Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[TERRA Operative]

Ugh, I need to stay off Yahoo Auctions.....
Just scored a Tek P6015 HV scope probe for about equal to US$135

Didn't even really need it, but I got it on the way now.

With or without the dielectric fluid necessary to use it at full ratings? The freon based fluid is no longer available but according to TekWiki a silicone based fluid is now used. But they are mum as to what exactly that fluid is.     

Not sure, the can isn't shown in the listing so I assume it's gone.
I saw the silicone fluid mentioned, but once I get the probe, I'll dig deeper to see what I can use.

You can get PFPEs from Galden that would probably do the job, dielectric strength 400kV per inch.

https://www.solvay.com/en/brands/galden-pfpe/properties

Oooh, interesting.... I wonder if they'll sell a small can of that stuff? 

[mnementh]

For BU508A:



mnem
   SOBU508A... cost me almost a hour wasted onnat site... click... click... clickity-click...   

[Cubdriver]

Ugh, I need to stay off Yahoo Auctions.....
Just scored a Tek P6015 HV scope probe for about equal to US$135

Didn't even really need it, but I got it on the way now.

With or without the dielectric fluid necessary to use it at full ratings? The freon based fluid is no longer available but according to TekWiki a silicone based fluid is now used. But they are mum as to what exactly that fluid is.     

Not sure, the can isn't shown in the listing so I assume it's gone.
I saw the silicone fluid mentioned, but once I get the probe, I'll dig deeper to see what I can use.

You can get PFPEs from Galden that would probably do the job, dielectric strength 400kV per inch.

https://www.solvay.com/en/brands/galden-pfpe/properties

Oooh, interesting.... I wonder if they'll sell a small can of that stuff? 

I acquired a 6015 last summer (from the same estate the Tek 547 came from), and of course the dielectric fluid is long gone, so I too am watching this with interest.

-Pat

[TERRA Operative]

Ooohhh, that Galden stuff might be a bit dicey to play with...

Is galden toxic?
This gas is toxic if inhaled or it comes into contact with moist skin.

[edit]
Looks like butane is a useable alternative to the freon.
Reports say that the probe flashes over at 20kV with no gas, and doesn't flash-over at all with butane.

[Ice-Tea]

Ice-Tea got something also.
(if TM503 is a leftover one day don't throw it away)

Something... 

[mnementh]

...Looks like butane is a useable alternative to the freon. Reports say that the probe flashes over at 20kV with no gas, and doesn't flash-over at all with butane.

No, the flash is all over you when your HV finds that inevitable tiny little leak... 

mnem
Here, lets probe your flyback with a BiC lighter... 

[RolandK]

For the 6015 just remembered a comment of Highvoltage:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/high-voltage-oscilloscope-probes-make-or-buy/msg652364/#msg652364

There are 2-Component silicongel for electric installation with up to 25kV/mm

[Robert763]

Ooohhh, that Galden stuff might be a bit dicey to play with...

Is galden toxic?
This gas is toxic if inhaled or it comes into contact with moist skin.

[edit]
Looks like butane is a useable alternative to the freon.
Reports say that the probe flashes over at 20kV with no gas, and doesn't flash-over at all with butane.

If it flashes over with Butane you probably won't be worried about the probe 
The vapour pressure is similar at least.
Fortunatly my 6015 still has fluid in it.
They are usable up to 13 kV without any fluid there is a de-rating graph in the manual 

[AVGresponding]

Ooohhh, that Galden stuff might be a bit dicey to play with...

Is galden toxic?
This gas is toxic if inhaled or it comes into contact with moist skin.

[edit]
Looks like butane is a useable alternative to the freon.
Reports say that the probe flashes over at 20kV with no gas, and doesn't flash-over at all with butane.

If it flashes over with Butane you probably won't be worried about the probe 
The vapour pressure is similar at least.
Fortunatly my 6015 still has fluid in it.
They are usable up to 13 kV without any fluid there is a de-rating graph in the manual

The air fuel mix for butane ignition is pretty narrow, I'd not worry. You're more likely to get burned from the arc than that...

[Ice-Tea]

Yeah, uhm, so, it seems I have been a busy boy today.

To those who have also had Fun in Denmark: I will have to make arrangements, if you also have to have stuff picked up you can let me know, perhaps we can combine efforts. Whatever those efforts turn out to be.

[med6753]

I don't care what anybody sez.....a flammable gas or liquid anywhere HV is a no go. 

[AVGresponding]

Looks like yt have taken down the vids of stupid kids biting the bottoms off disposable lighters while they are lit. Still, stupid is as stupid does, and there's always plenty of them to go around...



Though I must admit, I wouldn't have expected the headlining, or any interior trim for that matter, to be quite so flammable

[Robert763]

Worst case senario:
Slight leak builds up to a flammable ratio under hand shield,
Small spark at probe tip on connection / disconection,
Explosion under shield,
Fractures HV tube.
Butane BLEVE
Gas cloud ignites
You loose a finger or two, burns.

No way you can justify Butane or similar flammable material in a HV probe.
My choice would be silicone dielectric fluid to replace Freon 114

[factory]

Fluke 8520A for £19 wasn't very high price.
Though HP 3478A screen had numbers when Fluke was dark.

HP 3476x art deco price was decent, can't find a lot, and bundled with a scope, with issues though.

User "contrastled" won so many items that if not automated then at least an excel of some sort was needed, and maybe £10k.

Ice-Tea got something also.
(if TM503 is a leftover one day don't throw it away)

Overall very little average Joe winners, it seems.

Could "contrastled" be an alias of "lightstream" from the last sale, I noticed they didn't bid on any of the lots in Blackburn, which is odd considering they were bidding on used TE in such huge quantity. 
Looked up the address of the Blackburn lots & it's grim, small street with car repair shops, hand car wash, self storage, empty buildings and this pile of shite. 

David

[AVGresponding]

Worst case senario:
Slight leak builds up to a flammable ratio under hand shield,
Small spark at probe tip on connection / disconection,
Explosion under shield,
Fractures HV tube.
Butane BLEVE
Gas cloud ignites
You loose a finger or two, burns.

No way you can justify Butane or similar flammable material in a HV probe.
My choice would be silicone dielectric fluid to replace Freon 114

I still think it's a stretch, and exceptionally unlikely. Still, if I had a choice I would for sure go for something more intrinsically safe.

[mansaxel]

Yeah, uhm, so, it seems I have been a busy boy today.

To those who have also had Fun in Denmark: I will have to make arrangements, if you also have to have stuff picked up you can let me know, perhaps we can combine efforts. Whatever those efforts turn out to be.

As long as you let us poor addicts know when there are Stuff Available I'm happy. If I'd lived around where I was born, I'd be of use. Now, 600km away, I'm not.  But I even speak the language good enough to sometimes fool Danes.

[med6753]

Just for giggles I was reading the manuals as listed in TekWiki for the 6015 and 6015A.

The latest copy of the 6015 manual (1985) still listed freon as the dielectric fluid.

On the other hand, the 6015A manual makes no mention of a dielectric fluid at all. Apparently a design change to eliminate that requirement.   

[factory]

snip....

BTW,
some PP stuff.
Signal generators and spectrum analyzers okay, but resistance calibrator, and then AC calibrator.
Must be a collector fight, there is still time though.
Then what's wrong with counters, everybody already have one?

Only bought one 9835 Racal counter here  , a probably knackered Huntron tracker  , Tek 453 scope, the pile of HP 180/182 scope remains, some GR cables (in a box of crap), the HP 651B oscilloscope , a test set No1 lamp foot and finally got a HP 10020A probe set (missed the one last week on ePay).
Missed out on several relisted lots that "stream" didn't complete sale on last time & "LED" won this time, bet they will get relisted again.

David

[Ice-Tea]

So, eh, what? Do you think it's a bot  P&P uses to drive prices up? That would be darn nasty. Not to mention expensive for me...

[AVGresponding]

Some ebay listings in order to try and get some other people to throw their wallets in front of mine...



Much tzzzt and boat-anchorage at a reasonable price: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373933181067





Can't remember if someone posted this already:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393935890707





So want this, so don't have the space, and so don't want the hassle of fixing triax sockets:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325053773307





If I didn't already have one of these:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325054995627





A 123 just went for £140 which surprised me. Yes, it was working.  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284650513574





This is just... I mean... it's... I have no words...  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353913646232





One for the Specmaster:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373933524122





Anyone near St Asaph? Wherever that is...  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165339867097





I saw "Metrawatt" and was excited. Imagine my disappointment...  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373934849123





Crusty af battery compartment, but probably works:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373934854031





Nice boat anchor for the Euro lot:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284656163205





This beer must be stronger than I thought, I'm seeing double:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403475475809

[tautech]

Just for giggles I was reading the manuals as listed in TekWiki for the 6015 and 6015A.

The latest copy of the 6015 manual (1985) still listed freon as the dielectric fluid.

On the other hand, the 6015A manual makes no mention of a dielectric fluid at all. Apparently a design change to eliminate that requirement.

Yep, not a peep on dielectric fluid requirement for the A version.

[cyclin_al]

...The new modem has great performance according to my ISP.  Here is the definition of great performance:  1186 ms latency, 0.10 Mbps download and 0.58 Mbps upload.  I call that tiny. 

EDIT2:  Try using Teams on that ...  Unfortunately, it can get worse than Teams.  We just got Office 365 online at work.  In the new Outlook, it takes 37 seconds for the (cr)app to respond to a mouse click.  Now I realize just how many mouse clicks it takes to accomplish anything with MS software.  Each click is an agonizing decision.  The best performance I can now do is two days to get through my daily email... 

Turn phone on hotspot mode, at least long enuf to check your e...?

mnem
*survived a week of our only internet being my phone several times with all the moves recently*

I certainly did exactly that with the work phone to check all the work e... 

Oops, I forgot to mention that Outlook for (insert mobile OS here) is much faster than Outlook 365.  The last couple of weeks, I am doing as much as I can on a tiny phone screen, and dreading having to use a 3-display computer.  Typing long emails and calendar functions are still done on the computer, to the minimum extent possible.

[Neper]

But I even speak the language good enough to sometimes fool Danes.

Had to push the faders at times when Deutschlandfunk still did foreign language programmes in the evening.

While to our ears Swedish sounds like playing a tape with German backwards, the Danish news always started with a few discernible words and then continued with what sounded like ...ättnättnättnättnättn until the end.

[Cerebus]

Ooohhh, that Galden stuff might be a bit dicey to play with...

Is galden toxic?
This gas is toxic if inhaled or it comes into contact with moist skin.

[edit]
Looks like butane is a useable alternative to the freon.
Reports say that the probe flashes over at 20kV with no gas, and doesn't flash-over at all with butane.

If it flashes over with Butane you probably won't be worried about the probe 
The vapour pressure is similar at least.
Fortunatly my 6015 still has fluid in it.
They are usable up to 13 kV without any fluid there is a de-rating graph in the manual

The air fuel mix for butane ignition is pretty narrow, I'd not worry. You're more likely to get burned from the arc than that...

You made me look that up out of curiosity. Flammability limits 1.8% - 8.4% butane:air. Stoichiometric at 6.1%.

[Ice-Tea]

Now look it up for hydrogen.

Luckily no fool would consider that as a fuel or anything.