53132A bad display

[Robaroni]

Does anyone have the display part number for the 53132A counter? I don't want the complete board, just the display itself. The complete board goes for around $550.00 US. I think it should be available as I changed the display on a 34401A I bought off ebay but that was a number of years ago.

I'm glad these new instruments are going to OLED.

Thanks for your time and help.
Rob

[uncle_bob]

Does anyone have the display part number for the 53132A counter? I don't want the complete board, just the display itself. The complete board goes for around $550.00 US. I think it should be available as I changed the display on a 34401A I bought off ebay but that was a number of years ago.

I'm glad these new instruments are going to OLED.

Thanks for your time and help.
Rob

Hi

The only source for the full custom display on the 53132A is the HP display board. I believe the 53131 board is the same part. You can occasionally find people who have stripped the display from the board. Either way, they aren't cheap and you likely are buying a used item.

Bob

[bitseeker]

The display board part number is 53131-60002. US$1047 from Keysight.

Unlike the 34401A, for which China is making VFDs, as far as I know no other HP instruments with VFD have alternative sources for new displays. You'll have to wait for someone to part out the display board from a device that died, or buy a parts unit.

I'm glad these new instruments are going to OLED.

Why are you glad about that? OLEDs burn out too. So, from that perspective they're not any better than VFD. For longevity, it's better to use LED or LCD.

[2x2l]

The display board part number is 53131-60002. US$1047 from Keysight.

Unlike the 34401A, for which China is making VFDs, as far as I know no other HP instruments with VFD have alternative sources for new displays. You'll have to wait for someone to part out the display board from a device that died, or buy a parts unit.

I'm glad these new instruments are going to OLED.

Whoa, are they making the whole front panel assembly with drivers and the masked ROM and all? Prettttttttty sweet assuming they're not complete shite.

Why are you glad about that? OLEDs burn out too. So, from that perspective they're not any better than VFD. For longevity, it's better to use LED or LCD.

[bitseeker]

China is just making the VFD (the glass part that contains the display). You'd have to desolder the old one and solder in the new one (carefully).

[Robaroni]

Were do you get the Chinese display? Ebay?

Guys, let me ask you, as this is my first 53132A, does the fan run constantly when the instrument is plugged in, even if it's off?

Thanks,
Rob

[TheSteve]

Yes, the fan always runs.

[Robaroni]

Thanks Steve!
Now I just need a source for the Chinese display.

Rob

[bitseeker]

Yes, the Chinese displays are available on eBay. However, these are for the 34401A DMM. The annunciators will not be appropriate for other instruments; the numeric readout may not even work.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=34401+(vfd%2Cdisplay)&_sacat=0

[HighVoltage]

The Chinese 34401A display will definitively not work for the 53132A, they are very different, as bitseeker already pointed out.
I think the only hope you can have is to find and other donor unit.

[Robaroni]

OK, here's the story.
I spoke to Keysight parts and found that you can not purchase individual parts for the 53131a/53132A. When I needed a new rotary encoder for my 33220A I bought it for under $3.00 US. I don't know if you can still do this with other instruments from them now, I bought the encoder when they were Agilent and I bought just the display for my 34401A when they were HP, it cost me $68!
The display board for the 53131A/2A complete goes for over $1k US! Yikes!  I did find some nice people in CA who had a board with display for $100 but the display is weak. So if you need the board itself and have a good display this might work for you. Do a Google search for TopTestDog with the part number 53131-60002, that's the board you want for both these counters and it works with the 181 too as far as I can tell.

Ebay has a reputable seller with one good display left as of May 20, 2016 (I just bought one) for $250 plus $25 shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271869857776?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

They sent me photos of the working board so I could see all the digits lit properly and the display looks strong.
$250 might sound like a lot but I think my counter would be worthless without it as it's fading, so I bought it thinking that we may never see these displays kicking around when we really need them.

Yes, I know the 34401A won't work in the 53132A, but thanks for your concern guys.

Rob

[bitseeker]

Glad you found one right away.

We were concerned about the 34401A comment because the way it was worded sounded like you were going to attempt a non-compatible display swap. No worries.

Note that the name is TopDogTest.

[Robaroni]

Thanks Bitseeker,
I always appreciate to massive knowledge this site brings.

Rob

[bitseeker]

Agreed. I look forward to hearing how your transplant goes.

[HighVoltage]

Show us some before and after pictures, if you can. It will be interesting to see how bright the new display really is.

[Robaroni]

The other issue I have with counter is the fan constantly on. First, I'll have to see if there's dust build up on it but I'm wondering if the fan is primarily for the ovens which this counter doesn't have the option in. I don't like the oven in my instruments, they add heat and tax the internal power supply.
I've mentioned this before around here, what I did was design a stand alone 10Mhz OCXO that I adjust to a rubidium standard which I'll be double checking against a GPSDO once it's built. I'm using two OCXO's, the Milliren 260 and Morion MV89A. Both are very good. In fact once I calibrate the OCXO to the rubidium I shut off the rubidium and only use it to check the OCXO every few months. These OCXO's hold frequency to a couple parts in 1x10-11 over a few month period.
I attached a photo of the new meter with the OCXO as ref and the rubidium as input. I left it on for a few days and the drift was only a couple of parts in 1x10-12.
Adjusting the OCXO is a breeze using the front knob that runs a quad encoder to a 12 digit DAC from a cheap Atmel uC. The internal voltage reference on the OCXO is pretty good but on my revision of the circuit I added an option to use an AD586 as the voltage ref.
I'm waiting for the revised board to come back from my board house and then maybe I'll start a new thread with all the particulars. I really think this is a nice way to go. All you lose is the self calibrate on the 53131/2A but since the OCXO holds freq. so well it isn't a big deal.
R

[bitseeker]

Yes, the standby is to keep the reference stable and ready to go in an instant. Since you're going to have a common, external reference for your devices, you can at least turn down the fan speed.

I'm not sure how much heat other components in there generate, so disabling the fan may or may not be safe. If you lab stays nice and cool and there's plenty of space around the instrument, it might be OK.

[uncle_bob]

Yes, the standby is to keep the reference stable and ready to go in an instant. Since you're going to have a common, external reference for your devices, you can at least turn down the fan speed.

I'm not sure how much heat other components in there generate, so disabling the fan may or may not be safe. If you lab stays nice and cool and there's plenty of space around the instrument, it might be OK.

Hi

Slow down the fan and the power supply eventually self destructs. It also will do that if there simply is a bunch of dirt blocking the air flow a bit.

Bob

[TheSteve]

One option is to change the switch so it truly turns power on and off so there is no fan noise or power consumption when it is turned off. This mod is on my to-do list as I use a GPSDO for an external reference.

Gerry has done a video on the mod - you can check it out here:

[uncle_bob]

One option is to change the switch so it truly turns power on and off so there is no fan noise or power consumption when it is turned off. This mod is on my to-do list as I use a GPSDO for an external reference.

Gerry has done a video on the mod - you can check it out here:

Hi

Probably best to add some sort of time delay in with the turn off. When the fan and the supply both go off at once ... temperature climbs. It doesn't kill the supply fast, but there is a noticeable impact if you look at a couple hundred counters over a decade or so.

Bob

[Robaroni]

It seems to me that the oven options might need the fan on continuously as the oven does draw anywhere up to 200 or 300ma but the simple crystal shouldn't draw more than a few ma. I don't have a schematic so I don't know if the crystal circuit is even powered in the standby position. It might be as the ovens must be power on continuously and it's probably much of the same hardware

My 53132A sits right against the wall with the rear bumpers hitting it, in fact I use a right angle power cord as my bench depth is shallow. What I decided to do is measure the temperature right at the fan with the counter powered on doing measurements and off with just the fan on so I taped a temp prob sitting on the fan output.
I'll do the test for a day and compare the temp to ambient. I'll report back.
Has anyone felt around the power supply or checked its temp in standby? I did a prelim test taking readings and the instrument doesn't seem to get much above ambient at all. I'm wondering if HP just cut a corner to save a couple of bucks leaving it on with the crystal. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Rob

[bitseeker]

Probably best to add some sort of time delay in with the turn off. When the fan and the supply both go off at once ... temperature climbs. It doesn't kill the supply fast, but there is a noticeable impact if you look at a couple hundred counters over a decade or so.

Ah, good to know. Thanks, Bob.

[TheSteve]

I currently use a power bar to turn the power on/off to all of my equipment that keeps an OSC warm. I've noticed very little heat from my 53132A with a properly running fan that is clean. I'm not too worried about turning the power off to it where the fans stops right away.

[uncle_bob]

I currently use a power bar to turn the power on/off to all of my equipment that keeps an OSC warm. I've noticed very little heat from my 53132A with a properly running fan that is clean. I'm not too worried about turning the power off to it where the fans stops right away.

Hi

We didn't worry much about it either. Then we started loosing about 4 or 5 supplies a year ....

Bob

[Robaroni]

There has to be a reason. When I pull mine apart to change the display board I'll check the temps on the SMPS. If the fan is indeed cooling off the supply I should  be able to see it.
Could it be that your supplies are going for another reason, are you sure it is the fan being off? I've been monitoring the fan all night with the instrument on and then off. I'm just not seeing any great variation in the temp, maybe a degree or two but several variables could be causing it.

I think Gerry's been running for awhile with his mod.

Rob