Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[factory]

Old Texas Instruments Pulse Generator. Works perfectly. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the internal structure. Beautifully built.

So it wasn't my imagination and TI did make some test gear. I remember seeing a TI oscilloscope come in for calibration at work (sadly we aren't allowed to take photos) I've never been able to find another or even a picture of one anywhere.

David

[mnementh]

On The Bench This Morning: $180 Crock-Pot from All-Clad

                     

So, after a little grocery shopping yesterday, I put this back on the bench this morning. Yesterday's testing with a 60W bulb as substitute load showed exactly what I feared; the unit would program normally, but as soon as the relay closed, it would flash for 1/2 a second and go out, then you'd have to power cycle the unit to get any further response.

Power supply is very crude; R1-C2 feed D2-D3, which output is applied across R6 & "GND" such that R1/C2/R6 form a voltage divider with current limited dependent on value of C2. Z1/Z2 (12V/1W) in series across this clamp voltage to 24V, produced across EC1 to power the rest of the PCB and the front panel with uPC.

The PCB had burned-up Silastic over C2 and the 5 diodes in the center area; you can still see some residue on the 2.2uF film capacitor in the parts pile. Testing of the crispies indicated that C2 was only about 1.2uF, and D3 had approx .1V higher VF and much higher junction capacitance than  the other two 1N4007s; in retrospect this may have been due to tweezer probing with one leg lifted as I was unable to replicate by testing components in the slots afterwards. 

All electrolytics tested good compared against new of same value, so suspecting Z1/Z2/D3 might have leakage or breakdown at operating voltages, I decided to go scatter-gun approach and replace everything that had burned up Silastic as reassembly of the PCB into unit for testing is very close quarters work with good chance of damaging wires if done repeatedly. Total cost: $4.50 from Sayal Electronics. As you can see, I had to stack two 1uF to get 2 uF, 1uF was the biggest they had aside from ceiling fan run capacitors which were both way huge and stupid expensive at $12-15. 

But, it worked. Testing with 60W blub showed unit powered up and output stayed live once engaged; testing after reassembly showed that you do get more for that $180 pricetag than just gorgeous polished SS. Unlike your typical crockpot whose temp is a function of wattage applied vs thermal mass of the ceramic vessel & contents, this one is actually closed-loop with thermal sensor in direct contact with the vessel and it heats up FAST... like hot inside the aluminum tub in 15-20 seconds... due to a 320W element. This gets food contents up to temp quickly, which is much safer in general.

Winner winner, pot roast dinner! And just about in time!!!   

Keeping it TEA-related:

As you can see, the ESR202 served quite well this time out; even in comparison to my DE-5000. It has a number of interesting extra features as well; see a teardown & manual here on eevBlog:

mnem
 

[tggzzz]

I told someone once that rubbing garlic on their laptop worked for that. And he did it 

Next time suggest ... durian 

Ugh no. Someone bought me one of those awful things a while back as a joke. Local Chinese supermarket sells them now. God that smelled worse than the previous worst smell experience of freshly dredged drowned cow carcass. Straight in the bin!

Was the bin sufficient?

Would you hide (frozen and thermally insulated) durian (or worse) down the back of a desk just before leaving a bad job?

[med6753]

Never heard of durian fruit. Had to Google it. It's even banned in some countries because of the smell. 

[mnementh]

Limburger cheese on exhaust manifold of boss's Merc. 

mnem
Oh my... however did that get there...?

[bd139]

@tggzzz: The bin was sufficient. Only because it’s 5m away from my door and was being collected the next day.

It arrived wrapped in two Tesco bags and tape and wasn’t particularly cold. I didn’t actually know what it was to start with. After googling it was taken outside, poked with a knife, huffed from a distance to see what the fuss was about, some wretching and then gone! It didn’t smell too bad initially - certainly less than the average baby or cat.

[URI]

Personally @URI, I'd be inclined to rescue that poor damsel from that large rabbit hole and play around with her, unless she is bat shit crazy redhead, in which case shove her further down the hole 

No motivation in my part. Why don't you do that yourself..? What about your wife..?      

Personally I'm glad my wife rescues me from getting deeper and deeper into rabbit holes from time to time just by demanding my part in our partnership and getting me away from TEA for sharing time together for different reasons ... from shopping (basic: food, advanced: clothing) over e.g. hiking/sight seeing to things I won't mention here..   

[bd139]

Interesting lot:

Tek 2213, HP 3455A, 5328A

£165 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323991912613

Also only 25 miles from me. But no I’m not going for it because I’m trying to clear out!

Edit: also these new Christmas tree lights I bought are a crapfest. All I want is plain no fancy shit lights on. No flashing but nope they can’t even manage that. There’s a 6 hour timeout so you have to reset the damn things and jump all the way through 8 different eye offending modes just to get straight lights out.

[med6753]

Well the flight clusterfuck has started due to the weather in Denver tomorrow. I've been automatically re-booked on a later flight out of Newark (0730 vs 0600). They have backed off on snow amounts in Denver proper (4 to 6 inches) but up in Greeley it's still upwards of 15 inches. My brother is going to pick me up and he's going to stay with a friend in Denver rather than drive down in AM. Should be a fun drive back and although he does have a 4WD Jeep there might be road closures. 

All in all sounds like fun times tomorrow...NOT. 

[Neomys Sapiens]

I told someone once that rubbing garlic on their laptop worked for that. And he did it 

Next time suggest ... durian 

Ugh no. Someone bought me one of those awful things a while back as a joke. Local Chinese supermarket sells them now. God that smelled worse than the previous worst smell experience of freshly dredged drowned cow carcass. Straight in the bin!

I 'smell' an interesting story there! But while I have no knowledge on the subject of babies, I do object about the cats. The last one I sniffed at smelled of...clean healthy cat. Maybe you are sniffing at them in the wrong place?

[bd139]

Fell in the stream next to the house I lived in and drowned. Called farmer out and he came with a forklift tractor and got it out. It burst as they were loading it into a trailer.

As for cats. It’s not the outside that smells terrible. It’s what comes out of the inside.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Limburger cheese on exhaust manifold of boss's Merc. 

mnem
Why, however did that get there...?

I had a high speed encounter with a dead deer once. It had deviously placed itself directly behind a crest of a small rise on the autobahn which was a curve at the same time. Killed both my front and rear tyre, but I came to rest upright and in the single safe spot in sight. But the remainder of the carcass was smeared all along my car's underbody and exhaust system. Whenever it got hot, for the next year it stank of deer cadaver roast on the outside despite application of a Kaercher.
Ewwww.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Old Texas Instruments Pulse Generator. Works perfectly. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the internal structure. Beautifully built.

You are with that outfit?

[VK5RC]

I had a similar experience but at only 80km/hr, the meat transport guy forgot to lock the rear door of his truck, distributing freshly butchered cow carcases across the road. Dodged most but a bit of rib got a back tyre - $250 bucks later - but no other damage!
I still recall the cars weaving across the road in front of me!

[Brumby]

Never heard of durian fruit. Had to Google it.

Ditto.

Here's a snippet from Wiki...
Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:
 its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock.

Charming.

It's even banned in some countries because of the smell. 

Indeed.  Sign posted in Singapore's public transport system:


I'm guessing the lack of a fine is because they don't want to get close enough to you to write the ticket!!


This sounds like something I will never be tempted to try!

[mnementh]

Limburger cheese on exhaust manifold of boss's Merc. 

mnem
Oh my... however did that get there...?

I had a high speed encounter with a dead deer once. It had deviously placed itself directly behind a crest of a small rise on the autobahn which was a curve at the same time. Killed both my front and rear tyre, but I came to rest upright and in the single safe spot in sight. But the remainder of the carcass was smeared all along my car's underbody and exhaust system. Whenever it got hot, for the next year it stank of deer cadaver roast on the outside despite application of a Kaercher.
Ewwww.

Similar experience with a woodchuck carcass on a Dodge pickup truck; splattered guts, fur & everything all over the crossover pipes & Cat. Similar results, only stench of rotten rodent. I swear that when I sold it off down the road 3 months later, it was entirely due to the slipping 2nd gear in the transmission, and nothing to do with my visceral disgust at the idea of getting close enough to that region of the vehicle to R&R a transmission. Nothing AT ALL I tells ya!

mnem
Still less disgusting than Vogon poetry.

[Specmaster]

Interesting lot:

Tek 2213, HP 3455A, 5328A

£165 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323991912613

Also only 25 miles from me. But no I’m not going for it because I’m trying to clear out!

Edit: also these new Christmas tree lights I bought are a crapfest. All I want is plain no fancy shit lights on. No flashing but nope they can’t even manage that. There’s a 6 hour timeout so you have to reset the damn things and jump all the way through 8 different eye offending modes just to get straight lights out.

Sounds like they were intended for outdoor wreaths, they frequently employ various modes and a 6Hr on, 18 hour (approx) off modes to conserve batteries and to save you having to go and manually switch ON/OFF each time. It does pay to read the packaging/manual before you buy to ensure you get what you want to avoid crapfests like this 

[Specmaster]

Fell in the stream next to the house I lived in and drowned. Called farmer out and he came with a forklift tractor and got it out. It burst as they were loading it into a trailer.

As for cats. It’s not the outside that smells terrible. It’s what comes out of the inside.

Well thats perfectly true for all living creatures, including humans. Cats are generally extremely clean creatures. Provide them with a place to go and dump their deposits, eg cat litter tray or a part of the garden that is always kept dug over so its nice and soft, then they can go and what they prefer to do, dig a hole, deposit crap in it and then cover it over again, smell gone. Dogs however are a different kettle of fish, they will just drop it anywhere generally and not bother to cover it.

[Kosmic]

I'm probably the luckiest person in the world! Found those original, brand new, Solartron test leads on ebay for 9$ each 

Those are indeed equipped with the infamous Fischer connector that is now almost impossible to find.

[Kosmic]

I need to reinstall the original connector on my 7061 now 

[Neomys Sapiens]

I'm probably the luckiest person in the world! Found those original, brand new, Solartron test leads on ebay for 9$ each 

Those are indeed equipped with the infamous Fischer connector that is now almost impossible to find.

Are there more of them?

[Kosmic]

No only found those 2 

[worsthorse]

My 2465, which I have avoided opening up because, well, it was working and recapping is a big project, is starting to make fan noise on a regular basis. So I shut it down and took it off my bench, replacing it with the 485 that was there before, is in excellent condition¹ and which, is a fine scope for the stuff I do. 

I turned it on and the fan is making a racket. 

So two questions... other than being annoying, do I need to work about the 485 fan right this moment?  And if I do, is replacing it a big hassle? I guess this could be the time to open it up, do a recap, etc.

¹ or I thought it was until I turned it on. 

[med6753]

My 2465, which I have avoided opening up because, well, it was working and recapping is a big project, is starting to make fan noise on a regular basis. So I shut it down and took it off my bench, replacing it with the 485 that was there before, is in excellent condition¹ and which, is a fine scope for the stuff I do. 

I turned it on and the fan is making a racket. 

So two questions... other than being annoying, do I need to work about the 485 fan right this moment?  And if I do, is replacing it a big hassle? I guess this could be the time to open it up, do a recap, etc.

¹ or I thought it was until I turned it on. 

When you finally get brave enough  I've done the PSU on two 2465's successfully. I documented the entire process here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-2465b-oscilloscope-teardown/msg1658102/?fbclid=IwAR0cJsQ1KpLsoNMC6zjXtoNk9STD0Gho-vO0c8MCchW6bCHfxzkUCwP4b8A#msg1658102

Also later on in that thread I did a quick repair of a 2465 fan motor and Mnem did a more involved repair. My 2nd attempt at a 2465 fan motor repair didn't go so well which led to the infamous computer fan bodge. 

I also did a recap of the 485 linear portion of the PSU. The main bottom board is modular and easily comes out to replace the caps. I did not recap the inverter section. That's documented in this thread sometime back in September.

Edit...here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg2670597/#msg2670597

I have not had to service the fan in the 485 so I don't know how easy or difficult it is to remove.

[worsthorse]

My 2465, which I have avoided opening up because, well, it was working and recapping is a big project, is starting to make fan noise on a regular

When you finally get brave enough  I've done the PSU on two 2465's successfully. I documented the entire process here:


I have not had to service the fan in the 485 so I don't know how easy or difficult it is to remove.

Brave enough is the right phrase. A few months ago, I looked at your recap thread and decided to wait. I think I am going to tackle the 485 first even though it is as packed together as the 2465. Somehow I feel more at home there   and I have a second 485 with definite power supply issues and a couple of damaged front controls that I can use for parts.

I had the 2465 thread bookmarked. I've added the 485 thread. Thanks for both.  I haven't found much info on the 485 fan but I haven't really dug into the tekscope archive. I wonder if it just needs to be cleaned and lubricated. In any case, if I have to pull it apart to get the fan out, I might as well do the recap, too.

edit: just started searching the tekscope thread... it looks like the 485 and the 2465 have the same fan motor, though they may have different blades.