HP Power Supplies - 6002 vs 6024 vs 6038

[davefr]

Hi,
I'm looking for a linear DC power supply that can provide voltages up to around 50 VDC.  It seems like HP/Agilent has three older models that are affordable on Ebay.  (6002A, 6024A and 6038A).

I don't need GPIB or any fancy features and prefer a reliable model given that these things are pretty old. (don't need digital readouts unless the 6038A is a significantly better model)

Out of these three, is there a "sweet spot"?

TIA

[wn1fju]

You did not say what kind of current you need.  Or whether you want single or dual output.  With all the "older" models, you have to be
prepared to do your own maintenance (i.e., fix it).  Not sure why you are restricting yourself to HP models.  Check out some of the other
offerings, for instance, Power Designs models.

[Stray Electron]

  The old HP and Harrison power supplies are built like a tank and are almost as heavy.  Shipping could easily cost more than the PS so I look for ones for sale locally (yes, on E-bay)  and that I can pick up in person and save on the shipping. But you need to contact the seller first and see if they allow local pickup or if they charge a fee.
 
    As far as which PS is "best" it just depends on your needs as far as voltage and current range, features, % of regulation, allowable ripple, weight and size, etc etc.  But the thing that I do like about the older HP PSs is that they're designed and built to last forever and there are service manuals available and most of older ones uses standard, readily available, discrete parts.

   I have a closet half full of HP power supplies. My newest one is a 20 year old HP 66312A that I just picked up and I know that several of the others date back the early 1960s.  I would say that at LEAST 80% of the HP supplies that I have were working fine when I got them and probably half of them literally came out of someone's scrap pile. 

   PS on most of the old HP PSs, the analog meters are dammed accurate!  I can state for a fact that they're more accurate than the digital displays on the newish Chinese PSs that I've tested.

[edpalmer42]

I have a 6002A supply that I picked up recently.  It was dead so I got it cheap.  When I pulled the bottom off it, I wondered "Should this cable be hanging like that or should it be plugged into the matching connector that's right there?".   

One thing I've found is that the fan is LOUD.  It doesn't seem to be bearings, it just moves a lot of air.  It's also not so easy to quiet it down because it's powered by 110AC.  There's no convenient place to pick off 12V to power a newer fan.  I think I'm going to use a capacitor to drop the voltage without dissipating power like a resistor.  Looks like something in the 2 or 3 uf range should be about right.

Ed