Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

Today, after all that sailing, I and Middle Boy spent the day doing the last of the "yearly suspension renovation". We swapped out springs and shocks in the rear, a job much easier on the AWD model than the FWD one. The AWD has a McPherson style strut that goes out of the car in compressed mode, and is then renovated on the bench, whereas the FWD clamps the spring between a control arm and the chassis. It takes lots of jury-rigged jacks and swearing to fix the FWD. I won't do that again, not without the special tool Volvo prescribes. The AWD takes a pillar-style jack between the control arm and the rubber anti-bottoming-out dumper "shoe" in the chassis, which bends the suspension down, unloads the strut which comes out like nothing, once all 4 screws are out!, and then the swearing and cursing part can take place at the bench, where spring compressors can be at play.



We gathered nearly all of the swapped-out parts in a box, to tell the previous owners (They're family) what we'd done.

Why do you have to do a yearly suspension renovation?, my car is coming up to its 9th birthday and is still running on its original springs, shocks etc and passes its annual test with no problems.

[TERRA Operative]

When Toyota makes a Rolls Royce:

youtube.com/watch?v=1uqgHZxBE8A

mnem
Even Toyota knows Lexus is for posers. 

Eehhhh, give me the engine, throw away the rest.


I see them here regularly, driven by guys in French-navy blue suits with white gloves sitting exactly on the (waay too low) speed limit everywhere they go.
Such a disservice to such an engine.

[bd139]

As requested, here is a link to some footage of the Steam Gala I  attended on 3rd June at Epping and Ongar railway. Still getting to grips with the editing software, still some schoolboy mistakes in this compilation that I need to address in due course. Also, it is evident that I need to invest in a tripod and external microphone. The sun was way too bright to really use the flip out screen, so I had to use the viewfinder and not only can you hear plenty of wind noise but also sometimes my breathing, due to the location of the built-in microphones 

Still almost an hour's footage, including some shot from the train as it passed through part of Epping forest, to process.
https://youtu.be/r_eXuVU_9Wo

The video is set to private.

Sorry, try again.

Very cool. Thanks for posting. Need to go on that at some point. A friend of mine Colin is trying to plan a day out which involved that and the secret nuclear bunker. Might go along then

[AVGresponding]

When Toyota makes a Rolls Royce:



mnem
Even Toyota knows Lexus is for posers. 

I watched that same video last week, impressive car in many ways. Many of the features they discuss, footrests etc, my car has as well and that drop down panel in the front passenger seat, my car can also have that in just about every country where they are sold, except the UK 

Except Toyota were doing this back in the 1980s.

When Toyota makes a Rolls Royce:

youtube.com/watch?v=1uqgHZxBE8A

mnem
Even Toyota knows Lexus is for posers. 

Eehhhh, give me the engine, throw away the rest.


I see them here regularly, driven by guys in French-navy blue suits with white gloves sitting exactly on the (waay too low) speed limit everywhere they go.
Such a disservice to such an engine.

I saw a vid a couple of years back with some guys that had fitted a racing exhaust to one, the noise was like an F1, the looks they got hilarious. I'll see if I can find it after work.

[mansaxel]

Why do you have to do a yearly suspension renovation?, my car is coming up to its 9th birthday and is still running on its original springs, shocks etc and passes its annual test with no problems.

When the Gen 2 V70 came out, MY 2001, it was tuned for a smooth ride. So smooth, that the police who load their cars really well and then drive them actively, went and insisted on multiple enhancements to it, or they'd go somewhere else. The civilian ones stayed smooth. Like driving (safely) on jelly. This meant that all rubber parts fatigue and there's a running joke among V70 owners that they'll have to do "annual suspension renovation", especially in the front regions; the normal ones being FWD and pretty heavy...

This is far from the actual truth though, mine is a 2007 AWD model and we swapped the original parts off of it now. It was way overdue; both rear shocks were completely worn out. Still on original front shocks; that'll be next year or so. The rear end now is magnificient. Very sturdy. As noted in my previous post, the rears are aggregate struts on the AWD, so made sense to swap the original springs, especially since we're going on a wine shopping trip to Europe this year...

[TERRA Operative]

When Toyota makes a Rolls Royce:



mnem
Even Toyota knows Lexus is for posers. 

I watched that same video last week, impressive car in many ways. Many of the features they discuss, footrests etc, my car has as well and that drop down panel in the front passenger seat, my car can also have that in just about every country where they are sold, except the UK 

Except Toyota were doing this back in the 1980s.

When Toyota makes a Rolls Royce:

youtube.com/watch?v=1uqgHZxBE8A

mnem
Even Toyota knows Lexus is for posers. 

Eehhhh, give me the engine, throw away the rest.


I see them here regularly, driven by guys in French-navy blue suits with white gloves sitting exactly on the (waay too low) speed limit everywhere they go.
Such a disservice to such an engine.

I saw a vid a couple of years back with some guys that had fitted a racing exhaust to one, the noise was like an F1, the looks they got hilarious. I'll see if I can find it after work.

Check out what Smokey Nagata was doing with his Top Secret V12 converted Supra years ago. Pretty insane stuff.

[McBryce]

JUNK STEREO REPAIR UPDATE

Put the board back in the cabinet, reconnect the flat flex going to the front panel, was a bit short. So I was eyeing all around the bench for something suitable to prop the board a bit, which would also make it easier to work on. Look what I found, perfect !!!! 

Applied power. Checked all 3 power rails, 5/6/12V. All good. Pulled the plug. Spent 30 minutes buzzing the board. The 6V seems to be used by the audio section. 12V for the servo motors for the CD player.

5V for the CPU ? I buzzed all the 354 pins of the CPU and none of them appeared to be connected to any of the supplies ?! 

I just don't know 

So I checked a dozen tiny SMD caps in the vicinity of the USB/SD connectors, all good. Well I mean no super low ohms readings.
So I then checked all 245677 SOT 23 transistors. Found only a couple that tested weird and would have needed to be desoldered to test them. But they were far away from the USB/SD digital stuff. They looked more to do with the audio, so I left them alone, not wanting to waste time.

Then I applied power, tried my USB stick and what do you know, it works now !!! 
As you can see on the close up picture, the blue LED on the USB stick is lit, there is activity !
So I plugged the speakers, and hey presto music there was ! It was reading my MP3 files just fine ! I could switch from one track to the next as well, it was working perfectly.

Thrilled by this success, I immediately added an SD card to the mix to see if that would now work as well. Alas no.... so I then switch back the USB stick..... won't work anymore !!! 

So since it DID work once... it means there is nothing fundamentally broken in this stereo. CPU is fine at the least, which is the main relief. So must be an intermittent contact somewhere. Tried applying pressure with a pencil (plastic sharpie, non conductive    )on the USB connector and surrounding discrete components, the CPU even... no luck, it won't come back to life. 

But I guess it's got to be a dodgy joint somewhere. Logic would dictate the USB connector of course, since it takes all the mechanical stress every time she puts the stick in and out. At first glance I can't see any broken joints on its the 4 connector pins but well, I will look closer, and reflow those pins anyway, of course.

Wish me luck....

Hi Vince,
       some of those SD Card slots have two tiny contacts to detect that a card is inserted. Could it be that those pins have been bent/shorted by clumsy use and that the CPU is detecting a card but getting no response and that this is deactivating the USB port?

McBryce.

[BU508A]

Just went online: The Defpom about a Fluke 87 V:

[Vince]

JUNK STEREO REPAIR UPDATE

Hi Vince,
       some of those SD Card slots have two tiny contacts to detect that a card is inserted. Could it be that those pins have been bent/shorted by clumsy use and that the CPU is detecting a card but getting no response and that this is deactivating the USB port?

McBryce.

That's an idea. Yes I did see such a contact in the SD car connector.

Not sure that's my problem though, see as even when I put an SD card in the slot, then switch the input selector to SD, it won't read the card.

Also the CPU was having problems powering the USB port, with too low a voltage and not enough drive to support any load, not even my DMM. So there is something fioshy inside the CPU inside, like Dragon said.

Also, the stereo is MEANT to have both USB and SD card connected at the same time, because it can copy MP3 files from one to the other.

Still...I will take that stereo apart again and play with that SD detection switch just in case...

[bd139]

Just went online: The Defpom about a Fluke 87 V:

Short conclusion is the same as mine. Good meter. You get what you pay for 

[Ice-Tea]

Took some photographs of a Keysight N5743A System DC Power Supply (12.5 V, 60 A, 750 W).

TDK/Lambda with Keysight sticker Nicely fotographed!

[Specmaster]

Just went online: The Defpom about a Fluke 87 V:

Short conclusion is the same as mine. Good meter. You get what you pay for 

My 85 is also similar 

[xrunner]

JUNK STEREO REPAIR UPDATE

Hi Vince,
       some of those SD Card slots have two tiny contacts to detect that a card is inserted. Could it be that those pins have been bent/shorted by clumsy use and that the CPU is detecting a card but getting no response and that this is deactivating the USB port?

McBryce.

That's an idea. Yes I did see such a contact in the SD car connector.

Not sure that's my problem though, see as even when I put an SD card in the slot, then switch the input selector to SD, it won't read the card.

Also the CPU was having problems powering the USB port, with too low a voltage and not enough drive to support any load, not even my DMM. So there is something fioshy inside the CPU inside, like Dragon said.

Also, the stereo is MEANT to have both USB and SD card connected at the same time, because it can copy MP3 files from one to the other.

Still...I will take that stereo apart again and play with that SD detection switch just in case...

Jeepers Vince. That POS would have been thrown in the trash heap so fast over here that it would have just seemed like a blur to the eyes as it flew from my hands into the can.

But hey we're all different, so I guess if it opens your beer can to mess with it I suppose ...

[bd139]

I think that crate of junk needs to go to a hospice, not through another surgery 

[mansaxel]

I think that crate of junk needs to go to a hospice, not through another surgery 

This is a suitable hospice:

[Vince]

JUNK STEREO REPAIR UPDATE

Hi Vince,
       some of those SD Card slots have two tiny contacts to detect that a card is inserted. Could it be that those pins have been bent/shorted by clumsy use and that the CPU is detecting a card but getting no response and that this is deactivating the USB port?

McBryce.

That's an idea. Yes I did see such a contact in the SD car connector.

Not sure that's my problem though, see as even when I put an SD card in the slot, then switch the input selector to SD, it won't read the card.

Also the CPU was having problems powering the USB port, with too low a voltage and not enough drive to support any load, not even my DMM. So there is something fioshy inside the CPU inside, like Dragon said.

Also, the stereo is MEANT to have both USB and SD card connected at the same time, because it can copy MP3 files from one to the other.

Still...I will take that stereo apart again and play with that SD detection switch just in case...

Jeepers Vince. That POS would have been thorwn in the trash heap so fast over here that it would have just seemed like a blur to the eyes as it flew from my hands into the can.

But hey we're all different, so I guess if it opens your beer can to mess with it I suppose ...

I thought I made that clear from the beginning ?? 

I am willing to go the extra mile because I owe at least that much, and much more, to the friend who asked me this favour.

If your friends and what they do to help you out means nothing to you and you never give back, then well I don't know what kind of friendship that is....

And even then I am still being reasonable.. unlike dragon probably would do, I am not going to 3D print  teeth to fix the CD tray, for example...

[xrunner]

I thought I made that clear from the beginning ?? 

I apologize if I didn't read it all, there's a lot of noise in this thread ( ) , as soon as I leave for 30 minutes it's already a page of posts. All I can do is scan for something I like.

I am willing to go the extra mile because I owe at least that much, and much more, to the friend who asked me this favour.

If your friends and what they do to help you out means nothing to you and you never give back, then well I don't know what kind of friendship that is....

And even then I am still being reasonable.. unlike dragon probably would do, I am not going to 3D print  teeth to fix the CD tray, for example...

Here's how to give back: Take them to lunch (you are paying) and give them advice on how to spend their money wisely on technology in the future. 

[VK5RC]

@vince - I think most can really relate to going the extra mile for a friend - it is particularly hard when the item in question has not been well made /designed in the first place, good on you 👍

Perhaps the most 'excessive' repair I undertook was to remake a small plastic drive wheel in the thermal printer drive system of an HP 3467A, it involved a small hobby lathe, mill and a dividing for a small (about 13mm 20 teeth or so) cog.

Re the teeth on the CD drive - one of my favourite 'bodges' is superglue and sodium bicarbonate powder - quite strong and can be hand filed to shape 👍

[McBryce]

JUNK STEREO REPAIR UPDATE

Hi Vince,
       some of those SD Card slots have two tiny contacts to detect that a card is inserted. Could it be that those pins have been bent/shorted by clumsy use and that the CPU is detecting a card but getting no response and that this is deactivating the USB port?

McBryce.

That's an idea. Yes I did see such a contact in the SD car connector.

Not sure that's my problem though, see as even when I put an SD card in the slot, then switch the input selector to SD, it won't read the card.

Also the CPU was having problems powering the USB port, with too low a voltage and not enough drive to support any load, not even my DMM. So there is something fioshy inside the CPU inside, like Dragon said.

Also, the stereo is MEANT to have both USB and SD card connected at the same time, because it can copy MP3 files from one to the other.

Still...I will take that stereo apart again and play with that SD detection switch just in case...

Jeepers Vince. That POS would have been thorwn in the trash heap so fast over here that it would have just seemed like a blur to the eyes as it flew from my hands into the can.

But hey we're all different, so I guess if it opens your beer can to mess with it I suppose ...

I thought I made that clear from the beginning ?? 

I am willing to go the extra mile because I owe at least that much, and much more, to the friend who asked me this favour.

If your friends and what they do to help you out means nothing to you and you never give back, then well I don't know what kind of friendship that is....

And even then I am still being reasonable.. unlike dragon probably would do, I am not going to 3D print  teeth to fix the CD tray, for example...

  I've fixed worse pieces of low cost commercial junk for the very same reason.

McBryce.

[med6753]

Wow, the new Tek thread is turning ugly. 

[xrunner]

Wow, the new Tek thread is turning ugly. 

Predictable as the Sun rising.

[Brumby]

I thought I made that clear from the beginning ?? 

You did.

The problem with this thread, though, is that it can scoot along quite a bit - 3 or 4 pages a day is normal, but 5 or 6 is not uncommon.  Not everyone reads every word (something that I must admit on occasion) and this can lead to gaps in one's understanding - and the occasional gaff.

Don't get too concerned about it.  If you want, just quote the part of your post that explains the point ... and move on.

[bd139]

Wow, the new Tek thread is turning ugly. 

Just like the new Tek. Need the 80 year old stripper to cleanse my mind 

[Brumby]

 

[Zucca]

Wow, the new Tek thread is turning ugly. 

They should send me a demo unit of that IPad scope. I keep you posted.