cut board edge suggests anything from 6-10 layers and it looks like the outside layer may even be 2oz copper - those little 1 ¹/₄ inch squares of PCB have got a lot more heft to them than an isolated OCXO does. I'm going to have to have a medium-long think about what combination of oven, hot air, iron and desoldering tool to use.

Luck you, no Suez-channel was involved.   

[bd139]

They couldn't really do much for entertainment, except harass their "underlings", get drunk, go to church, & fornicate.(Not all at the same time!)

Try telling that last bit to the Earl of Rochester! 

And there I was thinking of the 13th Duke of Wybourne 

[Ice-Tea]

Yeahhh!!

Look what arrived at my door:

Just to play and i need to send it back.....
is from our Dutch TE Store Eleshop.nl / eleshop.eu
 

You bought new TE gear??

TRAITOR! 

[BU508A]

I've ordered the first time at JLCPCB some PCBs.
Being more exactly, I've ordered the A4gallium PCB from Big Clive.
5 PCBs of the size of an A4 paper sheet for 27 Dollars plus shipping! Whoa! 
I asked Osh-Park for a quote of the same PCBs (because I'm liking their purple colour) and they are asking more than 420 Dollars for three PCBs plus shipping! Wow. 
Went for the JLCPCB ones... 



And what is this PCB doing? Can be seen for example in this video from him: https://youtu.be/bI_zgZz-V40&t=61s

Now I need to source some cheap 5mm blinking LEDs and resistors ...

Edit: fixed  typo in the YT URL

[Cerebus]

I removed them with just the metcal. I wicked off the existing solder then added new leaded 60/40 and then just heated up each row quickly alternating and pulling the OCXO further off slightly each time. Not exactly scientific approach. Hot air would probably be easier.

Thanks for that nugget. I've used the trick of using 60/40 as flux* for 'orrible ROHS solder before. I went through a similar dance as you the last time I had to replace some caps on a hefty multi-layer board (G5 iMac as it happens - the operation was a success, the patient died.).

* More technically correct than our usual collective usage of the word flux in relation to soldering.

Flux ... a substance mixed with a solid to lower its melting point, used especially in soldering and brazing metals or to promote vitrification in glass or ceramics.