Used Equipment 101: Taking the Gamble on fleaBay

[Specmaster]

mnem
Murphy's a bitch, and she has puppies.

Really, I've seen Murphy come in but not any puppies

[bd139]

Tantalum capacitors in tek equipment are murphy’s puppies.

[Specmaster]

Yeh, that figures 

[Specmaster]

Yep, if all else fails, it's good for lots of parts. It's even got feet!

Damn, you're right... what if it's even got the tilt bail on it? Then I'd be obligated to try and resurrect it, no matter WHAT'S WRONG with it... 

mnem
Murphy's a bitch, and she has puppies.

Well if it comes to it....my 3478A has neither feet or tilting bail, looking for a donor..... Its the only bench meter I use that is missing those items 

[med6753]

Tantalum capacitors in tek equipment are murphy’s puppies.

Truth. 

[mnementh]

Whenever you guys say "Tants!!!" in thread that way... with loathing visibly dripping from every keystroke... I imagine gear infested with Domo-Kun. It makes me smile. 

mnem
 

[GreyWoolfe]

Well if it comes to it....my 3478A has neither feet or tilting bail, looking for a donor..... Its the only bench meter I use that is missing those items 

Mine had neither also.  Luckily, I have a bunch of feet that I took off of some decommissioned company equipment before it went to be scrapped.  Not as sexy as the original feet but functional.  I used the existing holes and they fall in place to fit properly on the bench shelves.  No tilting bail necessary.  The shelf it will go on will put it at eye height.

[Specmaster]

Well if it comes to it....my 3478A has neither feet or tilting bail, looking for a donor..... Its the only bench meter I use that is missing those items 

Yeah, mine is on a shelf but just below eyeline so if it remains there, will not used either, but its always nice to have all the fittings so that I have the option if I need to change things around in the future.

Mine had neither also.  Luckily, I have a bunch of feet that I took off of some decommissioned company equipment before it went to be scrapped.  Not as sexy as the original feet but functional.  I used the existing holes and they fall in place to fit properly on the bench shelves.  No tilting bail necessary.  The shelf it will go on will put it at eye height.

[med6753]

Whenever you guys say "Tants!!!" in thread that way... with loathing visibly dripping from every keystroke... I imagine gear infested with Domo-Kun. It makes me smile. 

mnem
 

Those things and tants deserve this fate..

[bitseeker]

Regarding feet for the 3478A, there is a more readily available alternative solution, if you have the same revision as mnementh.

Specifically, on the front panel, the bezel is plastic and has four cleats(?) that hold the front panel in (e.g., one is between the up and down arrow buttons and another below the calibration switch):



On the rear panel, a plastic bezel covers the rear edge of the slide-on lid:



Both of these bezels are predecessors to the ones used on the 34401A and, hence, you can fit the front and rear bumpers from the 34401A, 34410A, 34411A, 33120A, 34461A, 53131A, etc. on the 3478A. Doing so eliminates the need for the original plastic feet as the bumpers have integrated feet. Of course, without the ability to mount the corresponding handle, there's no provision for a tilting bail.



Although the front alumin(i)um bezel of the older version of 3478A is similar, and could use the front rubber bumper, it doesn't have a rear bezel to grip the rear bumper. But that shouldn't be a big problem unless you move the meter often.

[Specmaster]

Thanks, thats a thought except that mine must be older then because mine as the aluminum bezel, strange that because I always thought it was the plastic one that was the early meter.

speaking of 3478A, have you had the courage yet to rob a fuse from something else and power it up on a variac seeing as it has a linear supply? 

[bitseeker]

Thanks, thats a thought except that mine must be older then because mine as the aluminum bezel, strange that because I always thought it was the plastic one that was the early meter.

Yeah, the plastic one is cost-reduced with the plastic bezels, the one-piece slide-on cover, and opto-couplers on the motherboard. The aluminum version has multiple metal panels, heavy metal frame, and toroidal transformers instead of opto-couplers on the motherboard.

speaking of 3478A, have you had the courage yet to rob a fuse from something else and power it up on a variac seeing as it has a linear supply?

I ordered a batch of fuses. I don't have any of the right rating. Good idea with the variac. Ease those RIFAs back to service — just temporarily, of course.

Oops, I guess this discussion is veering too far into repair talk. Back to fleaBay strategies!

[bd139]

I'd rather remove the RIFAs than risk having to smell that again.

Keeping it gambling - always price RIFAs into your repair budget!

[Chris56000]

Hi!

I put up a Keysight 2100 (the re–badged Array M3500 one) which I'd been disappointed with because the handle and rear bumper was missing (it had been used in one of those stupid lab racks where they remove the handles, etc), so as I needed one I could carry I put it up for sale.

Posting it with a verbal description on its own produced no interest for three days, but as soon as I revised the listing with pictures of it switched on, front and back pictures showing what was missing, and also the serial number I got plenty of interest afterwards, with bids ending at £200 when the auction closed, which I was quite happy with!

Chris Williams

[GregDunn]

As a buyer, I really appreciate photos of the unit switched on as well as accurate descriptions.  However, I dodged a bullet recently when buying a Fluke 8800A; the photos were accurate and the unit indeed powered on - however, the PSU had several bad caps and the ohms board a couple of very poor solder joints (obviously a failed repair attempt).   The result was a meter which was badly out of spec on DCV and Ω until I fixed it. 

I don't really blame the seller for not realizing the unit didn't work properly because it was an estate sale through an antiques dealer who listed it in good faith.  Yes, they should have contacted a tech to look it over before selling it as "working", but since the fix was very cheap and easy I decided not to press the issue.  Also, it was a late model with the updated ohms board which doesn't require batteries, and those aren't common.  I probably would have bought it even knowing the exact symptoms, but it would have been good to know beforehand.

[bitseeker]

Yeah, hence the importance of looking at other things the eBayer sells to gauge the potential oversights, innocent or otherwise, in the listing details. Buying from ignorant sellers can be advantageous, but it does introduce more risk and potential surprises.

[bd139]

Reading the manual and looking at the front panel tend to help. As I've mentioned elsewhere a broken scope isn't necessarily a broken scope if it the seller has got it stuck in X-Y mode and there's a dot on the screen.

[Specmaster]

Reading the manual and looking at the front panel tend to help. As I've mentioned elsewhere a broken scope isn't necessarily a broken scope if it the seller has got it stuck in X-Y mode and there's a dot on the screen.

That happens a lot as well.