Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tggzzz]

Accidently, I have a number of GPIB modules for them. I removed them from most units because they caused issues, so I assume they're bad but if you want one you can have one for the cost of shipping.

I'm glad I didn't buy those!

[mnementh]

@Zucca it is meant to be >60 to kill off any germs (legionellas)
This was the card I was referring to. I am using it to check if the voltages are there. In modern mainboards it will not necessarily display the POST codes though.

@Tautech an old Haswell board may not be worth the effort. I'd throw out the battery and reset the cmos as it most likely got corrupted. You may want to check the mosfets for any shorts though, those are a common cause for failures.

I usedta buy a new POST card every year or three back when I worked for the ISD. Since then, meh... I haven't bought a MB for myself that doesn't have it onboard in like a decade. 

Yeah, that B85-M board is a dinosaur... what, 8 year old tech now...? If you need to spend more time on it than it takes to check voltages, nuke the CMOS to defaults & replace the coin cell... yeah, you're fighting a losing battle. Same with that POST card. Money's better put in your mattress towards something civilized. Even if it does work, those VRM caps are running on borrowed time; yeah, they're "solid caps", but they're the cheap-arse 5000 hour rated ones. Those are suspect new out of the box IMO.

mnem

[mnementh]

David

Mmmm... toasted extra dark, just like my bagel. 

mnem

[mnementh]

factory: I must admit I'm enjoying watching your HP porn rather than owning it and arguing with it myself 

Well that's the thing about what you see in porn, it looks exciting but if you try it yourself you sprain something, bruise something else, dislocate another part and end up exhausted, disappointed and covered in goop.

mnem
"A little pleasure... a little pain... it's all goood..."

[mnementh]

OK .... I've done it.  NanoVNA and TinySA ordered, together with a test/demo board kit.   Now waiting on that slow boat........

(I'd blame Bean and Mnem for inciting this action on my part - but they'd both probably wear that badge with pride.)

The Tiny SA looks good but my old Eyes would like a larger screen 

I thought so too... and I am definitely glad I waited for it on the NanoNVA. But the tinySA UI is very well-optimized for the screen size; it is easy to use, even for my big ol' Shrek hands. Having a semi-calibrated-gain source of sine wave as broad-frequency as this thing in a battery-powered package, plus SMA connection so making a random solder-on connection is quick & cheap is quite frankly a delight.

No regrets whatsoever getting the tinySA while it was still tiny; it's handy as a pocket on a shirt, and small enough to fit in one.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Well the 5325B crystal oven heater resistance is lower than what the manual states (60Ω to 80Ω, I suspect it may have shorted turns.   

David

Are you working in a semi-frigid shop like I usually prefer...? My cold-blooded nature does sometimes cause me similar confusion. I'd suggest that the more important indicator is of course how much current it draws; if it doesn't exceed spec then probably okay. If you could easily separate the oven from the crystal section (I know, not bloody likely), I'd try tapping on it while it's heating and look for current spikes.

Cheers,

mnem
Percussive maintenance is a time-honored diagnostic tool.

[tautech]

@Tautech an old Haswell board may not be worth the effort. I'd throw out the battery and reset the cmos as it most likely got corrupted. You may want to check the mosfets for any shorts though, those are a common cause for failures.

I usedta buy a new POST card every year or three back when I worked for the ISD. Since then, meh... I haven't bought a MB for myself that doesn't have it onboard in like a decade. 

Yeah, that B85-M board is a dinosaur... what, 8 year old tech now...? If you need to spend more time on it than it takes to check voltages, nuke the CMOS to defaults & replace the coin cell... yeah, you're fighting a losing battle. Same with that POST card. Money's better put in your mattress towards something civilized. Even if it does work, those VRM caps are running on borrowed time; yeah, they're "solid caps", but they're the cheap-arse 5000 hour rated ones. Those are suspect new out of the box IMO.

Been using ASUS boards for a good while now and it's the only one that's given any issues and as it was a newbie and DOA pissed me off some I can tell you. 
Trouble was I'd had it for many months maybe a year or more so trying to claim a DOA warranty was to be like pushing poo uphill so I didn't even bother and as newer HW was out and 1150 socketed MB's were already in limited supply we grabbed what was available to get the thing going rather than need a new CPU also to fit the later boards.
Still I now have some tips to try and troubleshoot the thing before it goes for no return ticket flying lessons ! 

[Brumby]

OK .... I've done it.  NanoVNA and TinySA ordered, together with a test/demo board kit.

Now waiting on that slow boat........


(I'd blame Bean and Mnem for inciting this action on my part - but they'd both probably wear that badge with pride.)

The Tiny SA looks good but my old Eyes would like a larger screen 

My thoughts also - but I checked on what information I could find about further development of the TinySA.  The 4" screen is on their list of things to do - but they're concentrating on getting the current product established before entertaining such things.

That unknown, together with Mnem's positive comment and the itch that's been niggling ever since I saw it released lured me into the purchase.


We will see.

[mnementh]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/2-capitol-police-officers-suspended-and-at-least-10-more-under-investigation-for-alleged-roles-in-riot/ar-BB1cF8xb?ocid=News

Jeezus H Christ a-hoppin' on a pogo stick. I thought there was something fishy aboot a mob of mouthbreathers being able to get inside so quickly, and find their way into actual congressional offices.

 

mnem
You can't make this shit up.

[beanflying]

All countries have a lunatic fringe in their Police forces. A person I know was trying to get into our local Special Operations Group - fortunately he kept failing the Psych side of thing as he was before and still is a small angry man IRL and now more fortunately no longer in the Police force. The USA's issues are more 'special' again as those same idiots are well armed

[0culus]

What the fuck, I can't even get away from politicks in here.  Come on guys...

[beanflying]

What the fuck, I can't even get away from politicks in here.  Come on guys...

THIS IS NOT POLITICS ! This is social commentary.

[0culus]

What the fuck, I can't even get away from politicks in here.  Come on guys...

THIS IS NOT POLITICS ! This is social commentary.

The two are intertwined hopelessly nowadays. Anyway, I'm outta here for a while. I get depressed enough reading this shit elsewhere and I don't need more of it. 

[mnementh]

@Tautech an old Haswell board may not be worth the effort. I'd throw out the battery and reset the cmos as it most likely got corrupted. You may want to check the mosfets for any shorts though, those are a common cause for failures.

I usedta buy a new POST card every year or three back when I worked for the ISD. Since then, meh... I haven't bought a MB for myself that doesn't have it onboard in like a decade. 

Yeah, that B85-M board is a dinosaur... what, 8 year old tech now...? If you need to spend more time on it than it takes to check voltages, nuke the CMOS to defaults & replace the coin cell... yeah, you're fighting a losing battle. Same with that POST card. Money's better put in your mattress towards something civilized. Even if it does work, those VRM caps are running on borrowed time; yeah, they're "solid caps", but they're the cheap-arse 5000 hour rated ones. Those are suspect new out of the box IMO.

Been using ASUS boards for a good while now and it's the only one that's given any issues and as it was a newbie and DOA pissed me off some I can tell you. 
Trouble was I'd had it for many months maybe a year or more so trying to claim a DOA warranty was to be like pushing poo uphill so I didn't even bother and as newer HW was out and 1150 socketed MB's were already in limited supply we grabbed what was available to get the thing going rather than need a new CPU also to fit the later boards.
Still I now have some tips to try and troubleshoot the thing before it goes for no return ticket flying lessons ! 

Yeah; I've always said I never regretted the extra money spent on ASUS... My old 1055T build was on a ASUS M78 board that got killed by lightning strike to a DSL MODEM... after replacing a shorted RPP shunt diode I found, the ethernet controller IC heated up in a few seconds and desoldered itself, falling off the board... after which, it booted normally! 

I bought a gigabit ethernet card for $12, plugged it in and ran that board another 3 years. 

Well, as you were able to successfully build on another MB, that build should be your source for troubleshooting exchange parts; at least, after you confirm all operating voltages within spec.

   

If you can find that TL611 card for the release price of ~$15 (at least that's the price people claim in the videos I could find), I'd say that's worth having. Not sure I can say the same aboot it or the TL460S card at ~$40-50 as it seems to be bringing on Amazon, unless there's something fabulous aboot the FW that makes it way better.

Saskia, I haven't owned one in years as I said; do you know which one is the newer/better firmware...?

I like that the TL460S has all those testpoints broken out, but the TL611 has the ribbon cables/adapters available for connecting to laptops.

mnem
*toddling off to ded*

[mnementh]

What the fuck, I can't even get away from politicks in here.  Come on guys...

THIS IS NOT POLITICS ! This is social commentary.

The two are intertwined hopelessly nowadays. Anyway, I'm outta here for a while. I get depressed enough reading this shit elsewhere and I don't need more of it.

Jeezus dude. We've stayed away from the shitstorm almost all day... this is actually fucking important.  No, I'm serious. This is the kind of shit a lot of us want to talk aboot with our friends; many of whom are in here. Many of us come in here to be away from the 100% nerd-vision technical discourse that occupies the rest of eevBlog.

We shouldn't have to worry aboot getting jumped for civil discourse immediately upon mentioning a vaguely political topic.

mnem
*knocks self unconscious with a riot mallet*

[mnementh]

All countries have a lunatic fringe in their Police forces. A person I know was trying to get into our local Special Operations Group - fortunately he kept failing the Psych side of thing as he was before and still is a small angry man IRL and now more fortunately no longer in the Police force. The USA's issues are more 'special' again as those same idiots are well armed

My mother used to say all cops were one of two kinds of crazy... either they got into it thinking they could change things and make a difference (any more than anybody does by being a good neighbor), and then there were the ones who got into it to be an authority figure and carry a gun. I think she was trying to shelter me from things like outright dirty cops.

I never really gave that much thought... the small town I grew up in was a lot more like Mayberry than even I would like to admit. We lived in a 2-story farmhouse up on a hill 20 minutes away from "town", and the doors were never locked. My grandfather was pretty well-respected, and knew everybody. The Sheriff was a friend of the family and ate dinner with us at least once a month. We all knew him as "Morty"... even the little ones called him Sheriff Morty.

It wasn't until I spent a few summers in Florida... then Texas... that I really understood what she was talking aboot.

mnem
*turns off the PC and crawls off to lick his... wounds*

[tautech]

Bean and I are chatting privately on pumps again. 

Got one of these that needs new impeller bearings and seals:


Getting it apart is proving to be fun. 

[beanflying]

Advice given included but was not limited to the use of a Gas Axe and a bigger hammer 

[Brumby]

Dave now has an entry in this race.....



...... and he's prepared to use it!

[Robert763]

Nah, you need a big pneumatic impact wrench for that. The PTO guard gives some sense of scale. Ae we going to get teardown photos? 

[bd139]

factory: I must admit I'm enjoying watching your HP porn rather than owning it and arguing with it myself 

Well that's the thing about what you see in porn, it looks exciting but if you try it yourself you sprain something, bruise something else, dislocate another part and end up exhausted, disappointed and covered in goop.

Elegantly described! 

[beanflying]

Nah, you need a big pneumatic impact wrench for that. The PTO guard gives some sense of scale. Ae we going to get teardown photos? 

That is possibly part of the issue with Stainless/Stainless Galling due to the PTO semi impact drive over years of use apart from likely chemical stick between the impeller nut and shaft. Brute force isn't always the fix in spite of the 16lb solution above 

[tautech]

Nah, you need a big pneumatic impact wrench for that. The PTO guard gives some sense of scale. Ae we going to get teardown photos? 

1/2" rattle gun with a 30mm socket wouldn't budge the impeller nut but that was just a quick try before we had to finish for the day and go help a school buddy with 200 bales of hay.....and the  that came after. 

Pitch black now in NZ so pics tomorrow......and by then hopefully the full teardown.
This is the beast if specs interest you:
https://www.condorpumps.co.nz/Rovatti-TL3-80GA-horizontal-single-stage-centrifugal-pumps-with-overgear-2000-lpm
With a nearly 6:1 step up the impeller does 3200 rpm ! 

[Saskia]

@Brumby sorry, my earlier post could be misunderstood. The Asus board that I still had (Z87 or so) now has 16GB of mem plus the $30 Nvidia Quadro. That plus an SSD make a decent and usable system, especially, as I am bidding on a Xeon E3-1245v3 to shove it in there. Doing so will give the system another couple of years of life. Furthermore it will be fully usable as a lab PC. I got the RAM out of my old haswell (Gigabyte Z97m) which I built in 2014 or so and managed to upgrade to 32GB for 50€. it's still running W7 and it is my daily image conversion Linux VM Web, what have you PC.

@mnementh @tautech I have the TL460s Plus here, got it for 25 quid on ebay. It does not always show the Post codes, but I can still see the Voltages, plus the breakout points are also nice.

For me this one is sufficient, I am currently not working on Laptops. Even though those adapters would have come handy when working on the Fujitsu industrial boards (which now all run, btw.) Pity that tautech is so far away. Otherwise he could have just sent the board over and I would have had a look.

[tautech]

@mnementh @tautech I have the TL460s Plus here, got it for 25 quid on ebay. It does not always show the Post codes, but I can still see the Voltages, plus the breakout points are also nice.

For me this one is sufficient, I am currently not working on Laptops. Even though those adapters would have come handy when working on the Fujitsu industrial boards (which now all run, btw.) Pity that tautech is so far away. Otherwise he could have just sent the board over and I would have had a look.

I'm due to see my PC tech in the next few days and I'll see if he can remember the tests he did on the DOA ASUS MB as he may have MB testers of his own when the PC business he worked at closed down and he went to be a house husband and start a family.
Need to have a look through my PC boxes for a 1150 CPU and RAM to do some voltage and BIOS checks....that's if I can find time with a new stock shipment arriving, house to paint and a pump to fix.......