Re: [time-nuts] HP 4815 Vector Impedance Analyzer repair
Rick, I have two, one I repaired yesterday using parts from the second. Since acquiring both of them about 4yrs ago, I’ve had to repair the “working” unit five times including the first time when I picked it up. Unlike other HP equipment I own, this thing hasn’t been as reliable. Luckily having the parts mule (other than a voltage problem once) I was able to fix it by looking in the repair manual and swapping the impacted card. As what Tom suggested, I would check the voltages first as the balance of both amplitude and phase is impacted by the +/- voltages being out of balance. I think it was +/- 24V but I could be wrong as I haven’t had a voltage related problem in a couple of years. So far, mine has had 4 defective cards, two bad power supply caps and two bad regulators. Luckily (again) it’s never been that same card. The cards that have failed have had transistor/FET issues opposed to passive components. When I get around to repairing the defective cards I am going to swap out the FETs (on the defective cards) first and suggest you do the same once verifying the voltages are correct and no caps have failed. I’ve had leaky FET issues on 3455A volt meters. I have a card here on my desk for the past year and I’ve gone over the passives two or three times and can’t find a problem so I can only assume at this point that there is a leaky FET on that one. My 4815A is one of my favorite pieces of equipment. It is very versatile. After fixing it yesterday, I tried measuring the impedance of several caps and the unit was accurate to the limit of the meters. I might be able to help you if you get stuck but I’ll admit, my problem diagnosis has been limited to swapping cards after getting close in the manual. Jerry > On Jun 20, 2017, at 1:38 PM, Tom Curlee wrote: > > The first thing I would do is replace all the power supply electrolytic > capacitors on the internal boards. If I remember correctly, the boards are > plugged in and the replacing the capacitors is quite easy. In my unit, at > least one capacitor was shorted and was pulling down a power supply. > > Tom WB6UZZ > > > From: Richard (Rick) Karlquist > To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement > Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 12:02 PM > Subject: [time-nuts] HP 4815 Vector Impedance Analyzer repair > > I have a non-functional HP 4815, don't know if it > is the probe or the box. A long time ago, there > was a fellow named George Standford (something like > that) who repaired these. My old contact information > for him is no good. Does anyone know if he is still > in business, or if there is any other place that > repairs these things? > > Rick N6RK > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > > > > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] HP 4815 Vector Impedance Analyzer repair
The first thing I would do is replace all the power supply electrolytic capacitors on the internal boards. If I remember correctly, the boards are plugged in and the replacing the capacitors is quite easy. In my unit, at least one capacitor was shorted and was pulling down a power supply. Tom WB6UZZ From: Richard (Rick) Karlquist To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 12:02 PM Subject: [time-nuts] HP 4815 Vector Impedance Analyzer repair I have a non-functional HP 4815, don't know if it is the probe or the box. A long time ago, there was a fellow named George Standford (something like that) who repaired these. My old contact information for him is no good. Does anyone know if he is still in business, or if there is any other place that repairs these things? Rick N6RK ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] HP 4815 Vector Impedance Analyzer repair
There's a guy on eBay who sells HP stuff (and other) who does certified calibrations and repairs of HP stuff... can't be that hard to find... KN5U is his eBay ID (and call sign?) He calibrated my HP freq counter before sending it to me after I won it on one of his auctions... __ Clay Autery, KY5G MONTAC Enterprises (318) 518-1389 On 6/20/2017 1:51 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: > I have a non-functional HP 4815, don't know if it > is the probe or the box. A long time ago, there > was a fellow named George Standford (something like > that) who repaired these. My old contact information > for him is no good. Does anyone know if he is still > in business, or if there is any other place that > repairs these things? > > Rick N6RK ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] HP 4815 Vector Impedance Analyzer repair
Rick Sorry to say I do not know but I do remember an article in EDN I think. The ground connections were riveted and essentially made poor contact after many years. Drilling them out and putting normal screws nuts and lovking lugs in evidently really restored the units. Regards Paul WB8TSL On Tue, Jun 20, 2017 at 2:51 PM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist < rich...@karlquist.com> wrote: > I have a non-functional HP 4815, don't know if it > is the probe or the box. A long time ago, there > was a fellow named George Standford (something like > that) who repaired these. My old contact information > for him is no good. Does anyone know if he is still > in business, or if there is any other place that > repairs these things? > > Rick N6RK > ___ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/m > ailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] HP 4815 Vector Impedance Analyzer repair
I have a non-functional HP 4815, don't know if it is the probe or the box. A long time ago, there was a fellow named George Standford (something like that) who repaired these. My old contact information for him is no good. Does anyone know if he is still in business, or if there is any other place that repairs these things? Rick N6RK ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.