Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Yuck, that's worse than my 4503 was Specmaster.

The price of those pcb mount batteries being what they are, I just made a custom pack with two AAAs   

I know that you said you had to repair a track by the battery, but did you have to do anything else apart from clean the board?

[mnementh]

   Having ignored they "nay-sayers" and the why-bother gang, I went ahead and finished my 3D printed attachment for my DER EE DE5000 LCR meter. I can now connect my BNC Kelvin tweezers and probes to the meter.

McBryce.

  PPPPPPPTTTTTPPPPBBBBB!

That said... how did adding all that coax & connectors affect your accuracy & ability to zero out the poor fucker...? Net gain, or just more assache...?

In all honesty... I didn't mean to sound so negative; it just seemed a lot of work to try & achieve Lab-grade measurement process from a device which was designed primarily to be quick & versatile in connectivity yet reasonably accurate for diag work. Kind of the antithesis of what the DE-5000 is all about.

mnem
*currently hating the "oh, so close..." aspect of Murphy's Law*

[BU508A]

Could not resist, I found another of those really nice Power Designs power supply on ebay at a really reasonable price. This time it's model 2010 0-20v 1A.

One day I'll get one of these beauties. One day ...   

Before jumping, make sure the particular model allows the transformer taps to be changed to 240V.

I paid $10 for mine Plus P&P of about seven times that

Yes. But I'm planning a 115V~ circuit for my lab for such devices.

Ooh, two sets of sockets. I'm sure bd would like you to have a webcam so we can all see the "unplanned disassembly" moments

More seriously, how many 115V only devices would you want to have?

I don't know, but I'd like to be prepared for the worst. 

[BU508A]

More seriously, how many 115V only devices would you want to have?

Ahem....all of them. 

I am not Chuck Norris.   

[McBryce]

Having ignored they "nay-sayers" and the why-bother gang, I went ahead and finished my 3D printed attachment for my DER EE DE5000 LCR meter. I can now connect my BNC Kelvin tweezers and probes to the meter.

McBryce.

Sweet!  Did you post the makefile? That way I can add it to my ever growing list of "shit wh will make if he ever gets the damn printer out of the box and on to a table"

No, not yet. I made "manual changes to the design" which I need to correct in the models and verify (print) before I upload anything. Nothing pissing me off more than people putting a known bad model into circulation.

McBryce.

[Saskia]

Canon sent me a note confirming receipt of an EF 24-105 IS STM lense that hugged Ford Island when repacking my stuff for the security screening. They offer fixed price repair on that particular lens which I am most happy to accept.

On a different note, slight fever, headache and cough today. Apparently my husband is blowing his germs straight into my face when sleeping 

[McBryce]

   Having ignored they "nay-sayers" and the why-bother gang, I went ahead and finished my 3D printed attachment for my DER EE DE5000 LCR meter. I can now connect my BNC Kelvin tweezers and probes to the meter.

McBryce.

  PPPPPPPTTTTTPPPPBBBBB!

That said... how did adding all that coax & connectors affect your accuracy & ability to zero out the poor fucker...? Net gain, or just more assache...?

In all honesty... I didn't mean to sound so negative; it just seemed a lot of work to try & achieve Lab-grade measurement process from a device which was designed primarily to be quick & versatile in connectivity yet reasonably accurate for diag work. Kind of the antithesis of what the DE-5000 is all about.

mnem
*currently hating the "oh, so close..." aspect of Murphy's Law*

I haven't wired it up yet. The PCB in the picture is still the 1.6mm version which doesn't fit into the meters slots. The 1mm PCB has arrived, but I haven't had a chance to cut and fit it yet. It shouldn't be an issue to zero it out. If it's properly shielded and the internal connections kept to a minimum length and seperated it should have results equal or better than the standard crocodile clip version.

McBryce.

[mansaxel]

Broke a toe a week ago. Because I have no desire to go to a doctor or hospital atm I taped it and moved on. Albeit slowly 

I visited the orthopedist with the youngest son this morning. He's got misaligned feet, and the doctor took one quick look, then ordered a special soles fitting/casting appointment and told us to prepare for surgery. Took all of 20 minutes including waiting. This is going to be so good. Speaking of feet.

[Kosmic]

Canon sent me a note confirming receipt of an EF 24-105 IS STM lense that hugged Ford Island when repacking my stuff for the security screening. They offer fixed price repair on that particular lens which I am most happy to accept.

Fixed a Canon EF 100-300 recently just by cleaning the contact pad with Deoxit G5 (I love that stuff). The lens was locking up the camera regularly and was having trouble focusing.

On a different note, slight fever, headache and cough today. Apparently my husband is blowing his germs straight into my face when sleeping 

I'm sorry to hear that  Is your husband also having symptom ? Fever + cough is particularly bad news these days 

[Saskia]

well, since the pain is sitting mostly in my forehead I suspect a true Sinusitis which basically has gone downstairs and caused the usual inflammation, i.e. bronchitis. I'll get my inhaler tomorrow, the fever indicator is showing 37.04 (measured in the arm pit), my normal measurement would be 35.4

I suspect a flu or common cold, but should know better tomorrow.

As for the lens, when it hugged the ground the front element separated from the housing and rolled along the floor of the aviation museum of the pacific.
I suspect cleaning the sensors will not do the trick in this case ...

[Kosmic]

As for the lens, when it hugged the ground the front element separated from the housing and rolled along the floor of the aviation museum of the pacific.
I suspect cleaning the sensors will not do the trick in this case ...

Ouch ok. Yeah Deoxit is pretty good but in that case probably useless

[bd139]

Recovering slightly faster here now. Managed to muster cooking a lasagne this evening which is not something I would have managed yesterday.

Decided to attempt to solder leads to the DFN packaged bastard I accidentally ordered to see if it was possible. The answer is yes it is possible but probably not without a stereo microscope and a couple of glasses of wine and avoiding caffeine for the day before. So I threw the buggers back in the bin rather than go down that rabbit hole

[Saskia]

how about hot air, tweezers and lotsaflux ?

[AVGresponding]

Yuck, that's worse than my 4503 was Specmaster.

The price of those pcb mount batteries being what they are, I just made a custom pack with two AAAs   

I know that you said you had to repair a track by the battery, but did you have to do anything else apart from clean the board?

Nope. The IC next to the battery had some schmoo on it like yours, but none on the transistor or resistors a bit further away.

The only other thing it needs is recalibration, but since it's good enough for general use on its defaults, it's fallen into the "Procrastination Queue", which is kind of like a virtualised area in the repair queue where it stays at the back no matter how many items join afterwards...
In any case I'm not set up to cal the AC volts and current just now so that gives me an excuse (even though you can cal each of the ranges separately).

[Specmaster]

Yuck, that's worse than my 4503 was Specmaster.

The price of those pcb mount batteries being what they are, I just made a custom pack with two AAAs   

I know that you said you had to repair a track by the battery, but did you have to do anything else apart from clean the board?

Nope. The IC next to the battery had some schmoo on it like yours, but none on the transistor or resistors a bit further away.

The only other thing it needs is recalibration, but since it's good enough for general use on its defaults, it's fallen into the "Procrastination Queue", which is kind of like a virtualised area in the repair queue where it stays at the back no matter how many items join afterwards...
In any case I'm not set up to cal the AC volts and current just now so that gives me an excuse (even though you can cal each of the ranges separately).

Oh, OK. Likewise, I don't have the means to do a proper AC calibration, other than try to bring into line with my other meters, such as the Brymen 867 brought new, the Extech 530, both of which happen to agree with my Flukes, so I'll be happy enough to go with that, DC and resistance is a bit easier to do with the other gear I have to hand.

[mansaxel]

Could not resist, I found another of those really nice Power Designs power supply on ebay at a really reasonable price. This time it's model 2010 0-20v 1A.

One day I'll get one of these beauties. One day ...   

You and me both. PD looks sooooo sweet. Current (heh-heh) situation is one Uni-T dual 30V. It works. Tracking is within 25mV or so, CC and CV are stable, the meters are 0,1V and 10mA out, but with a bit checking with a multimeter of course overcomes that.

Actually, I really want an Oltronix too. They're really cool as well.

[AVGresponding]

Could not resist, I found another of those really nice Power Designs power supply on ebay at a really reasonable price. This time it's model 2010 0-20v 1A.

One day I'll get one of these beauties. One day ...   

You and me both. PD looks sooooo sweet. Current (heh-heh) situation is one Uni-T dual 30V. It works. Tracking is within 25mV or so, CC and CV are stable, the meters are 0,1V and 10mA out, but with a bit checking with a multimeter of course overcomes that.

Actually, I really want an Oltronix too. They're really cool as well.

There's an Oltronix just popped up in b/s/w, looks nice and I'd be tempted if I was completely skint.

[mansaxel]

Yes. But I'm planning a 115V~ circuit for my lab for such devices. I'm always looking for a decent 230V to 115V transformer in the 2000VA range.

A good source seems to be the construction market in the UK, since they run their hand tools et c on 110V, and of course must transform that. You also, then, get them with the proper yellow 216-4h CEE socket for the secondary, which is a bonus. Shipping might be a tad expensive, of course. 

[AVGresponding]

Yes. But I'm planning a 115V~ circuit for my lab for such devices. I'm always looking for a decent 230V to 115V transformer in the 2000VA range.

A good source seems to be the construction market in the UK, since they run their hand tools et c on 110V, and of course must transform that. You also, then, get them with the proper yellow 216-4h CEE socket for the secondary, which is a bonus. Shipping might be a tad expensive, of course.

Also be very aware that the ratings on these are almost as bad as amp power output claims.

We have several so called "5kVA" units, which when you look a bit closer is on a 10 minutes on, 30 minutes off basis, or worse. Continuous ratings on these can be as low as 1.5kVA, though most 5kVA are rated 3kVA continuous.

Also bear in mind, they are center-tapped earth on the secondary, so do not try to bond earth to neutral...

[mnementh]

So... the Amazon "delay program" has had some "interesting" side effects from a local business standpoint as well.

When they announced it, they said the delay would only be from vendors having to ship from another warehouse. They did not mention that other people's stock they have in THEIR warehouses would be affected so grossly. As a result, I was unable to make a purchase from a local vendor, because Amazon has all his remaining stock of this part, and 80% overall, locked away in their warehouse, and they have no way to access it. PERIOD. He said that due to logistics of the lockdown they won't be able to replenish for at least 6 weeks, yet sales of of his remaining stock to be able to make the order have slowed to a trickle, because who wants to wait a month for what's supposed to be "in stock".

Amazon needs to get their shit in order. I get "prioritizing food & meds"; but a 1 month delay... that's going to bankrupt a lot of the vendors that are also dependent upon their services.

mnem
Yet... you know who is gonna be getting a big chunk of that stimulus money.

[Saskia]

Something like this ?
Not affiliated and no experience with that particular gizmo. I would hope that the 115VAC PS in your appliance would sort out any issues that this step down might have ...
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B076WY7S7B/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B076WY7S7B&pd_rd_w=QSpcZ&pf_rd_p=d3e24f85-c2f2-4959-bef4-3acc5e4e81dc&pd_rd_wg=F2Uxr&pf_rd_r=5XSQ4V36V2KDH7Q7KK98&pd_rd_r=2e8c232f-777b-48d1-a735-dc4928d6900c&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNDFSTkpHNU1CREtSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDY2MDU4TUFEVDBaSlNMWkg3JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTEwMDY3NzlHMzFIQlhaTkNURUUmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWwmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

[mnementh]

Recovering slightly faster here now. Managed to muster cooking a lasagne this evening which is not something I would have managed yesterday.

Decided to attempt to solder leads to the DFN packaged bastard I accidentally ordered to see if it was possible. The answer is yes it is possible but probably not without a stereo microscope and a couple of glasses of wine and avoiding caffeine for the day before. So I threw the buggers back in the bin rather than go down that rabbit hole

Better smash 'em with a hammer first so you don't fish them out of the trash AGAIN, you recidivist summitch, you. 

mnem
   TDNF FTW, yo.

[mnementh]

   Having ignored they "nay-sayers" and the why-bother gang, I went ahead and finished my 3D printed attachment for my DER EE DE5000 LCR meter. I can now connect my BNC Kelvin tweezers and probes to the meter.

McBryce.

  PPPPPPPTTTTTPPPPBBBBB!

That said... how did adding all that coax & connectors affect your accuracy & ability to zero out the poor fucker...? Net gain, or just more assache...?

In all honesty... I didn't mean to sound so negative; it just seemed a lot of work to try & achieve Lab-grade measurement process from a device which was designed primarily to be quick & versatile in connectivity yet reasonably accurate for diag work. Kind of the antithesis of what the DE-5000 is all about.

mnem
*currently hating the "oh, so close..." aspect of Murphy's Law*

I haven't wired it up yet. The PCB in the picture is still the 1.6mm version which doesn't fit into the meters slots. The 1mm PCB has arrived, but I haven't had a chance to cut and fit it yet. It shouldn't be an issue to zero it out. If it's properly shielded and the internal connections kept to a minimum length and seperated it should have results equal or better than the standard crocodile clip version.

McBryce.

You & I both know that "shouldn't be" & "should have" are BOTH Murphy's pups. I can see just the capacitance of all that extra coax fscking with your head bigtime. Good luck, my friend.

mnem
The Devil, she never sleeps.

[BU508A]

Something like this ?
Not affiliated and no experience with that particular gizmo. I would hope that the 115VAC PS in your appliance would sort out any issues that this step down might have ...
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B076WY7S7B

Hmm, yes, something like this, thank you for the pointer.
What confuses me a little is the price for that thing.
When I'm looking at a Sedlbauer toroidal transformer in the 2000VA range,
it will cost me around 330 Euro.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/232222457761

I think, I'd inspect the Bronson first and looking at the pictures in the Amazon gallery I'm not really convinced, if the
transformer will hit my understanding of safety ratings.

[mansaxel]

Also bear in mind, they are center-tapped earth on the secondary, so do not try to bond earth to neutral...[/b]

I would NEVER do that, except in ONE place. If, and only IF, you get your feeder from the utility company as a 3 phases plus PEN, which I do, there is a point in the fuse panel where Neutral busbar and Ground busbar are joined. PEN is connected adjacent to this point, and further out in the network, blue and green/yellow never mix.

Further, as a principle, I treat phase and neutral as live conductors in ANY single-phase situation. That way, I never ever have to bother with polarity.  Our plugs (we're on the same standard as Germany, i.e. Schutzkontakt CEE7/4 and europlug CEE 7/16) aren't polarized, so as soon as one's used an extension cord or a multiple outlet, polarity is stochastic.

Bonding the center-tap on the transformer secondary is both possible and (looking at security) desirable. Also serves to teach the poor uneducated about both poles of a mains flex best being regarded as dangerous.