Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Mr. Scram]

I kinda figured that. A quick thought would be spray paint which would be easy to do for the case but the front panel would require removal and masking. But chances are it would get nicked and scratched and look like hell after a while.

I've rarely seen a successful paint job if ever, so I think you're on the money there.

[mnementh]

The trick for paint jobs that don't look like crap is to pay the money for the decent rattle-cans; not the 99c enamel from Wally World.

Depending on application, I use either Martin-Senour epoxy paint or Krylon urethane in semi-gloss finish. And at least 2, preferably 3 or 4 "mist coats" allowed to dry hard before the final coat. I've made more than a few custom panels out of 0.30-0.60 aluminum. Then a final coat in clear semi-gloss or my favorite, semi-matte finish.

The problem is trying to match factory paint; equipment like ours comes in custom colors, and unless you want to go to a paint store with a paint chip or can find the legacy Pantone number for your gear, you're not going to get the right color; not even close. It's infuriating, actually.

You CAN get a decent finish using these paints; but you have to be willing to accept that you aren't going to get the right color.

mnem
*Spray paint-ily*

[Mr. Scram]

The trick for paint jobs that don't look like crap is to pay the money for the decent rattle-cans; not the 99c enamel from Wally World.

Depending on application, I use either Martin-Senour epoxy paint or Krylon urethane in semi-gloss finish. And at least 2, preferably 3 or 4 "mist coats" allowed to dry hard before the final coat. I've made more than a few custom panels out of 0.30-0.60 aluminum. Then a final coat in clear semi-gloss or my favorite, semi-matte finish.

The problem is trying to match factory paint; equipment like ours comes in custom colors, and unless you want to go to a paint store with a paint chip or can find the legacy Pantone number for your gear, you're not going to get the right color; not even close. It's infuriating, actually.

You CAN get a decent finish using these paints; but you have to be willing to accept that you aren't going to get the right color.

mnem
*Spray paint-ily*

You can get a decent paint job on metals and other surfaces which tend to be painted, but equipment plastics tend to end up looking rather terrible. Of course, as you're hinting most people tend to be terrible painters regardless of the base material.

[bd139]

I’ve come up with a solution. If you put another fluke to the left, the right, the top and the bottom of the one you’ve and obviously two to support the left and right ones then the yellowed body plastic is not visible thus solving the problem 

[bitseeker]

Yep, or just remove the body. It's the innards that count, anyway.

[0culus]

So I have been keeping a detailed spreadsheet with all the test equipment I've bought lately for my personal lab. I figured it might make me stop spending money if I totaled it all up, but it merely showed me what equipment I still need to buy! 

[xrunner]

So I have been keeping a detailed spreadsheet with all the test equipment I've bought lately for my personal lab. I figured it might make me stop spending money if I totaled it all up, but it merely showed me what equipment I still need to buy! 

Like life forms reproducing - TEA always finds a way. 

[med6753]

I’ve come up with a solution. If you put another fluke to the left, the right, the top and the bottom of the one you’ve and obviously two to support the left and right ones then the yellowed body plastic is not visible thus solving the problem 

Like this? 

[0culus]

So I have been keeping a detailed spreadsheet with all the test equipment I've bought lately for my personal lab. I figured it might make me stop spending money if I totaled it all up, but it merely showed me what equipment I still need to buy! 

Like life forms reproducing - TEA always finds a way. 

Hahahaha! My next purchase is a Tek 1101 accessory power supply so I can power my 6201 FET probes...I'm looking at a couple of them on fleabay right now. Unfortunately the 2400 series scopes don't have a power jack for the active probes like the 400 series do.

[med6753]

The trick for paint jobs that don't look like crap is to pay the money for the decent rattle-cans; not the 99c enamel from Wally World.

Depending on application, I use either Martin-Senour epoxy paint or Krylon urethane in semi-gloss finish. And at least 2, preferably 3 or 4 "mist coats" allowed to dry hard before the final coat. I've made more than a few custom panels out of 0.30-0.60 aluminum. Then a final coat in clear semi-gloss or my favorite, semi-matte finish.

The problem is trying to match factory paint; equipment like ours comes in custom colors, and unless you want to go to a paint store with a paint chip or can find the legacy Pantone number for your gear, you're not going to get the right color; not even close. It's infuriating, actually.

You CAN get a decent finish using these paints; but you have to be willing to accept that you aren't going to get the right color.

mnem
*Spray paint-ily*

Agree 100%. Good quality spray paint and multiple light coats.

Here's the 465B with the cabinet and DM44 housing spray painted. It's not a 100% match to Tek blue but real close. And the finish is excellent you can't tell it's rattle can.


Did the same to this military 7603.

[bitseeker]

That's pretty close, med. Looks great.

[med6753]

So I have been keeping a detailed spreadsheet with all the test equipment I've bought lately for my personal lab. I figured it might make me stop spending money if I totaled it all up, but it merely showed me what equipment I still need to buy! 

Like life forms reproducing - TEA always finds a way. 

Hahahaha! My next purchase is a Tek 1101 accessory power supply so I can power my 6201 FET probes...I'm looking at a couple of them on fleabay right now. Unfortunately the 2400 series scopes don't have a power jack for the active probes like the 400 series do.

Yes they do. It's an option. My 2465 DMS has them. My vanilla 2465 does not.

[0culus]

*snip*
Yes they do. It's an option. My 2465 DMS has them. My vanilla 2465 does not.

So it is! Edit: option 11

[Neomys Sapiens]

Does anyone know if this option can be refut?
While I have a service manual for the 2430 that I own, I only find the description of the option in section 7, but not the wiring or the parts for it.

[mnementh]

The trick for paint jobs that don't look like crap is to pay the money for the decent rattle-cans; not the 99c enamel from Wally World.
(SNIP)
You CAN get a decent finish using these paints; but you have to be willing to accept that you aren't going to get the right color.

mnem
*Spray paint-ily*

Agree 100%. Good quality spray paint and multiple light coats. Here's the 465B with the cabinet and DM44 housing spray painted. It's not a 100% match to Tek blue but real close. And the finish is excellent you can't tell it's rattle can.
   Did the same to this military 7603.   

Yup... and if you took the bail apart and sprayed the plastic pivots, you wouldn't be able to tell it was wrong unless you had it right next to one the right color. 

mnem
*Drawn away by the siren song of warm bed and warmer wife*

[0culus]

Well, it appears that one of my Tek P6137 probes bit the dust. I noted this evening that it was reading rather high on P-P voltage and I checked the calibration signal and sure 'nuff the LF compensator is broken with no obvious cause. I had adjusted the compensation a couple weeks ago with no issue. Opened it up and found tiny metal shards around it, and it makes a grinding noise when you turn it (and nothing changes on the compensation). Good probe is in channel 1 and the bad one in channel 2.

[med6753]

*snip*
Yes they do. It's an option. My 2465 DMS has them. My vanilla 2465 does not.

So it is! Edit: option 11

I did some additional checking and true to form when it comes to Tektronix things can get very confusing. According to TekWiki Option 11 was not available until the 2465A. That's not true and here's the proof. This is the option page right out of the 2465 Operator's Manual:


However, if you have a 2465 with Option 09  (Word Recognizer) you cannot have probe power. This is according to the Tek 2465 Options Service Manual....see towards the bottom of the left column.


So, what do I have on the 2465 DMS? Never really paid much attention because I don't have any active probes. Turns out I wouldn't be able to use them unless I got the external supply. That Lemo connector on the back is the P6407 Word Recognizer which I have never used and I doubt I ever will.
 

[med6753]

The trick for paint jobs that don't look like crap is to pay the money for the decent rattle-cans; not the 99c enamel from Wally World.
(SNIP)
You CAN get a decent finish using these paints; but you have to be willing to accept that you aren't going to get the right color.

mnem
*Spray paint-ily*

Agree 100%. Good quality spray paint and multiple light coats. Here's the 465B with the cabinet and DM44 housing spray painted. It's not a 100% match to Tek blue but real close. And the finish is excellent you can't tell it's rattle can.
   Did the same to this military 7603.   

Yup... and if you took the bail apart and sprayed the plastic pivots, you wouldn't be able to tell it was wrong unless you had it right next to one the right color. 

mnem
*Drawn away by the siren song of warm bed and warmer wife*

I did remove the bail when I painted the cabinet but decided against spraying the plastic pivots. In retrospect I probably should have. And here's the contrast. Genuine Tek lower, imitation upper. If you didn't have them side by side you probably wouldn't know.

[med6753]

Does anyone know if this option can be refut?
While I have a service manual for the 2430 that I own, I only find the description of the option in section 7, but not the wiring or the parts for it.

You probably can retrofit fairly easily. I'll bet the power supply already has the "hooks" in it to wire it up. The problem is finding the parts. And if you were to go buy those Lemo connectors new be prepared to take out a mortgage.

[Housedad]

Bring the color back to those yellowed and browned knobs and faceplates.  Mix up some Retrobright.  No, this is not a joke or a sales pitch.  The formulae is free.

http://www.retr0bright.com/index.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20121031124321/http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/home

[med6753]

Bring the color back to those yellowed and browned knobs and faceplates.  Mix up some Retrobright.  No, this is not a joke or a sales pitch.  The formulae is free.

http://www.retr0bright.com/index.html

Yup, that's the process I had heard about.

[bd139]

The issue with retrobright is that it seems to return to the same colour again rapidly.

I draw an analogy here. There was a comic called “Johnny the homicidal maniac” a number of years ago. The protagonist  wanted his wall red but the blood kept drying so he had to keep killing people. Interestingly there was a comic written by the protagonist in the comic called “happy noodle boy” who is basically me for the first hour after waking up.  https://funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/940183/Happy/

[med6753]

Gee, and I thought I was grouchy. 

[Housedad]

I know this will sound crazy, but I've had good luck with getting most of the yellowing out on the plastic parts of my travel trailer by spraying it with Awesome cleaner available at the dollar store.  No water, start with the surface dry, then  just spray and scrub, then rinse.  Followed by a wipe with a  bleach soaked rag and rinse.  The yellow just runs off when sprayed with awesome.  If you've never used Awesome for this, it is rather famous in the RV world.

Maybe it would work for the plastic equipment too. 

Awesome is also the only thing I have ever found that will remove the black streak stuff off of gutters on your house.  The secret is to start with a dry surface on a warm day.

[bd139]

Dammit I need 6.5 digits now.

I built a zener reference from scratch. It sits bang on 6.3305 volts across a supply range of 22-35 volts. But what about the digits I can't see!