Tek P6139A probes

[james_s]

I bought a couple of used P6139A probes which I later noticed were coming from China. They arrived today and I was surprised to find two different style probes, both considerably dirtier and more beat up than the pictures in the listing. What did I actually get here? Both plug assemblies say P6139A on them but the probes are both different than the known legit P6139A probes I already had (top). I'm particularly concerned about the bottom one as it is a completely different style that does not even have the removable sleeve.

The other picture is from the ebay listing which shows a nice clean, complete probe which is what I was expecting to receive a pair of. I'm tempted to just submit an item not as described claim and get a refund.

[TheSteve]

I've never seen a P6139A look like that - I wonder if someone is mixing and matching parts.
Have you measured the 3dB point, and the tip capacitance to see if it matches a proper 6139?

[james_s]

I haven't measured anything yet, I just unpacked them and thought "wtf is this?" and decided I'd post and try to get confirmation here. I do suspect at least that one is a Frankenprobe. It says Tektronix on the probe itself but I'm pretty sure it's some other type. I don't think I have a good way to measure the -3db point but I can check the risetime.

I'm inclined to return them either way because they are not in the condition shown, they look dirty and worn.

[Someone]

Lots of the probe "bargains" on eBay are from low cost manufacturing sites, they'll cobble together working units from whatever is on hand and you end up with mismatched parts (wrong tips, ground clips etc). Going by the failures of the handles:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/tek-p3169a-_probe-rot_-repair/
those you have were probably mated to whatever handle fitted from some other discarded probes.

[james_s]

Well I submitted a return request, I'll see what happens. I have a few other P6139As that I bought from a local seller on ebay a few years ago and they are in great shape and exactly as described. I was not expecting pristine brand new here but I did expect them to be complete as pictured and in good working order.

I did try them out before submitting the return request and neither works properly. The mystery probe has sharp spikes on the leading and trailing edges and the one that looks roughly correct has a worn tip and the plug is loose and extremely flaky. In a nutshell both are junk and I'm not going to spend time trying to refurbish them, I paid for a pair of good working probes, back they go.

[MarkL]

The second probe in your photo is using the grounding sleeve provided in the P6139A accessories pack.  It's supposed to face the other way and have a short grounding tip inserted into it (see attached PDF).

It's still valid to have it facing as shown with a long ground lead inserted into it.  But that combination is used on probes like the P6131+accessories.

But I don't think either of the bottom two are P6139A anyway.  I have a dozen P6139A and none of them have 1) a smooth strain relief, and 2) a gray cable.

No idea what the third probe is.  Certainly not a P6139A.

The cables can be unplugged from the compensation box, so who knows what they cobbled together.

I would return them too.  NAD.

[james_s]

After some back and forth where they kept asking me to provide a photo of the model number (which I did, and which is irrelevant anyway) I got a bit upset and threatened to open a paypal claim and now they want me to send them back to China. There is a US return address in the box so maybe I can send it there instead? I wonder if I'd be better off just filing a claim with paypal.

"hongkongsuperseller sent you a message about your request:
Hi friend, ok,if so we accept return for full refund. We sold hundreds of this without problem,even it was second hand ,but it's 100% original . Please return it with cheapest way ,to this shipping address: Receiver name: Mai Jun Xi Tian bei 2th road, jia duo li garden, jia yi ge 6A. Luo hu, shenzhen city, Guang dong province. China Zip code 518020 mobilephone: +86-13923488897 Regards lynn"

100% original my ass.

[Johnny10]

Don't send it back to China.

Would take weeks and it is easily lost.
I sent items back two different times and each time they were lost in the mail.
One of the items came back to me 8 months later!

Never received refund because they never got item.

Last three purchases from China, on arrival items were different from what I ordered, so refund received without returning.

I Quit buying from China, just not worth the trouble.

[james_s]

That was my concern as well, I didn't notice these were in China when I bought them. I've bought loads of stuff from China without issues but mostly new stuff.

So anyone have experience coming out ahead in these cases? The probes are obviously junk that don't match what is in the pictures, should I just submit a paypal claim for item not as described?

[Neomys Sapiens]

All shown configurations can be produced with a P6139 proper, but not all of the parts were part of the basic kit. The lowermost probe especially is probably the rarest, as I have only one of those precious adaptors which convert a P6139 to a standard 5mm modular probe form factor, thereby making it compatible with countless accessories.
One of the known problems of the P6139 is that the become sort of tacky. This happens with probes whose authenticity is beyond any doubt.

Correction: despite the existence of the adaptor, the lowermost probe looks somehow different.

[james_s]

I'm pretty sure the bottom one is not a P6139A at all, I took it apart and it comes apart in a way unlike any of the other probes I have, also even when I wiggle it so that it sort of works, it still exhibits nasty overshoot which makes me believe that it's some random Frankenprobe assembled with the compensation box from a P6139A.

The top probe I'm quite certain is genuine, that's one of the matching set I have for my TDS784C, those came with the accessories and manual.

[dj831]

My two cents: 100% NOT P6139A probe. Since you surely paid by Paypal, open a dispute for item not as described/counterfeilt. You should get a full refund, with no need to return items. And don't forget to leave a negative feedback