Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Just like scopes and probes 

And power dividers, and RF cables & adapters, and terminators, and standards, and crimpers, and soldering/desoldering equipment, and, and...     These rabbit holes have express elevators!

Yeah

Just bought a metcal iron.

Welcome to club metcal. You will never leave 

[tautech]

Drop...do you mean the feed wire liner ?
Often older types were just like a Bowden outer, just twisted wire and they clean up just fine with kerosene.

No, the AC Mains drop to my old TIG machine - a Miller Synchrowave 180 SD I got back in the late 90s - it needs a 60 A, 240 V feed - disconnected it nearly ten years ago ( - where does time go    ) when the house renovation started and the garage roof went away, and haven't yet rewired it.   

-Pat

Ah OK, you Yanks any your terminology. 

If you think your MIG is old you don't wanna see my much older Danish Migatronic AutoMIG 180 that I scored for $100NZ which needed a 10c transistor to fix it.
Thinking it's probably '80's vintage. Pic from net.

[tggzzz]

Just like scopes and probes 

And power dividers, and RF cables & adapters, and terminators, and standards, and crimpers, and soldering/desoldering equipment, and, and...     These rabbit holes have express elevators!

Yeah

Just bought a metcal iron.

Welcome to club metcal. You will never leave 

For £45 from a buyer that is shutting down their RF amp production, it was worth a punt. I imagine I'll have to buy different tips.

Same seller has HP RF power meters including sensors and other RF goodies, but you'll have to be fast... https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/acturus01/m.html

[Cubdriver]

Drop...do you mean the feed wire liner ?
Often older types were just like a Bowden outer, just twisted wire and they clean up just fine with kerosene.

No, the AC Mains drop to my old TIG machine - a Miller Synchrowave 180 SD I got back in the late 90s - it needs a 60 A, 240 V feed - disconnected it nearly ten years ago ( - where does time go    ) when the house renovation started and the garage roof went away, and haven't yet rewired it.   

-Pat

Ah OK, you Yanks any your terminology. 

If you think your MIG is old you don't wanna see my much older Danish Migatronic AutoMIG 180 that I scored for $100NZ which needed a 10c transistor to fix it.
Thinking it's probably '80's vintage.

Looks like a fine old box of angry pixies!  At some point I’d like to get a bigger MIG machine - currently have only a small 135 A Lincoln portable (the one I bought to fix the exhaust).

Should probably buy a tungsten sharpener before reconnecting the Miller - I’ll be so rusty with TIGing that more time will probably be spent at the grinder sharpening contaminated electrodes than welding at first...

-Pat

[mansaxel]

If you think your MIG is old you don't wanna see my much older Danish Migatronic AutoMIG 180

I've not seen your Migatronic, but I've seen the factory it was made in. I keep thinking I should get a small stick welder, but I'd like it to be a Kemppi. Or perhaps an Esab. Or Migatronic. Depends if you want to do Finnish, Swedish or Danish welding 

[TERRA Operative]

If anyone needs manuals for their welders, I have an extensive library (ESAB, Lincoln, Cigweld, BOC, Kemppi, Miller, some of the Chinese crap, etc etc), and even possibly still access to the service tech portals of multiple manufacturers. Just hit me up and I'll see what I can get.

[BU508A]

If anyone needs manuals for their welders, I have an extensive library (ESAB, Lincoln, Cigweld, BOC, Kemppi, Miller, some of the Chinese crap, etc etc), and even possibly still access to the service tech portals of multiple manufacturers. Just hit me up and I'll see what I can get.

Do you have access to service manuals from Advantest (ADMC), Anritsu, Yokogawa, Kikusui, Hioki?

[beanflying]

Drop...do you mean the feed wire liner ?
Often older types were just like a Bowden outer, just twisted wire and they clean up just fine with kerosene.

No, the AC Mains drop to my old TIG machine - a Miller Synchrowave 180 SD I got back in the late 90s - it needs a 60 A, 240 V feed - disconnected it nearly ten years ago ( - where does time go    ) when the house renovation started and the garage roof went away, and haven't yet rewired it.   

-Pat

Ah OK, you Yanks any your terminology. 

If you think your MIG is old you don't wanna see my much older Danish Migatronic AutoMIG 180 that I scored for $100NZ which needed a 10c transistor to fix it.
Thinking it's probably '80's vintage.

Looks like a fine old box of angry pixies!  At some point I’d like to get a bigger MIG machine - currently have only a small 135 A Lincoln portable (the one I bought to fix the exhaust).

Should probably buy a tungsten sharpener before reconnecting the Miller - I’ll be so rusty with TIGing that more time will probably be spent at the grinder sharpening contaminated electrodes than welding at first...

-Pat

Last tyime I did any TIG it was scratch start so I am looking forward to AC start  I still expect plenty of regrinding 

[bd139]

Just like scopes and probes 

And power dividers, and RF cables & adapters, and terminators, and standards, and crimpers, and soldering/desoldering equipment, and, and...     These rabbit holes have express elevators!

Yeah

Just bought a metcal iron.

Welcome to club metcal. You will never leave 

For £45 from a buyer that is shutting down their RF amp production, it was worth a punt. I imagine I'll have to buy different tips.

Same seller has HP RF power meters including sensors and other RF goodies, but you'll have to be fast... https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/acturus01/m.html

Oh you got a bargain there. That’s same as my PS900 basically.

New tips show up on eBay for not much. AVGresponding posted some which I grabbed a while back. Monster sized ones. Made very short work of the caps on that Tek 475.

[tggzzz]

Just like scopes and probes 

And power dividers, and RF cables & adapters, and terminators, and standards, and crimpers, and soldering/desoldering equipment, and, and...     These rabbit holes have express elevators!

Yeah

Just bought a metcal iron.

Welcome to club metcal. You will never leave 

For £45 from a buyer that is shutting down their RF amp production, it was worth a punt. I imagine I'll have to buy different tips.

Same seller has HP RF power meters including sensors and other RF goodies, but you'll have to be fast... https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/acturus01/m.html

Oh you got a bargain there. That’s same as my PS900 basically.

New tips show up on eBay for not much. AVGresponding posted some which I grabbed a while back. Monster sized ones. Made very short work of the caps on that Tek 475.

I hope so, and could probably flip it anyway.

I browsed by to check on the price of the power meters, did my usual "what else is there", saw that 4 had gone only one was left. Thought for 30s, decided I wanted to see what all the "metcal fuss" was about, and pulled the trigger without doing any research.

Big tips for ground planes was my thought, but I may resurrect some other 4x5 scopes sometime.

[bd139]

Oh it’s a whole world of soldering goodness.

I’ve used Pace and Weller stuff professionally and all that T12 and 837 faff from amateur side and the Metcals are somewhere else entirely. It’s the only iron I’ve seen that can go from soldering nuts into bolts to 0805’s in five seconds without changing the tip 

[TERRA Operative]

If anyone needs manuals for their welders, I have an extensive library (ESAB, Lincoln, Cigweld, BOC, Kemppi, Miller, some of the Chinese crap, etc etc), and even possibly still access to the service tech portals of multiple manufacturers. Just hit me up and I'll see what I can get.

Do you have access to service manuals from Advantest (ADMC), Anritsu, Yokogawa, Kikusui, Hioki?

Not directly, mainly just welders from my time in the game. I can sent emails in Japanese to the Japanese manufacturers though, which can sometimes yield better results than trying in English though.

[Zucca]

Yeah

Just bought a metcal iron.

Welcome to club metcal. You will never leave 

[tggzzz]

If anybody had a Keysight tattoo a few years ago, I wonder what they are thinking now

[Zucca]

https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-england-fan-has-already-got-euro-2020-winners-tattoo-before-final-agai-20210709

[Zucca]

If anybody had a Keysight tattoo a few years ago, I wonder what they are thinking now

I am sooo pissed... this is more disturbing than a laptop without ETH port.

[bd139]

If anybody had a Keysight tattoo a few years ago, I wonder what they are thinking now

I think they were still in the queue getting their HP and Agilent tattoos lasered off.

[bd139]

https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-england-fan-has-already-got-euro-2020-winners-tattoo-before-final-agai-20210709

Ah yes the greater spotted retard. Normally found in the natural habitat of suburban small towns. Decorates their house with red and white flags, has a trampoline in a garden of yellow grass, cigarette ends and dog shit. Can be identified from a distance by two-thirds of a Ford Mondeo in the middle of the front lawn, two bikes and a smoking fat woman with a bad tan sitting on the door step.

[Zucca]

LMAO in the office right now, well done bd.
and continuing laughing... sooo true.

[mansaxel]

If anybody had a Keysight tattoo a few years ago, I wonder what they are thinking now

I think they were still in the queue getting their HP and Agilent tattoos lasered off.

Tattoos are not my thing.  Crosses the "Always have an exit plan" mindset too much.

[AaronLee]

Geez.... 6 pages in just 18 hours.  Keeping up with this thread is becoming a real challenge.

They wanna hit 100000 replies by mid of September...

Is there a prize for post #100,000? There ought to be.

[Specmaster]

Oh it’s a whole world of soldering goodness.

I’ve used Pace and Weller stuff professionally and all that T12 and 837 faff from amateur side and the Metcals are somewhere else entirely. It’s the only iron I’ve seen that can go from soldering nuts into bolts to 0805’s in five seconds without changing the tip 

Just may be one day I'll get around to testing that for myself, but seriously, from my perspective, my experience of T12's is fantastic. Yes, I did have that duff controller that made my tip glow cherry red, but after that was replaced FOC, I have not had any problems. Perhaps if I was to leave the iron switched on all day, like it would be in a production mode, then I might, but as with all my gear, it just gets switched on when I need it and then if I'm not going to be using it again for a while, switch it off. With something like a 10-second wait until it's ready for use, that seems like a sensible way to use it and help to reduce my carbon footprint. 

[BU508A]

Geez.... 6 pages in just 18 hours.  Keeping up with this thread is becoming a real challenge.

They wanna hit 100000 replies by mid of September...

Is there a prize for post #100,000? There ought to be.

Prize? I don't know.
But perhaps bitseeker should have the honor for posting #100000 since he started here all this madness.   

[BU508A]

Oh it’s a whole world of soldering goodness.

I’ve used Pace and Weller stuff professionally and all that T12 and 837 faff from amateur side and the Metcals are somewhere else entirely. It’s the only iron I’ve seen that can go from soldering nuts into bolts to 0805’s in five seconds without changing the tip 

Just may be one day I'll get around to testing that for myself, but seriously, from my perspective, my experience of T12's is fantastic. Yes, I did have that duff controller that made my tip glow cherry red, but after that was replaced FOC, I have not had any problems. Perhaps if I was to leave the iron switched on all day, like it would be in a production mode, then I might, but as with all my gear, it just gets switched on when I need it and then if I'm not going to be using it again for a while, switch it off. With something like a 10-second wait until it's ready for use, that seems like a sensible way to use it and help to reduce my carbon footprint. 

I hope, the switches are flipping in the correct directions. 

[Cerebus]

Well fuck. The first day I used it, this mower managed to find a piece of steel rebar driven into the ground that I have missed with the other mower ever since I got here a year ago.

Now... does this mean I need to keep the other mower, cuz this one is jinxed and wants to stay dead...?

mnem
You got me again, Murphy...

Ah nice and if you know much about blade impacts there might be a couple of issues in front of you.
Very very likely the flywheel key is now shorn or at best partially but enough to put the timing out for it now not to run properly.
At worst you could also have a bent crank and somewhat harder to remedy unless you have access to a B&S crankshaft straightening jig.
Here's one similar to what we used some decades back:
https://www.amazon.com/Stens-751-032-Crankshaft-Straightener-crankshafts/dp/B008N3K542

Fingers X'ed for you.

One would hope that in a mechanism where this kind of impact is highly likely to happen, inevitable even, that someone has built in a sacrificial component, like a shear pin, that is designed to break under these circumstances and be easy to replace.