Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[beanflying]

Cor, wish we had psu's at similar prices over this side of the pond, that thing is a steal, snap it up someone 

They ship to the UK. 

(Probably cost more than the supply itself)     Oh yea....and that stupid VAT too! 

$50 Supply, $60 shipping, $11 Tax and of course the little issue with the 110V fixed supply voltage

[mnementh]

Just watch out for the total voltage to ground. Some of the cheap ass inverters will flash over if you're not careful or they are made of poo.

That's why at this point the reference will be powered by batteries and once built mounted in a plastic case. It will be totally isolated from ground.

Sounds like a great application for a 3D printer. 

Relative ground not earth. If you have to stack about 500V, which you will probably do to get the regulation at that voltage, watch your HV wiring doesn't go near the 0V reference.  I had problems with flashover with cheap Chinese devices and wire around 300V. Literally they build it to the line. 

Edit: I got 800V out of one stage in a flyback arrangement once. Had a 1KV MOSFET and a not particularly good home wound inductor. First couple of attempts, the inductor lit up like a firework display 

OK, I got what you mean. Duly noted and I'll watch the lead dress as well as I'll insure good head space between the 2 cards.

Sounds like a great application for a 3D printer. 

    a picture for neo.

There's an example of good lead dress to keep those HV electrons in their place. 

Sounds like a great application for a 3D printer. 

Well looks like TEA is going to simmer on the back burner a while, my car decided it didn't like the 1000 mile drive and dropped dead shortly after. Here's hoping it CAN be fixed 

Does not sound like a great application for a 3D printer.      

Sorry to hear about your car woes, my friend. If things turn really pear-shaped, I could print you up a hammer with which to beat it to death... 

mnem
*Waiting for the electrician or someone like him*

[Specmaster]

Was it just a normal car service or did it go in for something specific, either way it's OUCH

Normal service. It was a "full service" interval. I sort of expect this when you buy a second hand car the first time it gets serviced. I also tend to do get everything fixed right away rather than leave it on a warning after a bad experience when I was a kid. I was in my father's old Ford Cortina going round the M25 back when it just opened and one of the wheels came off at 60mph. Shit had to be scraped out of everyone's undies after the following 10 seconds. No one was hurt fortunately.

I bet it did, I'd shut myself if I was skidding along on a brake drum[emoji3525]
I had one of the MK 1 cortinas, bloody thing refused to do more than 40mph.
Then I had a MK 4 and MK 5 as company cars and they were good cars, then they brought out the dreaded Sierra, what a heap of shit there were. Had one as hire car while my cortina was in for service, write the Sierra off that night on the way home, hit an unmarked flood, aquaplaned and hot rammed by a car going the opposite direction who pushed it through a hedge and broke its back. [emoji16]

[mnementh]

That sounds like a week of soiled undies all at once right there. 

mnem
Ifni smiled upon you that day.

[tautech]

I had one of the MK 1 cortinas, bloody thing refused to do more than 40mph.

I had a Mk1 SW with a massive 1340cc engine. 
It was my Rolls Canhardly......rolled down hills but can hardly get up the next one. 

IIRC I coaxed 85mph out of it with a tail wind.

[mnementh]

*YAWWWWWWNNNN...*



Currently engaged in the boring part of "The Sleevening"; all the regular cables that just need to be skinned to match. 

[EDIT] Crap. Almost out of 3/4". *Off to Harbor Freight* [/EDIT]

mnem
Errrrr... 

[tautech]

*YAWWWWWWNNNN...*



Currently engaged in the boring part of "The Sleevening"; all the regular cables that just need to be skinned to match. 

mnem
Errrrr... 

Butane lighter ? 
Where's your SMD rework hot air pencil ?

[tggzzz]

Was it just a normal car service or did it go in for something specific, either way it's OUCH

Normal service. It was a "full service" interval. I sort of expect this when you buy a second hand car the first time it gets serviced. I also tend to do get everything fixed right away rather than leave it on a warning after a bad experience when I was a kid. I was in my father's old Ford Cortina going round the M25 back when it just opened and one of the wheels came off at 60mph. Shit had to be scraped out of everyone's undies after the following 10 seconds. No one was hurt fortunately.

I bet it did, I'd shut myself if I was skidding along on a brake drum[emoji3525]
I had one of the MK 1 cortinas, bloody thing refused to do more than 40mph.
Then I had a MK 4 and MK 5 as company cars and they were good cars, then they brought out the dreaded Sierra, what a heap of shit there were. Had one as hire car while my cortina was in for service, write the Sierra off that night on the way home, hit an unmarked flood, aquaplaned and hot rammed by a car going the opposite direction who pushed it through a hedge and broke its back. [emoji16]

There was an infamous design fault in Sierras. The centre of percussion was in the wrong place, so if there was a sidewind there was a rotation torque on the car, and the driving became interesting.

OTOH I had a front wheel fall off my Landie while pulling back in after overtaking on the A11 in Thetford forest. It was perfectly controllable, as I could see from the thin metal track (the brake drum) 6" from the edge of the tarmac. Being a Landie, no damage was done, so I took a nut off each outer wheel, retrieved the wheel from the hedge, and continued.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Sad news, my trusty Weller WTCPS is dead. The thermistor In the handle is open and the price of replacement part is just ridiculously high.

I should probably stick to Weller but I'm curious about the T12 soldering irons. Will probably order a cheap one from china. KSGER is supposed to be good right ?

Wait, WTCPS means Magnastat (magnet with defined curie point in tip, reed switch in iron), so there is no thermistor involved. There is a variable temperature iron for the 24V WTCP and WTCP-S stations, which has the controller in the handle, but in this case you don't see it from the connector. Sorry if you were aware of this, but I wanted to be sure.

Hmm so the reed switch is broken then (thought it was a thermistor). I Could potentially just bypass it. Thanks!

So I just educated myself on how the WTCPS is working and I would need to replace the part where the reed switch is embeded.

It's not a reed switch. The magnastat is a bimetal element stretched between the contact point at the back of the curie metal slug in the iron tip, and a set of contact points at the other end inside the handle. The heat at the slug causes this to expand or contract, snapping the contacts open or closed. The curie metal slug in the back of the tip in proximity to a magnet at the heating end alters the point at which heat is transferred to or sinked away from that contact point, thus setting the temp of the tip at 600, 700, or 800 degrees F.

Weller stopped making Magnastats almost 2 decades ago. Any left in captivity are scarce as dragon scales, and as expensive.   


WE1010 Station $126 at Amazon

OTOH, if you really don't want to give up on Weller...

mnem
*Parenting time*

They still make the mains voltage irons working on the same principle, I think. (W60/61, W100, W200).
And I do not know what you are referring to by 'T12', but there was a iron with internal temperature control (Temtronic type), which used the same tips as the LR21. It was rated for 24V and it had a transparent handle. I think it could have been used with a WTCPS, if you fitted the connector to it. Normally it came with open lead ends, like in the original WTCP. I am not sure about the designation.

One very useful detail about the Magnastat irons is the availability of special tips, like a special desoldering tip for 8/10-pin TO-devices. They made a DIL-type desoldering bath for the LR21, but none for TO.

[mnementh]

*YAWWWWWWNNNN...*



Currently engaged in the boring part of "The Sleevening"; all the regular cables that just need to be skinned to match. 

mnem
Errrrr... 

Butane lighter ? 
Where's your SMD rework hot air pencil

My heat-shrink gun is under the bench, in a quick-draw holster. 

That and my Aoyue are just the wrong tool for the job of heat-sealing the ends of the sleeving against unraveling. You need "just a little" which you can easily get with a BIC lighter; not at all as quick or consistently possible with either hot air gun. They both melt up a LOT almost instantly, and that leaves ugly knots that are very visible through the heat-shrink. Or worse, they'll randomly melt part of the sleeve that isn't covered by heat-shrink, and you have to start over.

One of the things you learn by trial and error. 

The BIC lighter really is the right tool for this job.

mnem
*Tool-dwagon*

[tautech]

Really ?
Is only three claw control insufficient ? 

[Specmaster]

They still make the mains voltage irons working on the same principle, I think. (W60/61, W100, W200).
And I do not know what you are referring to by 'T12', but there was a iron with internal temperature control (Temtronic type), which used the same tips as the LR21. It was rated for 24V and it had a transparent handle. I think it could have been used with a WTCPS, if you fitted the connector to it. Normally it came with open lead ends, like in the original WTCP. I am not sure about the designation.

One very useful detail about the Magnastat irons is the availability of special tips, like a special desoldering tip for 8/10-pin TO-devices. They made a DIL-type desoldering bath for the LR21, but none for TO.

The T12 refers to the Chinese clones of the Hakko T12/15 series and the following video explains more about them. They are really good and I have 2 of these which I love.

[mnementh]

Really ?
Is only three claw control insufficient ? 

Okay; perhaps I'm a LITTLE prejudiced in favor of fire.  . But the convenience part is still a valid argument.   

mnem
 };=)~~~<

[Neomys Sapiens]

500VDC seems fairly common with Electrophoresis power supplies this ones form factor and price isn't to bad eBay auction: #123627519122 Seems to be plenty of similar options that you could tweak a bit. Might be handy to have for Tube playing too.

Cor, wish we had psu's at similar prices over this side of the pond, that thing is a steal, snap it up someone 

Just to get me an idea about US-to-UK transfers, how much would it be?
For Germany, it shows US $49,19 (ca. EUR 43,42) for shipping and US $14,89 import duty.
Still not a bad price. I have seen some 'electrophoresis' power supplies on EBay.de and they are mostly offered below the price asked for units intended for E/E lab and shop. I did never go for one.

The other question is, how does the output look and how good is the protection.
I have no idea if 'electrophoresis' involves as much abuse as repair and circuit work. Or if the step reaction is crap, because in electrophoresis they do not happen? How much ripple and noise?
Anyone can tell?

[Neomys Sapiens]

Was it just a normal car service or did it go in for something specific, either way it's OUCH

Normal service. It was a "full service" interval. I sort of expect this when you buy a second hand car the first time it gets serviced. I also tend to do get everything fixed right away rather than leave it on a warning after a bad experience when I was a kid. I was in my father's old Ford Cortina going round the M25 back when it just opened and one of the wheels came off at 60mph. Shit had to be scraped out of everyone's undies after the following 10 seconds. No one was hurt fortunately.

I bet it did, I'd shut myself if I was skidding along on a brake drum[emoji3525]
I had one of the MK 1 cortinas, bloody thing refused to do more than 40mph.
Then I had a MK 4 and MK 5 as company cars and they were good cars, then they brought out the dreaded Sierra, what a heap of shit there were. Had one as hire car while my cortina was in for service, write the Sierra off that night on the way home, hit an unmarked flood, aquaplaned and hot rammed by a car going the opposite direction who pushed it through a hedge and broke its back. [emoji16]

We have a saying in Germany:
Mit dem Ford fort, mit dem Zug zurueck! (away in a Ford, back in a train)

[med6753]

We have a saying in Germany:
Mit dem Ford fort, mit dem Zug zurueck! (away in a Ford, back in a train)

We have several sayings in the USA.

FORD. Fix Or Repair Daily. Found On Road Dead. First Out on Race Day. 

[med6753]

Batten down the hatches. At least I don't have to go out. Provisions up to snuff.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Albany NY
422 PM EST Mon Feb 11 2019

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TUESDAY TO NOON EST
WEDNESDAY...

* WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total snow and sleet
  accumulations of 6 to 10 inches and ice accumulations of a tenth
  to quarter of an inch expected. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph
  across the Berkshires and Taconics much of Tuesday night.

* WHERE...The Capital District, Helderbergs, Schoharie Valley,
  eastern Catskills, northern and central Taconics and the
  Berkshires.

* WHEN...From 10 AM Tuesday to noon EST Wednesday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Travel will be very difficult to dangerous
  for the Tuesday evening commute. Snow will come down heavy at
  times in the afternoon mixing with sleet late in the day. A
  changeover to sleet and freezing rain will occur at night. Snow
  rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are expected at times Tuesday
  afternoon.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet
and ice will make travel very hazardous or impossible.

[beanflying]

Cor, wish we had psu's at similar prices over this side of the pond, that thing is a steal, snap it up someone 

Just to get me an idea about US-to-UK transfers, how much would it be?
For Germany, it shows US $49,19 (ca. EUR 43,42) for shipping and US $14,89 import duty.
Still not a bad price. I have seen some 'electrophoresis' power supplies on EBay.de and they are mostly offered below the price asked for units intended for E/E lab and shop. I did never go for one.

The other question is, how does the output look and how good is the protection.
I have no idea if 'electrophoresis' involves as much abuse as repair and circuit work. Or if the step reaction is crap, because in electrophoresis they do not happen? How much ripple and noise?
Anyone can tell?

Not amazing specs it seems but then again it is not HP/Fluke etc.

[beanflying]

We have a saying in Germany:
Mit dem Ford fort, mit dem Zug zurueck! (away in a Ford, back in a train)

We have several sayings in the USA.

FORD. Fix Or Repair Daily. Found On Road Dead. First Out on Race Day. 

Found on Rubbish Dump  We have local variations for Holdens made by GM too.

Stay Warm - AGAIN

[VK5RC]

@tggzzz - after that I would buy a lottery ticket!
My best escape - while passing at 100km/hr, a truck decided to move into my lane, nowhere else to go but up over a 8 inch high traffic island, managed to keep control, passed the truck on the traffic island, then got back down! Still doing 80!
Thank goodness for 15 inch rims (bit of spare rubber - no pinch flat) and quite a bit of suspension movement in a Volvo 240!
Sure miss that car!

[mnementh]

We have a saying in Germany:
Mit dem Ford fort, mit dem Zug zurueck! (away in a Ford, back in a train)

We have several sayings in the USA.

FORD. Fix Or Repair Daily. Found On Road Dead. First Out on Race Day. 

You forgot my grandfather's favorite (a die-hard Ford Pickup fan) whenever his broke down:  Found On Russian Dump 

Fucked Over Royally Daily, Fu**ing Old Recycled Dodge, Flipped Over Rotting in Ditch, FuxxORD, ... Yeah, I've heard 'em all.  But when I dropped a Caddy 500 in grad-dad's old F150, all my racing buddies could say after driving it was "That thing is SIIIICK!"   

mnem
First On Race Day!

[Specmaster]

500VDC seems fairly common with Electrophoresis power supplies this ones form factor and price isn't to bad eBay auction: #123627519122 Seems to be plenty of similar options that you could tweak a bit. Might be handy to have for Tube playing too.

Cor, wish we had psu's at similar prices over this side of the pond, that thing is a steal, snap it up someone 

Just to get me an idea about US-to-UK transfers, how much would it be?
For Germany, it shows US $49,19 (ca. EUR 43,42) for shipping and US $14,89 import duty.
Still not a bad price. I have seen some 'electrophoresis' power supplies on EBay.de and they are mostly offered below the price asked for units intended for E/E lab and shop. I did never go for one.

The other question is, how does the output look and how good is the protection.
I have no idea if 'electrophoresis' involves as much abuse as repair and circuit work. Or if the step reaction is crap, because in electrophoresis they do not happen? How much ripple and noise?
Anyone can tell?

The cost of getting that power supply to me in the UK would £38.62 for the PSU, plus £33.46 postage and approx £21 import duty, making a total of £93.08 and then there's the problem of it being 110V input. The comment I was making is that if I could find something similar over here it would be much higher in costs, for example here are 3 bench supplies I just pulled from the UK eBay site, the first one is 30V 5A switch mode £59 free p&p, 2nd is 60V 3A and £161.22 plus £1.40p&p and the third is 80V 50A at £3,035.14 plus £1.40 p&p. We do pay more over here for our kit.

It seems we don't get many power supplies appearing which can as high as that one does on the voltage stakes, which might be handy at times 

[mnementh]

What 66 Bits Will Buy You...



Back from Horror Fraught with 20 feet of heat shrink and various sundries. I even paid full-price for that epoxy! 

mnem
*Idly wondering how many man-hours child-hours of slave labor this pile represents* 

[Carl_Smith]

90 second epoxy?  Wouldn't it cure before you even get it mixed well?

[neo]

Well looks like TEA is going to simmer on the back burner a while, my car decided it didn't like the 1000 mile drive and dropped dead shortly after. Here's hoping it CAN be fixed 

I expect it objected to carrying to many boat anchors for 500 miles plus you and dad 

Was it just a normal car service or did it go in for something specific, either way it's OUCH

I think, can't be more than 90% certain but i think, there is a hole in the oil pan leading to the oil literally evacuating itself as it ran. If i'm right the engine is totaled, if i'm wrong the engine is still shot in the metaphorical gut because it's rattlin' like hell.

purely a coincidence that you guys were talking about hv precaution.
but since it came up.   hey neo.....be careful around HV.  it really really hurts!

Don't I know it, I've been bit by 400VDC before, couldn't feel my hand afterwards. Another time i was working in a house without proper electrical wiring and was working on an outlet that was meant to be shut off, it wasn't. Flew across the room and woke up five minutes later after having visited the pearly gates.

@tggzzz - after that I would buy a lottery ticket!
My best escape - while passing at 100km/hr, a truck decided to move into my lane, nowhere else to go but up over a 8 inch high traffic island, managed to keep control, passed the truck on the traffic island, then got back down! Still doing 80!
Thank goodness for 15 inch rims (bit of spare rubber - no pinch flat) and quite a bit of suspension movement in a Volvo 240!
Sure miss that car!

Two stories, more on demand because shit has happened to me FAR too many times on the roads.
Driving along a two lane blacktop doing about 70 ^{(don't ask me the speed limit, i won't tell you.)} and behind me comes another car. This car is beat to hell and back, panels coming off, no windshield, broken back window and it's doing better than a hundred miles an hour. Well it's going to pass me that much is obvious but there is a problem, semi coming in the opposing lane and these guys have a death wish. They pull around me, barreling straight towards the semi with seemingly no regard for me or anything else, my last thought was "This is going to hurt." But it didn't, they pulled back into the correct lane at the very last second, literally scraping the semi and by the literal breadth of a fly's fart they made it unscathed. They got to the nearest town and did a 90 degree corner without even slowing down, saw the same car next week all fixed up.

Second, much shorter story,
Driving home from work one fine morning, came around a corner to find a three ton truck in the wrong lane, coming at me and fast. Faced with certain death once more i didn't holler, curse or exclaim. I merely made peace with it, i was OK with what was coming and since i couldn't stop it so i was going to meet it with a smile. Right about the time i'm contemplating my last words it jerks back into it's own lane.