Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

mnem
There's a XKCD for THAT!!! 

[Specmaster]

That was what it looked like before it broke.

It's definitely the original as there are no signs of flux around it. Also it's documented in the service manual that's how it's put together.

HP 3478A has the same switch but uses a plastic bar.

I can second that, just pulled out my spare boards out and checked them and other live bits mnem refers to are a reasonable distance away for safety and the metal bracket is screwed onto a ground plane anyway. The push rod that attaches to the metal coupler is plastic as well so the thing that could have blown the power supply would be the ratchet pin, which from memory if it fell out with the scope in its normal operating position falls safely to the bottom of the scope as there are no boards beneath it.

[bd139]

That's the one. As I found out with the 3478A, the plastic is damn brittle though    (fortunately I fixed that one with a dremel, a piece of 1mm bar stock and some epoxy  )

[GregDunn]

That's the one. As I found out with the 3478A, the plastic is damn brittle though    (fortunately I fixed that one with a dremel, a piece of 1mm bar stock and some epoxy  )

When I disassembled mine the tip of that switch actuator snapped off; epoxy rebuild for the win!  That was the same 3478A which had the bashed-in bezel that I fixed by reheating it and shaping it with some angle stock.  It's a great meter, but when HP switched from metal to plastic for their trim they didn't always pick the highest quality material.  I had to do some rebuild on my 3490A where the plastic front panel bits had splintered too.

[med6753]

Well that wasted a good portion of my day but their computer is fixed. Some nasty malware. And who is this person you ask? Would you believe the batshit crazy redhead. It's been nearly 20 years since we were together and suddenly she decided one day the grass was greener with an Army vet/biker dude. She took off with him and he messed her over big time. About 15 years ago we somehow reconnected but strictly on a friend basis. Absolutely nothing more than friends. Her biker dude screwed her over emotionally as well as I suspect physically giving her the herp...although she won't admit it. I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole.  So every once in a while we chat and I've become her computer guru, but that's about it. And that's fine with me. 

Edit...Yes, this is one of those "inconvenient" females.     

[Specmaster]

That's the one. As I found out with the 3478A, the plastic is damn brittle though    (fortunately I fixed that one with a dremel, a piece of 1mm bar stock and some epoxy  )

When I disassembled mine the tip of that switch actuator snapped off; epoxy rebuild for the win!  That was the same 3478A which had the bashed-in bezel that I fixed by reheating it and shaping it with some angle stock.  It's a great meter, but when HP switched from metal to plastic for their trim they didn't always pick the highest quality material.  I had to do some rebuild on my 3490A where the plastic front panel bits had splintered too.

Hmm, well in that case I'm glad that 3478A is an older model with the metal trim. I agree it is a fine DMM indeed I like it so much that I also got its sibling the 3468A which sadly does not have the same ranges and so is less useful to me, but is still a great meter in its own right.

[mnementh]

That was what it looked like before it broke.

It's definitely the original as there are no signs of flux around it. Also it's documented in the service manual that's how it's put together.

HP 3478A has the same switch but uses a plastic bar.

I can second that, just pulled out my spare boards out and checked them and other live bits mnem refers to are a reasonable distance away for safety and the metal bracket is screwed onto a ground plane anyway. The push rod that attaches to the metal coupler is plastic as well so the thing that could have blown the power supply would be the ratchet pin, which from memory if it fell out with the scope in its normal operating position falls safely to the bottom of the scope as there are no boards beneath it.

Okay; a plastic pushrod like my 3478A (and hundreds of other bits of electronics I've serviced over the decades) is what I was thinking SHOULD be there. The only time I've ever seen anything like that coupler "factory bodged" in there is when they needed to make an adjustment on a metal pushrod; those cases, they're usually careful to either keep large distances (min 10-13mm or so) or shield with fiber or plastic.

If that really is OEM, I call "SHENANIGANS!!!" on HP's Engineering Dept...  

mnem

[Specmaster]

That was what it looked like before it broke.

It's definitely the original as there are no signs of flux around it. Also it's documented in the service manual that's how it's put together.

HP 3478A has the same switch but uses a plastic bar.

I can second that, just pulled out my spare boards out and checked them and other live bits mnem refers to are a reasonable distance away for safety and the metal bracket is screwed onto a ground plane anyway. The push rod that attaches to the metal coupler is plastic as well so the thing that could have blown the power supply would be the ratchet pin, which from memory if it fell out with the scope in its normal operating position falls safely to the bottom of the scope as there are no boards beneath it.

Okay; a plastic pushrod like my 3478A (and hundreds of other bits of electronics I've serviced over the decades) is what I was thinking SHOULD be there. The only time I've ever seen anything like that coupler "factory bodged" in there is when they needed to make an adjustment on a metal pushrod; those cases, they're usually careful to either keep large distances (min 10-13mm or so) or shield with fiber or plastic.

If that really is OEM, I call "SHENANIGANS!!!" on HP's Engineering Dept...  

mnem

Nah, its perfectly ok in this instance and that coupler is there because the pushrod does indeed screw into it so the travel of the knob can be adjusted to allow perfect alignment with the other push buttons. This rod is a long straight one whereas the 3478A has a cranked rod that pushes onto the switch.

[mnementh]

Well that wasted a good portion of my day but their computer is fixed. Some nasty malware. And who is this person you ask? Would you believe the batshit crazy redhead. It's been nearly 20 years since we were together and suddenly she decided one day the grass was greener with an Army vet/biker dude. She took off with him and he messed her over big time. About 15 years ago we somehow reconnected but strictly on a friend basis. Absolutely nothing more than friends. Her biker dude screwed her over emotionally as well as I suspect physically giving her the herp...although she won't admit it. I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole.  So every once in a while we chat and I've become her computer guru, but that's about it. And that's fine with me. 

Edit...Yes, this is one of those "inconvenient" females. 

"Hello my name is med, and I survived LIFE WITH A REDHEAD..."


*Chest thump* "Welcome to Red-Anon med!"  

mnem
They NEVER really leave...

[bd139]

Well that wasted a good portion of my day but their computer is fixed. Some nasty malware. And who is this person you ask? Would you believe the batshit crazy redhead. It's been nearly 20 years since we were together and suddenly she decided one day the grass was greener with an Army vet/biker dude. She took off with him and he messed her over big time. About 15 years ago we somehow reconnected but strictly on a friend basis. Absolutely nothing more than friends. Her biker dude screwed her over emotionally as well as I suspect physically giving her the herp...although she won't admit it. I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole.  So every once in a while we chat and I've become her computer guru, but that's about it. And that's fine with me. 

Edit...Yes, this is one of those "inconvenient" females. 

Can’t be as bad as my mother in law. Sold my father in law a nice T440 frankenpad like mine. Mother in law doesn’t like it because it’s black and boring and she’s a control freak. So she made him go to currys with a £250 budget to get something a little more shiny. So only thing they have is a shitty HP netbook that’s metallic blue. Gets it home and he’s almost in tears at the turd he was forced to buy. Thinkpad went to my nephew who probably used it to run a crack ring. But you know phone up bd139 and see what he can do. “Why the fuck did you buy that?”  “She made me do it”. “Stand up to the woman dammit”. “I’m getting old and don’t want the hassle”. So I look at it and there’s nothing I can polish on the turd to make it better. Literally it has a 32gb SSD soldered to the board and an SD card hole. She then blames him for buying it.

His face just suddenly changes. If you’ve seen the film “equilibrium” (good film) when Christian Bale goes into murder mode, same expression. Fucking laptop goes flying across the room disintegrating when it hits the wall. Next time he comes back he’s got a new thinkpad which all he does is watch anime warez on and she’s not talking to him 

And that’s how you handle IT issues. And yes she was a redhead.

[mnementh]

Here you go guys... Birthday/Christmas/Boxing Day WTF-Ever... 

mnem
 

[med6753]

"Hello my name is med, and I survived LIFE WITH A REDHEAD..."


*Chest thump* "Welcome to Red-Anon med!"  

mnem
They NEVER really leave...

I've admittedly been a very bad boy over the years with multiple women in and out of the picture but that one still haunts me the most.

Yes....never really leaves. 

[Specmaster]

"Hello my name is med, and I survived LIFE WITH A REDHEAD..."


*Chest thump* "Welcome to Red-Anon med!"  

mnem
They NEVER really leave...

I've admittedly been a very bad boy over the years with multiple women in and out of the picture but that one still haunts me the most.

Yes....never really leaves. 

We all feel for you, really don't we lads 

[worsthorse]

oh good lord, hide my truck keys...

https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/ele/d/vancouver-tek-547-oscilloscope/6968068026.html

and

https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/ele/d/vancouver-transistor-curve-tracer/6968056733.html

along with two unrelated emails regarding "a garage loaded with test gear they want to get rid of"

[mnementh]

"Okay honey... Change of plans; we ARE going to Vancouver."

"Why...?"

"So so I can get a job working for Linus Media Group, like I told you..."

"Uhh-huhhhh..."

mnem
 

[tautech]

"Okay honey... Change of plans; we ARE going to Vancouver."

"Why...?"

"So so I can get a job working for Linus Media Group, like I told you..."

"Uhh-huhhhh..."

mnem
 

Convoy day set ?

[Kosmic]

Some gears on the east coast too (near Lebanon)

https://nh.craigslist.org/gms/6966366414.html

Med, you're in ? 

[BU508A]

Arrived today, some goodies for my JBC-HD. I want to add a T245 to it and this needs some modifikations.
For this mod the two 2.2 Ohm / 50W  resistors are needed.

[mnementh]

"Okay honey... Change of plans; we ARE going to Vancouver."

"Why...?"

"So so I can get a job working for Linus Media Group, like I told you..."

"Uhh-huhhhh..."

mnem
 

Convoy day set ?

We changed the battle plan a bit... found a moving company that'll let us fill a 28ft trailer and store it for us just this side of the border until our immigration schizz is finalized. We expect to be on the road with a small trailer containing just our personal stuff sometime between the 9th and the 15th.

As you might imagine, we've been busy. These last two weeks have been brutal; I've been sick and liquid air with heat in the triple digits. 

Some gears on the east coast too (near Lebanon)

https://nh.craigslist.org/gms/6966366414.html

Med, you're in ? 

I'd totally put the hurt on someone for that Emco Compact 5 if it isn't completely Eukered. 

mnem

[med6753]

oh good lord, hide my truck keys...

https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/ele/d/vancouver-tek-547-oscilloscope/6968068026.html

and

https://portland.craigslist.org/clk/ele/d/vancouver-transistor-curve-tracer/6968056733.html

along with two unrelated emails regarding "a garage loaded with test gear they want to get rid of"

A 547 for only $150 USD?? GET IT! 

[med6753]

Some gears on the east coast too (near Lebanon)

https://nh.craigslist.org/gms/6966366414.html

Med, you're in ? 

Damn, that 561B in the last pix looks interesting but I'm kinda tapped out right now. 

[neo]

Reading the manual on the 618B and it has four capacitors in it, 4U 2000V, that are almost impossible to get replacements for. Any ideas? Short of throwing money at the problem or praying to the moon in the middle of the night that is.

[tautech]

"Okay honey... Change of plans; we ARE going to Vancouver."

"Why...?"

"So so I can get a job working for Linus Media Group, like I told you..."

"Uhh-huhhhh..."

mnem
 

Convoy day set ?

We changed the battle plan a bit... found a moving company that'll let us fill a 28ft trailer and store it for us just this side of the border until our immigration schizz is finalized. We expect to be on the road with a small trailer containing just our personal stuff sometime between the 9th and the 15th.

As you might imagine, we've been busy. These last two weeks have been brutal; I've been sick and liquid air with heat in the triple digits. 

mnem

You must be over it......well at least it's not far away now. 
Over here the start of the new dairy farming season where staff move to other farms is called Gypsy day so I guess we can call you a gypsy dwagon soon ! 

[med6753]

Holy crap....just submitted order to re-cap the 485 PSU. Nearly $65 USD.  Had to order axial aluminum caps because of height restrictions and the supply also uses some high value (100uf) tants. And I did order a replacement tant for that +13V supply on the Sweep board. Other than that for now the rest of the tants will remain. 

I accomplished nothing on the 485 today because of the panic phone call but it did burn in all day with no smoke and no issues. 

[BU508A]

Reading the manual on the 618B and it has four capacitors in it, 4U 2000V, that are almost impossible to get replacements for. Any ideas? Short of throwing money at the problem or praying to the moon in the middle of the night that is.

Really? 4µF/2000V and then four of them? Wow, that's a lot of energy stored in them.
And they are probably huge. Could you provide a picture of them?

Here, for comparison, two Bosch MP capacitors, 6,3µF and 2µF



Edit:
Found these chaps here in ebay Germany: 1µF / 2000V ca. EUR 90.- / piece 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/303076727962