I stumbled into a pretty good deal on a fancy scope that was in need of repair. I've done some cleaning and diagnostics and I think that the power and sampling system are just fine, but there's some kind of communication error with some of the slower digital devices on the acquisition board (like the pin headers for reading probe data), which prevents it from switching in the BNCs on the front.
Anyways, I've checked to a reasonable level of confidence the software and PCI interface card, and I think the issue resides on the acquisition board (or just where the cables are plugging into it, if I'm lucky), but I'm having trouble finding the best way to access the board from the top. Lots of things are removable, but the aluminum cage holding the PC parts and the front panel seems to be mostly riveted, and I'd rather not just strip as many parts off as I can to get at the board (though, it's always an option, I suppose). I removed the bottom panel and got to the bottom of the acquisition board, but since the board is 15"x15" or more and has a bunch of heatsinks strapped to it, it seems like a really bad idea to try and remove it from the bottom and risk it flexing a lot, plus then it would be harder to reattach to the cables on the top side anyways. I've worked in a same form factor older LeCroy scope and the tricks to get that apart doesn't seem to be the same.
So has anyone done any work on the acquisition board on the WavePro 7000 series or its derivatives? I'd appreciate any tips on how to get into there short of just removing every screw and cable I can find, and I've been unable to find any service manual (and predictably, it's not in the user manual).
I intend to write it up with pics when I'm done, but maybe I can sweeten the deal with a little tease: