High voltage oscilloscope probes, make or buy?

[HighVoltage]

Yes, a vacuum filling would be perfect, but most people do not have access to a vacuum chamber.

These static mixers on the 1:1 mixing material will work great and usually bubble free.
Just discard the first part of material, that come out of the mixing tube.
I did fill my P6015 without vacuum under atmospheric pressure.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Yes, a vacuum filling would be perfect, but most people do not have access to a vacuum chamber.

These static mixers on the 1:1 mixing material will work great and usually bubble free.
Just discard the first part of material, that come out of the mixing tube.
I did fill my P6015 without vacuum under atmospheric pressure.

?

[Mark]

OK, the Tektronix P6015 probe has arrived!  The fluorocarbon bottle was empty, no surprise there.  There is a very small amount of liquid in the probe, but I don't need it anyway as it can handle 13kV without it. 
I also purchased a Testec TT-HVP 15HF as I will need to connect to a couple of places to compare timings. 

To check compensation I used a siglent SDG1020 in pulse mode at 20Vpp, 100Hz. 
The yellow trace is the Testec TT-HVP 15HF and the blue trace is the Tek P6015.  Timebase is 50us.  I haven't touched the P6015 but did twiddle the Testec.  Do these waveforms look ok? 

[HighVoltage]

You can probably optimize the P6015 compensation a little more to make get rid of the little dip at the beginning of the high side.
But in general it looks really good already.

[Mark]

Thanks HV, not bad for £50?  (70€, $75)

[HighVoltage]

Thanks HV, not bad for £50?  (70€, $75)

£50 is a really good price for this probe and you can get many good years of usage out of it.
One suggestion, you can change the cable to a more modern and flexible cable.
Also, for a quick test of peak to peak voltage, compare your readings with the two probes on the 230V mains outlet.

[Rupunzell]

Do not remove the residual freon as that is enough to effectively allow the P6015 to work up to 40KV. It is the freon vapor that increases the dielectric strength, probe does not need to be completely filled with freon.

That bump at the pulse edge is likely due to grounding. Before trying to adjust the P6015, remove the probe body from the housing by un-screwing the probe handle, disconnect the BNC connector & cable, then slide out the probe body. Once this done connect the generator ground as close to the probe tip as possible with a 50 ohm termination to the probe tip.

Think 100+ Mhz required system response or 3.5nS.

The edge and top of the step response should improve, then adjust the P6015 termination box carefully trying one adjustment at a time to note it's effect. If the dip goes away with the improved grounding and generator termination, leave the adjustments alone. The pulse edge and top response of the P6015 should be almost aberration free at the edge with an absolutely flat top at the step.

If a probe had that amount of pulse response aberration (both probes as displayed), I would consider it totally un-acceptable, the try to figure out why and what is happening.


Bernice

OK, the Tektronix P6015 probe has arrived!  The fluorocarbon bottle was empty, no surprise there.  There is a very small amount of liquid in the probe, but I don't need it anyway as it can handle 13kV without it. 
I also purchased a Testec TT-HVP 15HF as I will need to connect to a couple of places to compare timings. 

To check compensation I used a siglent SDG1020 in pulse mode at 20Vpp, 100Hz. 
The yellow trace is the Testec TT-HVP 15HF and the blue trace is the Tek P6015.  Timebase is 50us.  I haven't touched the P6015 but did twiddle the Testec.  Do these waveforms look ok?

[tautech]

Thanks HV, not bad for £50?  (70€, $75)

Hell yeah. 
Had ideas of getting one of these years ago, but could never find one at "my" price. 

Follow Bernice's recommendations. 
You should be able to find a SM for it that describes adjustment procedure.

[Rupunzell]

Tektronix P6015 Pulse response using Tek 7104, 7A26. 7B10, EH Research 139B Pulse Generator.

Tek P6015 removed from it's housing, BNC connector direct to the probe tip, On inch wide Copper tape & rubber band from BNC shell to P6015 Case (GND) with a hp inline 50 termination direct at the EH 139B pulse generator output set at 10Vp-p (gen max) ending up with 10mVp-p at the scope input.

Test set up:


P6015 @ 20mS / Div


P6015 @ 2mS / div


P6015 @ 200uS / Div


P6015 @ 20uS / Div


P6015 @ 2 uS / Div


P6015 @ 200nS / Div



P6015 @ 50nS / Div



P6015 @ 5nS / Div



Images updated.

Bernice

[HighVoltage]

I have an original handbook of the P6015 and the P6015P
It contains detailed instructions and schematic with real values.
I also have several parts of the probe and compensation box and could take some detailed pictures.

If anyone is interested, let me know and I will scan and post it here.

Also, I just noticed that I still have a fully functioning P6015, still some liquid dielectric inside and still working.
But no original compensation box available.

 

[HighVoltage]

Here are some pictures of the original P6015 and its disassembled compensation box.
I bought this one "as is" and someone tried to modify it with a BNC connector at the box
and had removed the cable.

The high voltage dielectric fluid container is new, unused and still full of Fluorocarbon 114

The probe still contains the liquid as well and you can see the level at the bottom.
You only fill as much in to the probe as needed to get the red ring to float.

[HighVoltage]

I just scanned the original P6015 Instruction Manual
See attachment

[Rupunzell]

Thanks for posting all that, could be useful as a reference for those seeking this specific information.


Bernice

I just scanned the original P6015 Instruction Manual
See attachment

[MarkL]

Since we're talking about the P6015(A), a question for those who've used this probe:

Which way do people insert the ground spring?  It can go either way with the leaf spring towards the tip, or the other way towards the handle.

The documentation seems to indicate towards the handle, but then the edge of the leaf can get snagged on the probe body when sliding it in the outer body, and you have to hold the spring in the right orientation and make sure it's in the inside lengthwise slot to slide in the probe body.

If inserted towards the tip, the leaf is in the direction of the motion when sliding in the inner probe body, and the whole operation is smoother.

The only difference I see is that in the latter there's some sharp corners on the leaf spring now closer to the high voltage, but it's already under the outer plastic, and it's also not protruding any further from where the aluminum ground start anyway.

[HighVoltage]

It works both ways and really does not make a difference in direction.
Since the leave spring is not getting closer to the tip than the aluminum housing, it will not shorten the high voltage path.

One thing that is important with the P6015A, the the black rubber ring at the front.
Make sure it stays elastic and soft and grease it from time to time with a little high voltage grease for better insulation.

[artur_j]

The thread is fairly old, but in case someone would seek the more detailed information regarding re-filling original Tektronix P6015 probe with silicone oil, please have a look at AN-108 application note, which can be found  here - www.reb3.com/pdf/AN108.pdf
The document includes also some remarks about modification of the compensation box and tuning of the modified probe.

In case the link would be deactivated, see also the original file as an attachment.

[kbrill]

Caution must be observed when purchasing R114a particularly in smaller quantities as it is likely to be reclaimed .
Virgin refrigerant is required for safe operation as purity of recycled refrigerant may not be sufficient for HV usage .

Ken 

[HighVoltage]

The thread is fairly old, but in case someone would seek the more detailed information regarding re-filling original Tektronix P6015 probe with silicone oil, please have a look at AN-108 application note, which can be found  here - www.reb3.com/pdf/AN108.pdf
The document includes also some remarks about modification of the compensation box and tuning of the modified probe.

In case the link would be deactivated, see also the original file as an attachment.

That AN108 application note is a good find.

Indeed, I had filled one of the older P6015 with a transformer oil but I did get better results with high quality silicone gel, filled under vacuum.

[Xandinator]

Mine came oriented towards the handle. Since I'm having a hard time assembling it the other way I never actually thought about that, also that's the only way the instructions in the manual make sense? Apart from ease of assembly I doubt it's going to have a significant influence on the creepage.

[MarkL]

I asked Tektronix technical support about the orientation of the ground leaf spring a few years back (Apr 2015).  The answer:

Hello Mark,

The ground leaf spring should be oriented towards the handle. I attached the user manual which provides image on page 2-14.

Best Regards

The diagram referred to is below.

I've used it in both orientations also, but the official orientation makes more sense since the ground wire is not being launched immediately towards the HV tip.