Tekprobe interface repair...

  • Thread starter Klaus Kragelund
  • Start date
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Klaus Kragelund

Guest
Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the information send from the probe to the scope about settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the same problem or know the best way to fix it

Cheers

Klaus
 
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
<klauskvik@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the information send from the probe to the scope about settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the same problem or know the best way to fix it
Click to expand...

I\'d clean it with acetone and a q-tip, to see if it\'s worn through, or
simply dirty. I\'d also try cleaning it with a pencil eraser.

If it is worn through, I bet one can use silver-epoxy to attach a bit
of silvered copper foil to the landing pads. Or just hot-air solder
the foil down.

Joe Gwinn
 
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
<klauskvik@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the information send from the probe to the scope about settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the same problem or know the best way to fix it
Click to expand...

And second thought - don\'t use tin. It is subject to fretting
corrosion, and the contact point will soon fail. Tin is the worst
choice for contacts. Google for a vast number of papers.

If one solders to the silvered areas, be sure to use a silver-bearing
solder - 2% silver is enough.

Joe Gwinn
 
Klaus Kragelund <klauskvik@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD.
But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the
information send from the probe to the scope about
settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much
that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of
tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the
same problem or know the best way to fix it

Cheers

Klaus
Click to expand...

Looks like there was no lubricant on the switch. It won\'t last long.

Don\'t use WD-40. It is not a lubricant. Use plain unscented vaseline.
 
On 2020-10-09 18:25, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
klauskvik@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the information send from the probe to the scope about settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the same problem or know the best way to fix it

I\'d clean it with acetone and a q-tip, to see if it\'s worn through, or
simply dirty. I\'d also try cleaning it with a pencil eraser.

If it is worn through, I bet one can use silver-epoxy to attach a bit
of silvered copper foil to the landing pads. Or just hot-air solder
the foil down.

Joe Gwinn
Click to expand...

The flex part is often available on eBay.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs


--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com
 
On 2020-10-09 19:45, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-10-09 18:25, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
klauskvik@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100
USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the
information send from the probe to the scope about
settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so
much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of
tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the
same problem or know the best way to fix it

I\'d clean it with acetone and a q-tip, to see if it\'s worn through, or
simply dirty.  I\'d also try cleaning it with a pencil eraser.

If it is worn through, I bet one can use silver-epoxy to attach a bit
of silvered copper foil to the landing pads.  Or just hot-air solder
the foil down.

Joe Gwinn


The flex part is often available on eBay.
Click to expand...

Oh, and while you\'re got it apart, convert it to a 784A (1 GHz, 4 GS/s).
It\'s trivial--you remove one slowdown cap on the differential outputs
of each of the front ends, and remove one zero-ohm jumper so that the
motherboard boots up as a 784A.

I\'ve done both of mine, and was pleasantly surprised that there were no
step response artifacts.

Pro tip: some of the directions on the web have Bad Info about the
jumpers--if you remove the wrong one, you\'ll wind up with 1 GHz and 1
GS/s. I got one of mine for cheap because somebody had done that and
panicked.

Search the SED archives for a thread from 2016 entitled,
\"Tek TDS 744A -> TDS 784A upgrade hack!\".

Cheers

Phil Hobbs


--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com
 
On Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 1:45:43 AM UTC+2, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-10-09 18:25, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
klau...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the information send from the probe to the scope about settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the same problem or know the best way to fix it

I\'d clean it with acetone and a q-tip, to see if it\'s worn through, or
simply dirty. I\'d also try cleaning it with a pencil eraser.

If it is worn through, I bet one can use silver-epoxy to attach a bit
of silvered copper foil to the landing pads. Or just hot-air solder
the foil down.

Joe Gwinn

The flex part is often available on eBay.

The flex part/pogo pins is ok it seems, it has the fault on even new probes also
Click to expand...

Cheers

Klaus
 
On Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 2:11:15 AM UTC+2, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-10-09 19:45, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-10-09 18:25, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
klau...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100
USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the
information send from the probe to the scope about
settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so
much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of
tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the
same problem or know the best way to fix it

I\'d clean it with acetone and a q-tip, to see if it\'s worn through, or
simply dirty. I\'d also try cleaning it with a pencil eraser.

If it is worn through, I bet one can use silver-epoxy to attach a bit
of silvered copper foil to the landing pads. Or just hot-air solder
the foil down.

Joe Gwinn


The flex part is often available on eBay.
Oh, and while you\'re got it apart, convert it to a 784A (1 GHz, 4 GS/s).
It\'s trivial--you remove one slowdown cap on the differential outputs
of each of the front ends, and remove one zero-ohm jumper so that the
motherboard boots up as a 784A.

I\'ve done both of mine, and was pleasantly surprised that there were no
step response artifacts.

Pro tip: some of the directions on the web have Bad Info about the
jumpers--if you remove the wrong one, you\'ll wind up with 1 GHz and 1
GS/s. I got one of mine for cheap because somebody had done that and
panicked.

Search the SED archives for a thread from 2016 entitled,
\"Tek TDS 744A -> TDS 784A upgrade hack!\".
Click to expand...

That is simply great. I knew the Rigol scope could be hacked to open up the higher frequency modes, but didn\'t know the mod is so simple to get at even higher performance out of the 744A

First task is to find the best way to take it apart. Guess I can find that information on Youtube or some repair manual, or proceed with care myself

For this scope I programmed an external frequency generator, to make a gain/phase /impedance analyzer. The higher frequency will mean that can perform to higher frequencies, before phase delay kicks in

(the swept analyzer is a little slow, but when it is running I normally have a parallel task to work on)

Cheers

Klaus
 
On 2020-10-10 16:18, Klaus Kragelund wrote:
On Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 1:45:43 AM UTC+2, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-10-09 18:25, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
klau...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the information send from the probe to the scope about settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the same problem or know the best way to fix it

I\'d clean it with acetone and a q-tip, to see if it\'s worn through, or
simply dirty. I\'d also try cleaning it with a pencil eraser.

If it is worn through, I bet one can use silver-epoxy to attach a bit
of silvered copper foil to the landing pads. Or just hot-air solder
the foil down.

Joe Gwinn

The flex part is often available on eBay.

The flex part/pogo pins is ok it seems, it has the fault on even new probes also
Click to expand...

I don\'t mean the probe side. The pads on the front panel are also flex,
at least on mine. I have one with a mildly damages flex on channel 1.
You can get parts on eBay, anyway.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com
 
On Sunday, October 11, 2020 at 12:01:05 AM UTC+2, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-10-10 16:18, Klaus Kragelund wrote:
On Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 1:45:43 AM UTC+2, Phil Hobbs wrote:
On 2020-10-09 18:25, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 15:05:05 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund
klau...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi

I have a boat anchor TDS 744A which I simply love, got it for 100 USD. But the TekProbe interface is worn. So much that sometimes the information send from the probe to the scope about settings/attenuation etc is lost, and that is annoying

In the picture below, it seems the traces are simply just worn so much that the connection is lost:

www.electronicsdesign.dk/tmp/tekprobe_worn.jpg

It almost look like the copper has been worn down to the FR4

Before I proceed to clean it with WD40, or even try to put a layer of tin over the broken areas, I was wondering if anybody here seen the same problem or know the best way to fix it

I\'d clean it with acetone and a q-tip, to see if it\'s worn through, or
simply dirty. I\'d also try cleaning it with a pencil eraser.

If it is worn through, I bet one can use silver-epoxy to attach a bit
of silvered copper foil to the landing pads. Or just hot-air solder
the foil down.

Joe Gwinn

The flex part is often available on eBay.

The flex part/pogo pins is ok it seems, it has the fault on even new probes also
I don\'t mean the probe side. The pads on the front panel are also flex,
at least on mine. I have one with a mildly damages flex on channel 1.
You can get parts on eBay, anyway.
The one I have looks and feels like standard FR4 board
Click to expand...

But anyway, that will become visible when I take it apart

First, I have a more critical project, doing a LISN for my lab (I work from home 75% of the time due to COVID, so I need a way to do simple conducted emission tests

Cheers

Klaus
 
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