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You are here: Home / Archives for repair

Fluke 322 (failed) Repair

2015/04/26 By staze

Fluke 322I recently, mistakenly, purchased a Fluke 322 off eBay for far more than I should have paid (paid about $35 for a broken one). I thought it would be an easy repair, but sadly, the issue was that the case was broken (guessing it got dropped from some height, or was partially crushed). The self-taping screws all screwed into the plastic casing front, and several of those threaded lugs were broken, so the case wasn’t being held together fully, which results in the contacts from the rotating switch not making contact enough to turn the multimeter on.

My first thought was to contact Fluke and ask about purchasing a replacement front case. Thankfully, they got back to me quickly and said this unit is on their “repair by replace” list. Meaning for $90, I could send it in, and they would send me the new model of this unit, which is also on the “repair by replace” list, and also means they have no parts available.

My second attempt was to use some JBWeld to repair the broken lugs. Sadly, this resulted in the lugs being the wrong height such that the board, even though it would screw in at that point, still didn’t provide enough pressure to the contacts to power on.

So, sadly, this one is a loss. I’ve kept the unit in the parts drawer incase I ever see one for cheap… or I manage to see someone interested in one for the main board, clamp, etc. down the road.

Filed Under: Electronics Tagged With: 322, Fluke, repair

Antec TruePower Trio TP3-550 Fan Bus Repair

2015/02/03 By staze

TP3-550Couple weeks back I got a request to repair a friends computer. It would lock up, not reboot, etc. The computer was largely for gaming, so after an initial software scan, I figured it must be heat. Opening the machine, I noticed none of the case fans are running. I had initially done the build on the machine, and new all the case fans were wired to the fan power “bus” provided by the power supply (which handled speeding/slowing the fans based on case temp), an Antec TruePower Trio TP3-550. Asking the friend, he mentioned that he had noticed the LEDs on the front case fan had went out a month or two ago. Hmm. Checking the voltage on that fan bus showed only 2V (not nearly enough to run a 12V 120mm fan). The PSU’s fan was also not running. Crap, that was probably overheating the PSU, and causing the instability.

Wanting to get his machine back up and running, I picked up a replacement Corsair power supply, installed it, and got him on his way. Then, I went to repairing the Antec power supply. Warning, because this is a power supply, and especially because this is a high wattage switcher, there are dangerous (and lethal if you live in parts of the world that run off 220/240 household) voltages inside. Make sure the unit is unplugged, off, and even give it an hour or two for the primary caps to discharge. I have seen the primary discharge relatively quickly, so there must be a bleeder resistor in the unit, but I didn’t bother tracking it down.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Electronics Tagged With: Antec, ATX, repair

Quick repair of Fluke 87 (Faded Digits)

2015/01/09 By staze

Fluke 87 Faded DigitsAt my suggestion, a coworker purchased a Fluke 87 (Series 1) off eBay, with the faded digit problem, for $70 a week ago. A very good deal. I assured him I could repair it.

The meter arrived, and really, there was very little fading, but it still needed “repair”. Rather than bring it home, I pulled it apart here and showed him what to do (should it happen again). Mr. Modemhead has a great article on this, but also there is a video from Fluke themselves on the issue, even though they’re incorrect on some facts with regards to the original 87 (they say there’s only one zebra strip, when there are two). Anyway, I’ve done the modemhead way, but I thought I’d try Fluke’s suggestion, and just clean the PCB side of the connection. I used some cotton swabs and 99% IPA, and after a couple minutes of scrubbing until clean, I put everything back together, and bingo! It works great. =)

Interestingly, this meter also had a slight issue with the buzzer/beeper. Turns out the speaker (Piezo) uses two rubber “nipples” to make contact with contact points on the back of the PCB. One of these nipples had been squashed/distorted over time and if you screwed the back of the meter on fully/snuggly, the nipple would distort enough to lose contact with the PCB. Simple solution was to leave the middle back screw loose, and place a piece of tape over the screw. Problem solved. =)

Filed Under: Electronics Tagged With: Faded Digits, Fluke 87, Multimeter, repair

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