Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tautech]

This is what I mean about the batteries. The moment you have to start hacking batteries then it's a PITA.

CPC apparently sell something suitable: http://cpc.farnell.com/varta/px74-10lr54/battery-alkaline-mn154-v74px-15v/dp/BT05725

BS.
A stack of LR44's has greater capacity so it's worth doing.

[bd139]

I have spent years of my life replacing LR44's in kids toys with the little bastards flying out all over the place while you're trying to stack them. I'll pass

[Specmaster]

This is what I mean about the batteries. The moment you have to start hacking batteries then it's a PITA.

CPC apparently sell something suitable: http://cpc.farnell.com/varta/px74-10lr54/battery-alkaline-mn154-v74px-15v/dp/BT05725

You can still get the equivalent to the original square job from Maplin, Amazon, Rapid and many ebay sellers as well so its not really a PITA just yet 

[bd139]

Interesting!

[Cerebus]

Says 25 available on eBay app on iOS.

One less now.  They accepted an offer of £35.

[bd139]

More damnation

Very good bit of kit for the money!

Edit: I should get commission

[Specmaster]

I have spent years of my life replacing LR44's in kids toys with the little bastards flying out all over the place while you're trying to stack them. I'll pass

Kids or Batteries flying out? 

[Specmaster]

More damnation

Very good bit of kit for the money!

Edit: I should get commission

Yes they are especially when you consider RS are selling them at £277 + vat, I still can't believe you didn't take the offer route, I know you defence guys are awash with dosh but thats no defence 

[Specmaster]

No, that handle is not for the OLED T12 controller, it is wired with an 8-pin DIN for the actual Hakko FX-951 soldering station, or more likely, as a replacement for the Singapore-made clone sold on Banggood and sometimes on AliEx. It will not have the motion sensor ball/mercury switch needed for the sleep function.

You need to specifically search for "OLED T12 Soldering" to get components for that system.

mnem
 

I did that when I ordered the "AIYIMA Modified FX-9501 Handle For T12 Oled Digital Display Soldering Station Silicone Line Handle DIY" from Aliex at the same time as ordering the complete unit but it will be arriving with a 5 pin plug and 5 core lead fitted so it will interesting to see how the Quicko is wired t in order the full feature set that is claimed. What ever it still promises to a big leap up in performance over the 936 clone I currently have.

[bd139]

I have spent years of my life replacing LR44's in kids toys with the little bastards flying out all over the place while you're trying to stack them. I'll pass

Kids or Batteries flying out? 

Hahaha one followed by the other

More damnation

Very good bit of kit for the money!

Edit: I should get commission

Yes they are especially when you consider RS are selling them at £277 + vat, I still can't believe you didn't take the offer route, I know you defence guys are awash with dosh but thats no defence 

I might get the wife to buy another one and return this one 

(only joking - I paid for it and it is worth the cash so I'll eat this one)

More TEA refurb fun.  Doing the rest of the refurb on my Tek 2225. Found a duff capacitor lurking under the vertical amp board which is causing trigger jitter by the looks. Ordered a new one from CPC and look what turned up. This is not a 100uF 25v axial Vishay capacitor ...



Edit: resize crazy large image.

[Specmaster]

I have spent years of my life replacing LR44's in kids toys with the little bastards flying out all over the place while you're trying to stack them. I'll pass

Kids or Batteries flying out? 

Hahaha one followed by the other

More damnation

Very good bit of kit for the money!

Edit: I should get commission

Yes they are especially when you consider RS are selling them at £277 + vat, I still can't believe you didn't take the offer route, I know you defence guys are awash with dosh but thats no defence 

I might get the wife to buy another one and return this one 

(only joking - I paid for it and it is worth the cash so I'll eat this one)

More TEA refurb fun.  Doing the rest of the refurb on my Tek 2225. Found a duff capacitor lurking under the vertical amp board which is causing trigger jitter by the looks. Ordered a new one from CPC and look what turned up. This is not a 100uF 25v axial Vishay capacitor ...

Haha, I ordered some decent 4mm banana plugs and they arrived less the terminal screws, they arranged to send out another batch and I'm still waiting. Sent them another order last night and reminded them about the replacement plugs, still haven't heard anything from them yet.

[Mr. Scram]

I've finally managed to get my hands on that elusive package. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it, as both items in the package have issues. One might be intentional misrepresentation. I'm not a happy camper right now.

[bd139]

Congratulations and commiserations at the same time

Just replaced another pile of capacitors in my 2225 over lunch time

Turns out old Philips 030's are nearly entirely responsible for all the problems in this 2225.



Since I did these ones, all the power supply noise on the traces is gone! 

So that's about 17 quid of capacitors to get to the bottom on that. Add 29 of scope and that's 46 quid for a 2225 (plus some epoxy)

TEA has cost me a lot of money in capacitors. Vishay, Panasonic, EPCOS and Rubycon are doing well out of this thread

[Specmaster]

Congratulations and commiserations at the same time

Just replaced another pile of capacitors in my 2225 over lunch time

Turns out old Philips 030's are nearly entirely responsible for all the problems in this 2225.



Since I did these ones, all the power supply noise on the traces is gone! 

So that's about 17 quid of capacitors to get to the bottom on that. Add 29 of scope and that's 46 quid for a 2225 (plus some epoxy)

TEA has cost me a lot of money in capacitors. Vishay, Panasonic, EPCOS and Rubycon are doing well out of this thread

Those phillips ones are renowned for their failures, have to admit it though, they look good on a board. On the cost side, your still on the right side of the original cost aren't you?

[bd139]

Yep £3 up. Was £49, got a £20 refund because it was knackered, spent £17 on capacitors 

I'm way down on my hourly rate though but hey it was fun

[Specmaster]

Yep £3 up. Was £49, got a £20 refund because it was knackered, spent £17 on capacitors 

I'm way down on my hourly rate though but hey it was fun

And now it's worth a lot more since you sorted it out.

[Mr. Scram]

I may have to give up on today, before anyone gets killed. The 87V is knackered too. No sensible readings on the amp and milliamp ranges. I replaced the fuses and the battery just to be sure, but no dice. I hook it up to a power supply and another meter and both the supply and the other meter make sense, and the 87V is out to lunch.

At least it's the multimeter with an actual warranty.

[bd139]

That sucks. We all have days like that. This is actually what caused me to sell everything I had back in about 2003. I took a break for 7 years in the end!

[Mr. Scram]

At least I got to experience the joys of replacing the fuses in the 87V. They didn't exactly bother to make it convenient, did they? First you have to pop both halves apart with a sickening snap, then you have to disassemble most of the meter, then you have to figure out what fuse goes where in lieu of any markings and finally you have to ease the self tappers back in without shredding your very expensive plastics to bits.

I have to say I've found a new appreciation for the way the U1272A does it. Those fuses are stuck in there tight and proper, but that's a small price to pay.

[Mr. Scram]

Says 25 available on eBay app on iOS.

I'm trying to make an offer on one of those, or just buy it, but eBay is telling me it's not allowed again. I've messaged the seller and they are fine with it. I hope this gets sorted out before they run out.

[bd139]

At least I got to experience the joys of replacing the fuses in the 87V. They didn't exactly bother to make it convenient, did they? First you have to pop both halves apart with a sickening snap, then you have to disassemble most of the meter, then you have to figure out what fuse goes where in lieu of any markings and finally you have to ease the self tappers back in without shredding your very expensive plastics to bits.

I have to say I've found a new appreciation for the way the U1272A does it. Those fuses are stuck in there tight and proper, but that's a small price to pay.

Indeed. This is one of the numerous reasons I'm not a big fan of the Flukes. Keysight FTW. My U1241C, you undo two (machine) screws on the back, pull the flap off, remove the baffle/seal plate and then you get the following lined up for you:



Fluke is mostly marketing. I like the old ones because they are fun to play with but that's about it. I wouldn't buy an 87V.

Says 25 available on eBay app on iOS.

I'm trying to make an offer on one of those, or just buy it, but eBay is telling me it's not allowed again. I've messaged the seller and they are fine with it. I hope this gets sorted out before they run out.

It doesn't look like they're selling particularly fast. I think bar one sale, it's only people on here so far

[Mr. Scram]

To be fair, meters like the Fluke 287 and 289 do it a little better and have accessible fuses and a reasonable battery compartment. Those have other issues though, but we shouldn't pretend the Agilents haven't had serious issues either.

And yeah, I got the 87V because it's that one thing everyone has or wants. It's fun seeing what all the fuss is about and rather than justifying ever more expensive meters, I thought I'd just get it over with. That was strangely liberating. I actually like it in day to day use, even if it doesn't have a million features. As long as you don't have to maintain it with fuses or a battery, it seems to do well.

[Specmaster]

I think my Avo 8 is OK, although that said I have not yet tested the current ranges but the others certainly agree near enough with my DMM's, perhaps I'll test that tomorrow while I'm awaiting parts being delivered.

Well Avo checked out just fine and as far as the eye can tell on an analogue device is bang on the money as my TMK 700 which I also against the same known values so I'm a really happy bunny to now that my meters all agree and my digital meters are also within 3 significant digits of each other.

[Specmaster]

Where has everyone gone? I was so surprised to find that the TEA thread was lulling about at slot 18 in the rankings this evening??? Has everyone gone to the moon 

[HalFET]

Has everyone gone to the moon 

Do they have nice pieces of kit over there?