I used your battery soldering technique to make a battery pack with D cell batteries back in 1958, as I recall. I was making a battery pack for a project. I learned the sand paper trick the hard way! Always worked after that. Oh, I had the same model Weller gun, bought with money from mowing grass (9 years old). Thanks, you are an excellent teacher. Electronics is still one of my favorite hobbies (always more to learn).
That is a great analogy! Paul is easy to follow, easy to understand, and takes time to explain. AND Paul makes it look so EASY! Just like Bob Ross. 73 Jim W7RY
Very well said, and just like Bobs viewers i don't paint and have no intention of doing so. I find Mr Carlson's knowledge and skill to be amazing and watching or listening soothes me.
well. seriously i was luck ... last week i went to dump some mortar and old stones from my garden digging works... peeked in the electronics stuff dump. seeen a couple of laptop trashed down. picked up. below a FAMILIAR blue light case..... digged (literally) a bit more to remove the cluster of phone chargers wires etc.... and found a tektronix 2235. it's missing is back rear plastic. now im looking for schematics . once i'll found em and (expecially) i'll found the balls to turn it on to see why it was there....
I worked in electronics 40+ years, retired now for 20. You are the first person I have ever known who pronounces the "L" in soldering. Great job in reviving the Tektronix scope.
Yes fw, I think it's the Americans who say "soder", & I think Paul is a Canadian. It's amusing though that Paul says "audiable" instead of "audible". I don't think there is even such a word, but I know what he means to say.
Nice video! It’s always good to see a “parts” unit restored to working condition. Great lesson on how to solder batteries. I too have been doing this for years without any issues.
So enjoyed this mini series (inc. SWPS) your care and attention to detail is a joy to watch. Far too many items are just thrown out when they can be fixed. An absolute delight to see the TDS 420 come back to life (and a very usable instrument too)
Great job. Tektronix proving their superb quality by loose cards going back into place and work as though nothing happened. Absolutely adored working on them, so beautifully made.
Excellent work! It's heartening to see someone taking the time to fix something that would otherwise be destined for the scrapyard. Some great tips in the video too!
Your one sharp cookie! I have been doing this type of work on commercial broadcast equipment in a studio control room for 15+ years and have logged in hundreds of hours troubleshooting and repairing such equipment. It takes lots patience, determination and understanding on just how these things work. Your mind gets trained quite well from actual work experience. Great Video! You know what you are doing and have the patience to do it.
Wow that was really cool Mr Carlson. I enjoy getting old things that someone says is not working and put new life in it. I've soldered batteries like that too for many years without ever having an issue. You do great work Sir, thanks for sharing your videos.
Thanks for the video. I think it is awesome to be able to take a disassembled unit and bring it back to life like you did. Now it stays out of the recycle bin and gets to live another day. Congratulations on your repair.
Another great video, thank you sir! You always seem to have these little tricks that take years of working around these things to acquire and take the quality of our work one step further.
Great save. I bought a tektronics 54602B from Ebay for $50.00 a couple of years ago that had channel 1 and 2 bnc front connectors bent over but not broke. Replaced them, cleaned up the unit and have been using the scope ever since with no problems. Some times you win.
I appreciate your channel. It's nice for a rookie like myself to watch a veteran at work. I'm trained in computers.... I fix those all the time. Now I'm dabbling in the electronic repairs... Much of the computer stuff we do has parts so cheap we replace (I recycle the old)... but SOMETIMES, I've had some really pricey stuff that DID warrant repair.
+Mr Carlson's Lab I like both pretty well.... It's the satisfaction of solving the problem that others were not able to resolve. I really could use more test equipment for the electronics end of it, but I've done pretty well with the tools I do have. A very high percentage of electronic malfunctions I see are due to power supply issues... So I suppose that's the best place for rookies to start.
Awesome vid! I found the exact same oscilloscope in the trash at work I recognized it from your other videos. I grabbed it and threw it on the bench and it powered right up and appears to be fine!
+Mr Carlson's Lab Did you buy this on ebay as a basket case pretty cheap..I picked up a nice 100mhz digital storage for 120 with free ship and its fantastic and its a CRT scope but only weighs like 13lbs.
Nice find! Like you really needed another O Scope? THANKS FOR SHOWING HOW TO ASSEMBLE CUSTOM BATTERY PACKS!!! I have soldered to them for quite some time myself, and no exploding batteries, so far. I took a Weller gun and put two #10 AWG prongs off where the tip goes, and use it to resistance heat the frets on guitars, to soften the glue for easy removal, and works a real treat. I went to an American Beauty resistance rig some time ago, but the old Weller still works fine for heating up frets really fast, and evenly.
The key is abrading the contact surface so that the solder has lots to grab onto. The flux ensures no oxidization gets into the joint, and I usually just turn my iron up to around 45-50 watts for this kind of thing (about 35w for most soldering). I imagine the higher heat would make the solder flow easier. I'll give it a try with my soldering gun next time.
When I saw you soldering wire leads to the Panasonic battery made me feel "home" for I've been doing this since I've learned with my grandpa and never had any problems as well, on the contrary despite disapproval of many :-) great job on fixing this oscilloscope! Thank you so much for all you teach! It has been a great ride for me ;-)
Wow, that's pretty neat. We actually got this model back at work, though we don't use it and have it sitting in storage collecting dust. And I know for a fact it still works since I opened it up six months ago to remove the dust and bugs and performed a hardware test afterwards. Perhaps I should convince my employer to hand it over to me. ;)
I repaired a TDS 420A once (it's the similar to the TDS 420, but with a floppy drive, higher bandwidth, plus a few other options). The 420A had tipped forward from a bench riser shelf. Had to replace all 4 bentBNC jacks, and replaced the ceramic input stage for channel 1 with a donor part. Caled it at work. Got it at auction for a measly 50 CENTS... for a _palette_ of oscilloscopes! Ended up selling it for $500... and half a dozen other ones I fixed up, for prices ranging between $80-240 a piece! And yet, I'm still using an old Tektronix 935A that's literally older than I am. I miss those galloping ponies, but love the instant on of analog! :P
This was interesting. As I'm looking for my first scope,mostly for audio work,I need all the help in making the right choice i can get. I'm looking at the possibility I may just have to do some work in order to get a good price. Very helpful !
What a fun video. I work at Tek and was around when this scope was first designed. I believe the code name for that scope was "Shasta". If you need info on scope repair and you can't find it on the web, you might visit the Tek Vintage museum when it's open. It's even possible you might meet the person who designed the scope you want to repair. The museum is on the Tek campus in building 13. I believe it's open on Thursdays.
Love your videos. Thank you for providing something I feel safe with in watching with my son who is twelve. Some characters on UA-cam can't seem to refrain from swearing for lack of self control. I'm trying to encourage my son to fix versus toss and burn mentality which is bad for the planet.
"Waiting is the hardest part" - I can totally confirm that :-) That's a really great video! Lots to learn about saving dumpster gear and preserving some nice equipment. Thanks for sharing!
@@omniyambot9876 You're waiting for either an explosion, or a nice green display! If it's gonna blow - then when? Will you be ready for it or will you crap yourself? Suspense, apprehension, not knowing. What's to like?
Mr. Carlson thank you so very much for your videos. You are truly an inspiration and continue to teach me a great deal about all aspects of electronics. So far I have restored several radios and a couple instruments just using the techniques you show.
Just yesterday I repaired a junk power supply. It's a real beast, dual -30 to +30 @ 3 amps. Like I said, it was considered junk and all I did was replacing a single transistor. It always makes me feel good when I rescue something from the trash. Don't you think?? Anyway, thanks for a informative and really well made video/youtube channel.
+Richard Öhling Glad to read that you resurrected your supply! Amazing what people will throw away over such a minor thing. Thanks for the kind comment Richard!
The batteries will probably last for 20 years. The spring contacts will probably corrode and lose contact way before then. The original batteries probably had the wires welded to the batteries. You'll probably have to only do it three times in your lifetime.
Very brave Mr. Carlson. Tying to troubleshoot a basket case is always a challenge, but you have a very logical approach to troubleshooting. As far as soldering to battery terminals, I have used ruby flux (used in stain glass soldering) 63/37 Kester 44 solder and a weller temp controlled 700 degree tip. Solder sticks very well.
+Mr Carlson's Lab ; It is available in stain glass stores as a red liquid flux. It is an organic acid flux, so has to be used sparingly on metals that are strong enough not to react with it. I found that solder will stick to things that otherwise would result in a cold solder joint with the flux that comes with normal electronic solder. Apply a tiny bit of it on the metal to be soldered with a Qtip before soldering the wire(s). Cleanup with a flux remover is recommended. Ruby Liquid Flux Liquid Inorganic Acid for Copper and Copper Foil, Brass, Tin, Ferrous Metals Solder: Tin/Lead, Tin/Silver, other Tin Alloys Soldering temperatures: 95 - 315º C (200-600F)
the small digital scopes that are around work well for general hobby work, unfortunately i build metal detectors (amongst other things), and the flyback voltage on pulse induction detectors can be upto 500v or so which will frazzle cheap digi scopes, you can buy special probes that drop the voltage by a hundred or a thousand but they cost a lot. so the best bet for me was a 4 channel 250mhz analogue scope, its old enough to be analogue but new enough to have the features i need, a useful thing to look for is an ext video socket, a 13 inch lcd screen can be used to give a bigger screen, and turning off the small crt will add life to the screen. mine has a vga socket and the bigger screen is a boon to older eyes, lol.
That was a good success getting it back to useful life again. Nice little tidbit about soldering batteries. Your knowledge & and experience is very helpful.
what a feeling to resurrect a device and getting cleaned out before you go to sleep!! Not many know how satisfying this could be! :D Awesome video as always sir! cheers!
i always solder onto batteries. I use a similar method to yours. It works quite well. I find a very hot soldering iron with a contact for a few seconds is better than a cooler soldering iron for a long time. My father has a very hot gas soldering iron, that is fantastic for that.
Nice dumpster find and great job bringing it back to life....hopefully recapping will remove all the jaggies from the waveform...I have an old B&K 20 MHz analog scope (from 1988) I have to recap as well.
I use the same technique for soldering leads to batteries (cells), and I, too, discovered this by trial and error. I also solder leads to "coin" cells, but the success rate is somewhat less than 100%, especially when soldering the smaller ones. About ten percent of the time, the heat forces a seal out of place, destroying the cell. Nevertheless, the outcome is worth the risk. The "roughing up" is the key.
I've cooked plenty of coin-cells and the best way I've found is to use a 250-watt soldering gun, have everything clean, fluxed and held in place with a piece of solder laying on top and more ready in other hand, get the gun-tip bright orange before touching it to the tab/battery/solder combo. it doesn't take long with a gun that hot, then quickly dunk it in water, repeat on other side/tab. alternately, swipe the battery holders from old computer motherboards, hard to beat a CR2032 that snaps in and out fast. anyway heating and cooling the cells "fast" is the key, which is why spot welding works great, it never gets the case hot enough to hurt anything and only heats the localized area where the actual spot-weld occurred, which dissipates very quick :)
That's the exact way I solder wires to batteries. I'm no pro like Mr. Carlson, but also have never had an issue. Glad I'm not the only one doing it that way, great video as always!
Always like a bit of Mr Carlson. Great as always Paul, love the battery tip... n so jealous of your lab, wouldn't have a clue how to use the stuff in there but looks well cool :-) All the best Graeme.
Fantastic to have such a useful instrument be so easy to get running again. A lot of people simply discard these older models for a minor reason or upgrade for some new feature that they need. I used to work in medical X-ray and we would go thru getting the latest Tektronix gear. The previous one that we had would then sit on a shelf back at the shop unloved forever even though it was perfectly good.
Outstanding Paul. I have soldered battery's before with no problems. Thank you for the very useful tips on the way you do it. I am very happy your scope turned out to be a good one. I am looking forward to more videos from you. All my best. Bobby
Tektronix makes great stuff. When i was just out of college I got a job making a decision support system, and we used the mighty Tektronix 4014 screen, which had a resolution of 4000 x 3000 (this is VGA 640 x 480 resolution days), using a strange thing called a storage screen, which was the kind of screen that needed to be zapped to erase the existing pixels.
New to your channel and have to say I have enjoyed your channel very much and very impressed with your knowledge of electronics in its entirely and your ability to instruct, great channel and thank you for taking the time to produce this channel.
Another great video.. Thanks !! I have several projects I need to tackle soon. 1) Tek 465, 2) Tex 475 scopes and my favorite 3) HP 8566B spectrum analyzer.. I believe most of the issues are related to old tantalum caps that now have a higher ESR. I know there are some newer and higher value electrolytics now available that may fulfill the real estate requirements that the tantalums were used for. Have you done a video regarding replacing tantalum caps in test equipment. If not, I believe this is a topic that may interest many. 73, Glenn WA4AOS
I have exact the same oscilloscope, which also was considered as "junk" in 2011. The scope wouldn't boot anymore. After some testing, I found out there was a problem with the power supply : voltages were drifting away, and the "brown out detection" came in. I could fool the feedback loop in the switched power supply, but after some months, the same problem was there again. At the end, I found a small ceramic capacitor that had a low and changing resistance. Just replaced it, and now the scope is still going strong !
I'm impressed as well and yes you had a gunny sack full of horse shoes. Yep I would like to know where that dumpster is as well. You have too many scopes. You need to sell me that 420 for what it cost you. after all you did get to make the video using it as your prop. Along the lines of the SMP. I spent several years as the bench tech at a couple of casino's. At the second one, the tribe decided they were making enough money to expand from a small casino with half of it being basically a circus tent with about 1400 slot machines to a real casino with chandeliers as big as my house, a four story parking garage, a big hotel, and a fabulous 18 hole golf course. (rambling). Anyway, Day of the grand opening, everything rocking when boom the lights go out. emergency lights didn't work either. Black in there like a coal mine. We only had about 6000 people in there. Kinda scary. What if people panic and start running? The main transformer had blown. People were pretty cool though, they all slowly made their way to the exits. Three days later they got a new transformer and were back in operation for another 4 days. when we got another good crowd in and it happened again. I had gotten to know the architect and the electrical engineer that were the designers of the casino, as I got to contribute to the design of the slot shop and some of the layout on the floor. I went back to where they were working on the system and was asking questions about the rating on the xfmr etc. Answers all seemed good. At $18,000 each this needs to be solved I went back to my shop scratching my head. I'm working on a stack of monitors and the light bulb came on. Noise from the smp's. the new casino now is up to 4200 slots and all new puters etc for a whole slew of new office workers. Each slot has between 5 to 8 smp's and the puters, scanners, printers, etc all smp's. That's about 30,000 smp's online when they are all in operation, which probably would never happen but close was enough. I headed to talk to the EE and meet him in the hallway and his face made it clear that he was freakin out. I had read a few years before in an electronics mag when the smp first started becoming the thing that they produced a lot of noise (as you say) and particularly on the fifth harmonic, and that it feed back onto the line, and that it had been known to cause some issues with sensitive equipment. He kinda poo pooed me. So I went back to my shop and on with my work. About an hour later he comes into my shop and is asking about this article. I didn't remember the title of the article or the author, but did remember the mag. That evening I went to the library and we searched long and hard and finally found it from a library at berkley in digital format. I printed it out and took it to the EE. About two hours later the EE and a couple other electricians show up at my shop and want to know if I can show them this harmonic thing from the smp's. So I broke out a power supply with a smp and hooked it up and started to connect to monitor the line in. The EE steps in says can I hook this up to it? He had a handheld fluke unit that was a dedicated analyzer to display all the harmonics in like a graph. (didn't even know there was such a unit but I guess fluke pretty much has it all covered) When I pulled a load on the smp the harmonics shot up. The fifth probably three times any of the others. He says that's all good but I just can't see how a little power supply like that, can blow that transformer, (it was about 5 feet in diameter and over 8' tall, probably would weigh 10 to 12 tons). I explained that we had 30,000 of them when and if they are all going. He does some calculations From the readings etc and gets a ghostly look on his face. His figures said that almost 40% of the power from the secondary is reflected back onto the secondary, out of phase and frequency. He looks at me and says what can you do to bring these things under control? I laughed, nothing. It would seem it is your problem. I say about the only thing I can think of is a big bank of capacitors to filter it down to close to DC which would not load the xfmr. But I'm not sure how you can accomplish that without flattening the line voltage. Maybe a coil as well to form a filter for that freq. All I know is that the problem was gone but I never seemed to be able to get a concrete answer as to exactly what was installed to stop it. Interesting huh. Sorry about the outrageous long post but I thought you might enjoy it.
It is abs fascinating how much money is spent on gambling .. how much thought and tech goes into it and how many lives of course go down the sink.. that Tribe or tribe you referred to perhaps Adelson's ... maybe.. he is intergalactically famous in that area, one hears. Or is it too hot a subject to mention even now.??
Them's your words Matac. People don't like to us the J word up front.. it can have career implications... Certain groups and I am not talking the Sopranos, have seen that area as good way to make money and hey.. .it's Entertainment - and Legal too. When I first saw the wall of text above... I thought ...no life is too short but it is fascinating and at the cost of two $18 K transformers. Remember too it might not have been current that killed the Tfrs .. once you get resonance going you get massive voltage swings and the insulation could start to break down. The Fluke PM he referred to do exist and a famously expensive. I'd say it was solved with power conditioning chokes and capacitors. ON ANOTHER Tack. I don't look at Carson's lab all the time but when I do I see he is a man with something to say and a massive amount of tech knowledge. His RF probe design on another Report could be a seriously effective Z transform on RX only for a Ham band long wire antenna to a 50 ohm transceiver port.
Awesome tutorial on common sense troubleshooting. My job is to repair Aviation Electronic Test Sets that others have tried to repair and failed. It's amazing what some folks will do and the extremes that they will go to, to get things to work.Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Best Wishes n Blessings Keith
Lol.. I just found this ironic not being disrespectful. I also know it would be Hitler birthday however, I don't acknowledge that person in history for obvious reasons.
Not only Standard Oil but George B Snr/'s Daddy one of Rockfella's RH men. The US, ie STD oil, was shipping oil to Germany via the Azores for transshipment about the time of the battle of Britain. THe brits had to put pressure on via the State Department to stop that hooliganism. Strictly of course the US was not at war for about 2years and three months after the Brits, during which time the Brits were hammered terribly in part by Old Man Bush's friends' actions. Not that the Brit royal family comes up roses either when you look closely....This is all documented stuff an not a conspiracy theory..
Good job Paul. Always nice to bring junk piles back to life. I totally agree on soldering wires on batteries. Been doing it for years, my uncle did it till the day he died as did my grandfather. I think most people have problems because they use either a soldering iron that's to small for the job or just not hot enough. They end up cooking the battery because they have to leave it in contact so long. Personally I use one of my antique 200W American Beauty irons and its almost instantaneous. Just like soldering wires to a steel chassis. Use a 500W iron with about a 2 pound tip and soldering is done in a flash. Mike
+MikesRadioRepair That's some heavy duty equipment Mike! I need one of those 500 Watt Beauties for some of my more delicate work :^) It would be fun to do a video on surface mount soldering with one of those. LOL
+Mr Carlson's Lab LOL, you could kill someone with just the tip. The big monsters are great for chassis soldering and solid copper shields. Just can't beat thermal mass. Ebay is a great place for picking old ones up cheap. I should do a video on soldering sometime. Everything from 0201 surface mount to soldering parts onto a 1930's heavy steel chassis. Mike
Wow, I was rooting for you the whole way through. Score, congrats. Been watching a lot of your videos lately, pure delight. Thanks for your hard work making and sharing them. Cheers.
I worked for a number of years as a production coordnator in a Li battery facility in the USA which made all sizes of Li batteries for US Military and some foreign milataries, along with battery packs for for defibulators used in medical procedures. As part of the manufacturing process the batteries are placed in ovens and go through a heat cycle. Heat, as used in your techique, should have little to no negative impact. You are right, we used welding to attach "tabs" which were used for connections. The battery sleeves are typically heat shrink also.
Mr Carlson, you are my Brother from Another Mother! I have been soldering wires onto batteries for fifty years without a single problem. What was the original failure point in this oscilloscope? Was it in the power supply somewhere?
I pretty much use the same method as you to solder batteries but I add in an extra step in the beginning where I use a rotary tool with a sanding disk to definitely roughen up the contacts. I only plan on soldering to it once and to get in there and out as quickly as possible.
So i just tested soldering batteries... Duracell industrial AA cells, the first one wasnt soldered at all, just inserted into a batterie holder, second one just soldered with a regular 80W Ersa iron (so nothing special like you did) and even kept it liquid until attaching the wire... after cooling them off, i hooked them up to a precision load set to 100ma and logged data, cut off voltage at 0.1V both did about 2.1 Ah, +-50mah didn`t do a longterm test tho!
the biggest issue is overheating, which melts the sealing ring, it will distort/push out from pressure and they start leaking, not good inside most things.
Usually if you have a soldered in coin cell with spot welded leads you can get a socket that solders almost if not directly in place of the original coin cell. Then it's a no-brainer.
LOL, No Confusing Colors on that CRT. Those connectors look like the ones used in the ol DB25 Amphenol connectors. I use them for all sorts of stuff. I solder 18650 cells quit often. I just use a HOT Iron and get it done fast. Get off as soon as the solder wets good. Tin the wire prior. NOT a issue. That scope is better then anything I have.
Steve Smith They did make printers or at least sell printers badged teketronix as I remember they were thermal transfer printers and very sought after. (Could be they were solid ink also but I think that was QMS) They might have made lasers yoo but I don't remember.
It is built like industrial equipment because that is what it is. Thats also the reason why you dont see them very often in domestic or office settings. They use dto sell quite alot of them in an IT equipment auction house I frequented about 10 years ago. Almost needed at forklift to move the A3 ones but they were years ahead of other proffessional color printers of the time. There were hobby ones that could make nice prints but they could never stand the abuse of a setting where a qms was required.
HI Mr. Carlson. I enjoy your videos and thanks for those. I'd like to select one these scopes and looking for your advice: 1. Rigol DS1054Z 2. Rigol DS1102E 3. Instek GDS-1102B But really don't know should I go for Rigol 50 mhz 4 channels or 100mhz 2 channels or should I go for Instek. Can you please advise/help to decide? Many thanks in advance.
Hi Mr Carlson. Thanks for the response. I'm repairing power supplies like the ones by TDK Lambda (Alpha 600, 650), AOM drivers by Panasonic and other general electronic stuff. In addition to Digital I'm seeking a good analog scope as well. What would be your advice?
Hi Mr. Carlson, So what is your advice to me? Digital oscilloscope vs analog one, GW Instek 1102B, Rigol 1054Z or 1074Z? Problem is that I live in Baku, Azerbaijan and shipping cost for analog oscilloscope is usually high because of heavy weight. But some cost is nothing in comparison with usability. You have a big experience and maybe you can advise me and help to decide. Thanks.
If I could afford to join your course I would, That lady I told you about left me owing 580 euro a month and that is the reason I can just about live and have the internet, I would love nothing more but for now I honestly do not have enough to support your great work and learn from you but I love all I have seen you fix. Great work and I wish there were more videos like yours.
One big problem with these scopes is the front panel membrane switches. The silvering comes away from the membrane. A quick dab of silver paint usually fixes that. Another great video sir.
You are very correct Chris. I replaced the power switch with a momentary push button behind the membrane. The little extrusion in the membrane pushes the switch. Looks completely factory and will last now. Now when the power switch is pushed, you hear the click of the switch.
Never had issues soldering batteries the same way, just use standard Weller iron, set to high temperature, to get short time. Sometimes grinding the steel surface helps in quicker soldering.
I bought one of these cheap and glad to watch it again. Also I completely agree it is the amount of time that an item is hot that damages things when soldering them. I bought a whole bunch of surface mount capacitors and wonder what else that I might find as there is a bunch of noise in the display, and there was none the first time that I tried at slightly newer scope a TDS 420A. Also there are two other option boards one is a serial port and the other is a printer port. In addition there is software that runs on the floppy, don't know if it is required that it needs to be purchased from Tektronix or if it can be downloaded.
I bet the 1 thumb down is the guy who threw that in as a 'free' parts unit! Thanks Mr. Carlson, I really enjoy following your repairs even when it is beyond my ken. I've soldered batts before no problem.
Very good, it is always a treat to be able to salvage a piece of equipment considered to have been a junk box candidate, and give it new life. I commend and admire you on your expertise, patience, and resourcefulness. You are truly a man of like heart to mine in your level of duty and dedication. For me, Electronics is always a labor of love. I am sure the same can be said for how you feel about the field as well. Keep up the great work, at keeping the fine art of professionalism alive and well. The information that you are imparting is of great value. Schools now days do not get into a good deal of practical details. Especially when it comes down to practical knowledge related to older electronics. Respectfully, Professor: Howard Daniel Rollins III Inventor and Scientist.
Love this Repair. I'm from italy, and i'm following you a lot of video ago, your explainations are so clear and helpful. It can be a dream for me to repair a scope like you. This seems to be a good scope for little amatorial works or just for educational purpose!(150Mhz and 4 channel!)
I used your battery soldering technique to make a battery pack with D cell batteries back in 1958, as I recall. I was making a battery pack for a project. I learned the sand paper trick the hard way! Always worked after that. Oh, I had the same model Weller gun, bought with money from mowing grass (9 years old). Thanks, you are an excellent teacher. Electronics is still one of my favorite hobbies (always more to learn).
We're looking at the Bob Ross of electronics repair.
Pat, gonna' buy him a 'fro wig?
and over here we'll put a happy capacitor
That is a great analogy! Paul is easy to follow, easy to understand, and takes time to explain. AND Paul makes it look so EASY! Just like Bob Ross.
73 Jim W7RY
If he touches one of these hot-hot-hot B+'s he'll get that fro for sure!
Very well said, and just like Bobs viewers i don't paint and have no intention of doing so. I find Mr Carlson's knowledge and skill to be amazing and watching or listening soothes me.
What's the dumpster where one can find 4-ch Tektronix scope???
Not all dumpsters were created equal! :D
I ask the same! lately, I'd be lucky if I found, in a dumpster 'round here, a busted TV- and I mean one with a shattered screen!
wow that was great :)
well. seriously i was luck ... last week i went to dump some mortar and old stones from my garden digging works... peeked in the electronics stuff dump. seeen a couple of laptop trashed down. picked up. below a FAMILIAR blue light case..... digged (literally) a bit more to remove the cluster of phone chargers wires etc.... and found a tektronix 2235. it's missing is back rear plastic. now im looking for schematics . once i'll found em and (expecially) i'll found the balls to turn it on to see why it was there....
Dumpsters outside hospitals and colleges are the most likely.
I worked in electronics 40+ years, retired now for 20. You are the first person I have ever known who pronounces the "L" in soldering. Great job in reviving the Tektronix scope.
Yes fw, I think it's the Americans who say "soder", & I think Paul is a Canadian. It's amusing though that Paul says "audiable" instead of "audible". I don't think there is even such a word, but I know what he means to say.
Dude the battery soldering tip is BEAUTY. THANKS.
Your welcome Warren!
Cold soldering joints are the duck's knees.
@@MrCarlsonsLab thanks for your vidios
Nice video! It’s always good to see a “parts” unit restored to working condition. Great lesson on how to solder batteries. I too have been doing this for years without any issues.
So enjoyed this mini series (inc. SWPS) your care and attention to detail is a joy to watch. Far too many items are just thrown out when they can be fixed. An absolute delight to see the TDS 420 come back to life (and a very usable instrument too)
+RDH1024
Thanks, glad your enjoying!
A Terrific fully covered repair video. This is the kind of thing an amateur should really sink their teeth into. Thanks for the great contribution.
Great job. Tektronix proving their superb quality by loose cards going back into place and work as though nothing happened. Absolutely adored working on them, so beautifully made.
Best connection to a battery have ever seen. The mod to the gun delivers the heat and really shines.Great to see the scope back in action.
+Tom OConnor
Thanks Tom!
Excellent work! It's heartening to see someone taking the time to fix something that would otherwise be destined for the scrapyard.
Some great tips in the video too!
oh my Paul, That was just great to see this old scope saved from the scrap pile. Great job my friend. Love it when things come together.
+The Radio Shop
Thanks Buddy, That error code disappearing was a nice surprise.
I was just watching this video and yes you do have a horseshoe . . .lol, I cant believe those boards still worked.
@@MrCarlsonsLab I've got four. 1725 A Hewlett-Packard Ocilla Scopes that need to be repaired can you help 440 cb shop call me.
Great job saving a good scope from the scrap heap! Nicely done.
Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.
+N1RKW
Your welcome Adam!
Your one sharp cookie! I have been doing this type of work on commercial broadcast equipment in a studio control room for 15+ years and have logged in hundreds of hours troubleshooting and repairing such equipment. It takes lots patience, determination and understanding on just how these things work. Your mind gets trained quite well from actual work experience. Great Video! You know what you are doing and have the patience to do it.
Some tech guy: "I'll throw in this useless old junker for parts"
Mr. Carlson: " FOR SALE -Refurbished Tektronix TDS 420 oscilloscope. Works like new."
ill give u fiddy dollars rat now
Have you sold it yet,what are you asking for it ?
Ahhahah gold. At least you know it will work perfectly.
Guaranteed.
@@henryprather7868 i'll probably be $100 to $200
Wow that was really cool Mr Carlson. I enjoy getting old things that someone says is not working and put new life in it. I've soldered batteries like that too for many years without ever having an issue. You do great work Sir, thanks for sharing your videos.
+wade hicks
Thanks for the kind comment Wade!
Thanks for the video. I think it is awesome to be able to take a disassembled unit and bring it back to life like you did. Now it stays out of the recycle bin and gets to live another day. Congratulations on your repair.
+Andy Tobin
Thanks Andy!
I enjoy watching Mr. Carlson's lab. The battery soldering method was excellent. I always learn something from him.
Thank you Sir.
Another great video, thank you sir! You always seem to have these little tricks that take years of working around these things to acquire and take the quality of our work one step further.
+Pablo Padilla
Thanks Pablo!
Great save. I bought a tektronics 54602B from Ebay for $50.00 a couple of years ago that had channel 1 and 2 bnc front connectors bent over but not broke. Replaced them, cleaned up the unit and have been using the scope ever since with no problems. Some times you win.
You are excellent at troubleshooting and equally so at presentation! Thank you for the hard work you put in to bring this material to the screen!
Attention to detail, is unbelievable, I've tried this, and this guy makes it look very easy, practice makes perfect, as usual. Les.
Mr. Carlson, just re-watched this video. Excellent as always. Perhaps a future video on scope calibration techniques?
"watched", as there are no CCaptions.
I appreciate your channel. It's nice for a rookie like myself to watch a veteran at work. I'm trained in computers.... I fix those all the time. Now I'm dabbling in the electronic repairs... Much of the computer stuff we do has parts so cheap we replace (I recycle the old)... but SOMETIMES, I've had some really pricey stuff that DID warrant repair.
+DeadKoby
Thanks for your comment! What do you find more enjoyable, computers or electronics repair?
+Mr Carlson's Lab I like both pretty well.... It's the satisfaction of solving the problem that others were not able to resolve. I really could use more test equipment for the electronics end of it, but I've done pretty well with the tools I do have. A very high percentage of electronic malfunctions I see are due to power supply issues... So I suppose that's the best place for rookies to start.
Looking at those boards alone would give me the shivers - amazing job you've done.
I was a tech writer for Tektronix for 7 years back in the 90s. This was a giggle! Good job putting the life back into an excellent machine.
Thanks for stopping by! I bet you have some great stories.
Awesome vid! I found the exact same oscilloscope in the trash at work I recognized it from your other videos. I grabbed it and threw it on the bench and it powered right up and appears to be fine!
Paul, this a good example of the quality of the company's products even with old cap's.
Nice reverse teardown! It's always satisfing to resurrect something that others had given up on.
+wondras
Thanks!
+wondras Specially oscilloscopes! Great video!
Thanks!
Terrific presentation! I loved using with these old Tek scopes back in the 60s when I was a college student. Thanks for posting.
Great tip about soldering the battery, congratulations on the repair, good score.
+Mentorcase
Thanks!
+Mr Carlson's Lab Did you buy this on ebay as a basket case pretty cheap..I picked up a nice 100mhz digital storage for 120 with free ship and its fantastic and its a CRT scope but only weighs like 13lbs.
Nice find! Like you really needed another O Scope? THANKS FOR SHOWING HOW TO ASSEMBLE CUSTOM BATTERY PACKS!!! I have soldered to them for quite some time myself, and no exploding batteries, so far. I took a Weller gun and put two #10 AWG prongs off where the tip goes, and use it to resistance heat the frets on guitars, to soften the glue for easy removal, and works a real treat. I went to an American Beauty resistance rig some time ago, but the old Weller still works fine for heating up frets really fast, and evenly.
Circa 1992 ?
The key is abrading the contact surface so that the solder has lots to grab onto. The flux ensures no oxidization gets into the joint, and I usually just turn my iron up to around 45-50 watts for this kind of thing (about 35w for most soldering). I imagine the higher heat would make the solder flow easier. I'll give it a try with my soldering gun next time.
When I saw you soldering wire leads to the Panasonic battery made me feel "home" for I've been doing this since I've learned with my grandpa and never had any problems as well, on the contrary despite disapproval of many :-) great job on fixing this oscilloscope! Thank you so much for all you teach! It has been a great ride for me ;-)
+Really?
Your welcome.... Really!
Wow, that's pretty neat. We actually got this model back at work, though we don't use it and have it sitting in storage collecting dust. And I know for a fact it still works since I opened it up six months ago to remove the dust and bugs and performed a hardware test afterwards. Perhaps I should convince my employer to hand it over to me. ;)
I repaired a TDS 420A once (it's the similar to the TDS 420, but with a floppy drive, higher bandwidth, plus a few other options). The 420A had tipped forward from a bench riser shelf. Had to replace all 4 bentBNC jacks, and replaced the ceramic input stage for channel 1 with a donor part. Caled it at work. Got it at auction for a measly 50 CENTS... for a _palette_ of oscilloscopes! Ended up selling it for $500... and half a dozen other ones I fixed up, for prices ranging between $80-240 a piece!
And yet, I'm still using an old Tektronix 935A that's literally older than I am. I miss those galloping ponies, but love the instant on of analog! :P
This was interesting. As I'm looking for my first scope,mostly for audio work,I need all the help in making the right choice i can get. I'm looking at the possibility I may just have to do some work in order to get a good price. Very helpful !
What a fun video. I work at Tek and was around when this scope was first designed. I believe the code name for that scope was "Shasta". If you need info on scope repair and you can't find it on the web, you might visit the Tek Vintage museum when it's open. It's even possible you might meet the person who designed the scope you want to repair. The museum is on the Tek campus in building 13. I believe it's open on Thursdays.
Hi Keith, see this video :^) ua-cam.com/video/F5UhzILAISQ/v-deo.html
Love your videos. Thank you for providing something I feel safe with in watching with my son who is twelve. Some characters on UA-cam can't seem to refrain from swearing for lack of self control. I'm trying to encourage my son to fix versus toss and burn mentality which is bad for the planet.
You're very welcome Ell!
You look young, yet i get a cool 1980's flashback when i hear your clean and neat talking style and thinking. Cannot explain it.
"Waiting is the hardest part" - I can totally confirm that :-)
That's a really great video!
Lots to learn about saving dumpster gear and preserving some nice equipment.
Thanks for sharing!
+Thilo Niewoehner
Your welcome Thilo!
why is waiting the hardest part?
@@omniyambot9876 You're waiting for either an explosion, or a nice green display! If it's gonna blow - then when? Will you be ready for it or will you crap yourself? Suspense, apprehension, not knowing. What's to like?
Mr. Carlson thank you so very much for your videos. You are truly an inspiration and continue to teach me a great deal about all aspects of electronics. So far I have restored several radios and a couple instruments just using the techniques you show.
That's great to read John! I'm glad these video's are of benefit to you.
Another fun one to watch and learn. Thanks Paul for the battery soldering tip.
Carl
+skycarl
Glad to share Carl!
we the nerds, love this shit !! this is more interesting that NETFLIX for SURE !!!! hahahaha !! i just need more time ..! :-(
34:12 : "waiting is the hardest part". Did you know that that is a Tom Petty song?
Just yesterday I repaired a junk power supply.
It's a real beast, dual -30 to +30 @ 3 amps.
Like I said, it was considered junk and all I did was replacing a single transistor.
It always makes me feel good when I rescue something from the trash. Don't you think??
Anyway, thanks for a informative and really well made video/youtube channel.
+Richard Öhling
Glad to read that you resurrected your supply! Amazing what people will throw away over such a minor thing. Thanks for the kind comment Richard!
I am not opposed to soldering wires to batteries, but wouldn't a battery holder be easier? Easier at installation and replacement.
The batteries will probably last for 20 years. The spring contacts will probably corrode and lose contact way before then. The original batteries probably had the wires welded to the batteries. You'll probably have to only do it three times in your lifetime.
@@therealjammit haha and I'm 16 years old!!
Very brave Mr. Carlson. Tying to troubleshoot a basket case is always a challenge, but you have a very logical approach to
troubleshooting. As far as soldering to battery terminals, I have used ruby flux (used in stain glass soldering) 63/37 Kester 44 solder and a weller temp controlled 700 degree tip. Solder sticks very well.
+SuperCarver2011
Thanks! I will have to try "ruby flux".... can't say that I have used that.
+Mr Carlson's Lab ; It is available in stain glass stores as a red liquid flux. It is an organic acid flux, so
has to be used sparingly on metals that are strong enough not to react with it. I found that solder will stick to things that otherwise would result in a cold solder joint with the flux that comes with normal electronic solder. Apply a tiny bit of it on the metal to be soldered with a Qtip before soldering the wire(s).
Cleanup with a flux remover is recommended.
Ruby Liquid Flux Liquid Inorganic Acid for
Copper and Copper Foil, Brass, Tin, Ferrous Metals
Solder: Tin/Lead, Tin/Silver, other Tin Alloys
Soldering temperatures: 95 - 315º C (200-600F)
+SuperCarver2011
Thanks for the info!
the small digital scopes that are around work well for general hobby work, unfortunately i build metal detectors (amongst other things), and the flyback voltage on pulse induction detectors can be upto 500v or so which will frazzle cheap digi scopes, you can buy special probes that drop the voltage by a hundred or a thousand but they cost a lot.
so the best bet for me was a 4 channel 250mhz analogue scope, its old enough to be analogue but new enough to have the features i need, a useful thing to look for is an ext video socket, a 13 inch lcd screen can be used to give a bigger screen, and turning off the small crt will add life to the screen.
mine has a vga socket and the bigger screen is a boon to older eyes, lol.
That was a good success getting it back to useful life again. Nice little tidbit about soldering batteries. Your knowledge & and experience is very helpful.
+Rick Goebel
Glad you enjoyed Rick!
what a feeling to resurrect a device and getting cleaned out before you go to sleep!! Not many know how satisfying this could be! :D
Awesome video as always sir! cheers!
Mr. Carlson, you are a wizard!
I love watching you troubleshoot! You already know what to look for before looking, Amazing!
i always solder onto batteries. I use a similar method to yours. It works quite well. I find a very hot soldering iron with a contact for a few seconds is better than a cooler soldering iron for a long time. My father has a very hot gas soldering iron, that is fantastic for that.
Nice dumpster find and great job bringing it back to life....hopefully recapping will remove all the jaggies from the waveform...I have an old B&K 20 MHz analog scope (from 1988) I have to recap as well.
I use the same technique for soldering leads to batteries (cells), and I, too, discovered this by trial and error. I also solder leads to "coin" cells, but the success rate is somewhat less than 100%, especially when soldering the smaller ones. About ten percent of the time, the heat forces a seal out of place, destroying the cell. Nevertheless, the outcome is worth the risk. The "roughing up" is the key.
I've cooked plenty of coin-cells and the best way I've found is to use a 250-watt soldering gun, have everything clean, fluxed and held in place with a piece of solder laying on top and more ready in other hand, get the gun-tip bright orange before touching it to the tab/battery/solder combo. it doesn't take long with a gun that hot, then quickly dunk it in water, repeat on other side/tab.
alternately, swipe the battery holders from old computer motherboards, hard to beat a CR2032 that snaps in and out fast.
anyway heating and cooling the cells "fast" is the key, which is why spot welding works great, it never gets the case hot enough to hurt anything and only heats the localized area where the actual spot-weld occurred, which dissipates very quick :)
use a small washer as a heat sink you will need to have a hot gun and work quickly cool asap
That's the exact way I solder wires to batteries. I'm no pro like Mr. Carlson, but also have never had an issue. Glad I'm not the only one doing it that way, great video as always!
Always like a bit of Mr Carlson. Great as always Paul, love the battery tip... n so jealous of your lab, wouldn't have a clue how to use the stuff in there but looks well cool :-) All the best Graeme.
"You take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waiting is the hardest part." Glad to see you had faith in this one, Paul. Miss ya, Tom.
Your channel became my mainstream news. Can't stop watching :D
Fantastic to have such a useful instrument be so easy to get running again. A lot of people simply discard these older models for a minor reason or upgrade for some new feature that they need. I used to work in medical X-ray and we would go thru getting the latest Tektronix gear. The previous one that we had would then sit on a shelf back at the shop unloved forever even though it was perfectly good.
U are the only english speaking guy I have heard that actually says *soLder* and not *sodder* :) - it warms my heart.
That is because he is an educated Canadian and not Yank
Pete is never wrong Gotten too. I hate that. Noah Webster has a lot to answer for plus the non existent for the poor "Education system". TEF
Pete - we Aussies got gotten "off of" the yanks. LOL
@pete is never wrong- I think you're making a big mistake!!
@pete is never wrong- you're confusing us with people who give a flying F what you think!
Outstanding Paul. I have soldered battery's before with no problems. Thank you for the very useful tips on the way you do it. I am very happy your scope turned out to be a good one. I am looking forward to more videos from you.
All my best.
Bobby
+Bobby Tectalabyss
Thanks for the nice comment Bobby!
Tektronix makes great stuff. When i was just out of college I got a job making a decision support system, and we used the mighty Tektronix 4014 screen, which had a resolution of 4000 x 3000 (this is VGA 640 x 480 resolution days), using a strange thing called a storage screen, which was the kind of screen that needed to be zapped to erase the existing pixels.
New to your channel and have to say I have enjoyed your channel very much and very impressed with your knowledge of electronics in its entirely and your ability to instruct, great channel and thank you for taking the time to produce this channel.
Welcome aboard!
Another great video.. Thanks !!
I have several projects I need to tackle soon. 1) Tek 465, 2) Tex 475 scopes and my favorite 3) HP 8566B spectrum analyzer..
I believe most of the issues are related to old tantalum caps that now have a higher ESR.
I know there are some newer and higher value electrolytics now available that may fulfill the real estate requirements that the tantalums were used for.
Have you done a video regarding replacing tantalum caps in test equipment. If not, I believe this is a topic that may interest many.
73,
Glenn WA4AOS
I have exact the same oscilloscope, which also was considered as "junk" in 2011. The scope wouldn't boot anymore. After some testing, I found out there was a problem with the power supply : voltages were drifting away, and the "brown out detection" came in. I could fool the feedback loop in the switched power supply, but after some months, the same problem was there again. At the end, I found a small ceramic capacitor that had a low and changing resistance. Just replaced it, and now the scope is still going strong !
Technically, even if it's just a single one, it's still "hertz" - that WAS Heinrich's last name ;)
Watt did you say? I was surprised when I saw that the oscilloscope had Farad so well.
I doubted that you'd be able to completely restore that 'scope -- particularly after it had been so roughly handled. So BIG congrat's on your success.
I'm impressed as well and yes you had a gunny sack full of horse shoes. Yep I would like to know where that dumpster is as well. You have too many scopes. You need to sell me that 420 for what it cost you. after all you did get to make the video using it as your prop. Along the lines of the SMP. I spent several years as the bench tech at a couple of casino's. At the second one, the tribe decided they were making enough money to expand from a small casino with half of it being basically a circus tent with about 1400 slot machines to a real casino with chandeliers as big as my house, a four story parking garage, a big hotel, and a fabulous 18 hole golf course. (rambling). Anyway, Day of the grand opening, everything rocking when boom the lights go out. emergency lights didn't work either. Black in there like a coal mine. We only had about 6000 people in there. Kinda scary. What if people panic and start running? The main transformer had blown. People were pretty cool though, they all slowly made their way to the exits. Three days later they got a new transformer and were back in operation for another 4 days. when we got another good crowd in and it happened again. I had gotten to know the architect and the electrical engineer that were the designers of the casino, as I got to contribute to the design of the slot shop and some of the layout on the floor. I went back to where they were working on the system and was asking questions about the rating on the xfmr etc. Answers all seemed good. At $18,000 each this needs to be solved I went back to my shop scratching my head. I'm working on a stack of monitors and the light bulb came on. Noise from the smp's. the new casino now is up to 4200 slots and all new puters etc for a whole slew of new office workers. Each slot has between 5 to 8 smp's and the puters, scanners, printers, etc all smp's. That's about 30,000 smp's online when they are all in operation, which probably would never happen but close was enough. I headed to talk to the EE and meet him in the hallway and his face made it clear that he was freakin out. I had read a few years before in an electronics mag when the smp first started becoming the thing that they produced a lot of noise (as you say) and particularly on the fifth harmonic, and that it feed back onto the line, and that it had been known to cause some issues with sensitive equipment. He kinda poo pooed me. So I went back to my shop and on with my work. About an hour later he comes into my shop and is asking about this article. I didn't remember the title of the article or the author, but did remember the mag. That evening I went to the library and we searched long and hard and finally found it from a library at berkley in digital format. I printed it out and took it to the EE. About two hours later the EE and a couple other electricians show up at my shop and want to know if I can show them this harmonic thing from the smp's. So I broke out a power supply with a smp and hooked it up and started to connect to monitor the line in. The EE steps in says can I hook this up to it? He had a handheld fluke unit that was a dedicated analyzer to display all the harmonics in like a graph. (didn't even know there was such a unit but I guess fluke pretty much has it all covered) When I pulled a load on the smp the harmonics shot up. The fifth probably three times any of the others. He says that's all good but I just can't see how a little power supply like that, can blow that transformer, (it was about 5 feet in diameter and over 8' tall, probably would weigh 10 to 12 tons). I explained that we had 30,000 of them when and if they are all going. He does some calculations From the readings etc and gets a ghostly look on his face. His figures said that almost 40% of the power from the secondary is reflected back onto the secondary, out of phase and frequency. He looks at me and says what can you do to bring these things under control? I laughed, nothing. It would seem it is your problem. I say about the only thing I can think of is a big bank of capacitors to filter it down to close to DC which would not load the xfmr. But I'm not sure how you can accomplish that without flattening the line voltage. Maybe a coil as well to form a filter for that freq. All I know is that the problem was gone but I never seemed to be able to get a concrete answer as to exactly what was installed to stop it. Interesting huh. Sorry about the outrageous long post but I thought you might enjoy it.
It is abs fascinating how much money is spent on gambling .. how much thought and tech goes into it and how many lives of course go down the sink.. that Tribe or tribe you referred to perhaps Adelson's ... maybe.. he is intergalactically famous in that area, one hears. Or is it too hot a subject to mention even now.??
Them's your words Matac. People don't like to us the J word up front.. it can have career implications... Certain groups and I am not talking the Sopranos, have seen that area as good way to make money and hey.. .it's Entertainment - and Legal too. When I first saw the wall of text above... I thought ...no life is too short but it is fascinating and at the cost of two $18 K transformers. Remember too it might not have been current that killed the Tfrs .. once you get resonance going you get massive voltage swings and the insulation could start to break down. The Fluke PM he referred to do exist and a famously expensive. I'd say it was solved with power conditioning chokes and capacitors. ON ANOTHER Tack. I don't look at Carson's lab all the time but when I do I see he is a man with something to say and a massive amount of tech knowledge. His RF probe design on another Report could be a seriously effective Z transform on RX only for a Ham band long wire antenna to a 50 ohm transceiver port.
Be careful TEF might have skin in the game. Mossad is everywhere :-) . I't be careful of using that expression. It has bad vibes dating back to WWII
Awesome tutorial on common sense troubleshooting. My job is to repair Aviation Electronic Test Sets that others have tried to repair and failed. It's amazing what some folks will do and the extremes that they will go to, to get things to work.Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Best Wishes n Blessings Keith
Your welcome Keith! Sounds like an interesting job.
Great job bring that 420 back to life, by the way the date is 4/20/16 next Wednesday. lol, I don't smoke it but the date is memorable by many.
+James Barnett Yep its Adolf Hitlers birthday...
Lol.. I just found this ironic not being disrespectful. I also know it would be Hitler birthday however, I don't acknowledge that person in history for obvious reasons.
txd see below
Not only Standard Oil but George B Snr/'s Daddy one of Rockfella's RH men. The US, ie STD oil, was shipping oil to Germany via the Azores for transshipment about the time of the battle of Britain. THe brits had to put pressure on via the State Department to stop that hooliganism. Strictly of course the US was not at war for about 2years and three months after the Brits, during which time the Brits were hammered terribly in part by Old Man Bush's friends' actions. Not that the Brit royal family comes up roses either when you look closely....This is all documented stuff an not a conspiracy theory..
Good job Paul. Always nice to bring junk piles back to life. I totally agree on soldering wires on batteries. Been doing it for years, my uncle did it till the day he died as did my grandfather. I think most people have problems because they use either a soldering iron that's to small for the job or just not hot enough. They end up cooking the battery because they have to leave it in contact so long. Personally I use one of my antique 200W American Beauty irons and its almost instantaneous. Just like soldering wires to a steel chassis. Use a 500W iron with about a 2 pound tip and soldering is done in a flash.
Mike
+MikesRadioRepair
That's some heavy duty equipment Mike! I need one of those 500 Watt Beauties for some of my more delicate work :^) It would be fun to do a video on surface mount soldering with one of those. LOL
+Mr Carlson's Lab
LOL, you could kill someone with just the tip. The big monsters are great for chassis soldering and solid copper shields. Just can't beat thermal mass. Ebay is a great place for picking old ones up cheap. I should do a video on soldering sometime. Everything from 0201 surface mount to soldering parts onto a 1930's heavy steel chassis.
Mike
I thought those looked like ISA slots/cards, and then in the self-test screen it says "AT bus". They are, aren't they? :)
I thought the same thing! I wonder how compatible it is with a real PC?
Wow, I was rooting for you the whole way through. Score, congrats. Been watching a lot of your videos lately, pure delight. Thanks for your hard work making and sharing them. Cheers.
Your welcome!
D:
Very Enjoyable. Thanks immensely!
Nicely done Paul; a real test in true deduction of a worthwhile project that has been saved from the dump.
+John Cunningham
Thanks John!
It lives, it lives!! Now to clean up the face and remove the old sticker. (or relocate it)
I worked for a number of years as a production coordnator in a Li battery facility in the USA which made all sizes of Li batteries for US Military and some foreign milataries, along with battery packs for for defibulators used in medical procedures. As part of the manufacturing process the batteries are placed in ovens and go through a heat cycle. Heat, as used in your techique, should have little to no negative impact. You are right, we used welding to attach "tabs" which were used for connections. The battery sleeves are typically heat shrink also.
This was fun to watch.
Nice job and great tip for soldering leads to a battery.
I think the lesson here was to never give up !
Mr Carlson, you are my Brother from Another Mother! I have been soldering wires onto batteries for fifty years without a single problem. What was the original failure point in this oscilloscope? Was it in the power supply somewhere?
Yeah hi Bruce. I think he repaired the swichmode psu in another video. He said there's a link to that repair in the description for this repair.
Huh, ISA cards?
I pretty much use the same method as you to solder batteries but I add in an extra step in the beginning where I use a rotary tool with a sanding disk to definitely roughen up the contacts. I only plan on soldering to it once and to get in there and out as quickly as possible.
I wish it was always this easy.
Yep :(
I know this is a few years old. I enjoy watching stuff like this. Kind of places me back in a shop.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
That's a pretty good looking oscilloscope. My dad has a huge oscilloscope that I think has a 16 bit operating system. Subscribed!
So i just tested soldering batteries...
Duracell industrial AA cells,
the first one wasnt soldered at all, just inserted into a batterie holder,
second one just soldered with a regular 80W Ersa iron (so nothing special like you did) and even kept it liquid until attaching the wire...
after cooling them off, i hooked them up to a precision load set to 100ma and logged data,
cut off voltage at 0.1V
both did about 2.1 Ah, +-50mah
didn`t do a longterm test tho!
the biggest issue is overheating, which melts the sealing ring, it will distort/push out from pressure and they start leaking, not good inside most things.
I have tried the trick on coin cells and they vented even after very short soldering. Bummer.
Usually if you have a soldered in coin cell with spot welded leads you can get a socket that solders almost if not directly in place of the original coin cell. Then it's a no-brainer.
LOL, No Confusing Colors on that CRT. Those connectors look like the ones used in the ol DB25 Amphenol connectors. I use them for all sorts of stuff. I solder 18650 cells quit often. I just use a HOT Iron and get it done fast. Get off as soon as the solder wets good. Tin the wire prior. NOT a issue. That scope is better then anything I have.
THis looks lika an ol 286 computer inside.
*****
In ours we had a 4 meg ISA bus memory card which was full length and covered both sides with memory chips. Things have come some way since then.
+rimmersbryggeri Same here . I wonder if Tek made any of their own hybrid PCs ?
Steve Smith
They did make printers or at least sell printers badged teketronix as I remember they were thermal transfer printers and very sought after. (Could be they were solid ink also but I think that was QMS) They might have made lasers yoo but I don't remember.
I was going to say the same thing.
It is built like industrial equipment because that is what it is. Thats also the reason why you dont see them very often in domestic or office settings. They use dto sell quite alot of them in an IT equipment auction house I frequented about 10 years ago. Almost needed at forklift to move the A3 ones but they were years ahead of other proffessional color printers of the time. There were hobby ones that could make nice prints but they could never stand the abuse of a setting where a qms was required.
Nice work Paul! enjoyed that very much, I like seeing equipment being put to use rather than trashing it!
73!
+su pyrow
I agree! Thanks.
you got it good buddy 73!
HI Mr. Carlson.
I enjoy your videos and thanks for those. I'd like to select one these scopes and looking for your advice:
1. Rigol DS1054Z
2. Rigol DS1102E
3. Instek GDS-1102B
But really don't know should I go for Rigol 50 mhz 4 channels or 100mhz 2 channels or should I go for Instek. Can you please advise/help to decide? Many thanks in advance.
Hi Ramin. What sort of work will you be doing with the scope?
Hi Mr Carlson. Thanks for the response.
I'm repairing power supplies like the ones by TDK Lambda (Alpha 600, 650), AOM drivers by Panasonic and other general electronic stuff.
In addition to Digital I'm seeking a good analog scope as well. What would be your advice?
Hi Mr. Carlson,
So what is your advice to me?
Digital oscilloscope vs analog one, GW Instek 1102B, Rigol 1054Z or 1074Z?
Problem is that I live in Baku, Azerbaijan and shipping cost for analog oscilloscope is usually high because of heavy weight. But some cost is nothing in comparison with usability. You have a big experience and maybe you can advise me and help to decide. Thanks.
Mr Carlson's Lab i am looking for some advice too.
@@doctorazizli Hi Doc as Paul asked previously, what do you want to use it for?
If I could afford to join your course I would, That lady I told you about left me owing 580 euro a month and that is the reason I can just about live and have the internet, I would love nothing more but for now I honestly do not have enough to support your great work and learn from you but I love all I have seen you fix. Great work and I wish there were more videos like yours.
3:30 look bud, it says "TESTED", right there... i don't know what's your problem man, the board is fine... ( ;p )
One big problem with these scopes is the front panel membrane switches. The silvering comes away from the membrane. A quick dab of silver paint usually fixes that. Another great video sir.
You are very correct Chris. I replaced the power switch with a momentary push button behind the membrane. The little extrusion in the membrane pushes the switch. Looks completely factory and will last now. Now when the power switch is pushed, you hear the click of the switch.
Never had issues soldering batteries the same way, just use standard Weller iron, set to high temperature, to get short time.
Sometimes grinding the steel surface helps in quicker soldering.
I bought one of these cheap and glad to watch it again. Also I completely agree it is the amount of time that an item is hot that damages things when soldering them. I bought a whole bunch of surface mount capacitors and wonder what else that I might find as there is a bunch of noise in the display, and there was none the first time that I tried at slightly newer scope a TDS 420A. Also there are two other option boards one is a serial port and the other is a printer port. In addition there is software that runs on the floppy, don't know if it is required that it needs to be purchased from Tektronix or if it can be downloaded.
so satisfying to see this followup from the SMP video - really made the whole thing come together
+Christian Iversen
Thanks Christian! I'm glad the scope turned out OK.
Awesome video Paul, is always fun to see test equipment come back to life
+Ver64
Thanks!
I bet the 1 thumb down is the guy who threw that in as a 'free' parts unit! Thanks Mr. Carlson, I really enjoy following your repairs even when it is beyond my ken. I've soldered batts before no problem.
+Sam Iam
Thanks Sam!
Very good, it is always a treat to be able to salvage a piece of equipment considered to have been a junk box candidate, and give it new life. I commend and admire you on your expertise, patience, and resourcefulness. You are truly a man of like heart to mine in your level of duty and dedication. For me, Electronics is always a labor of love. I am sure the same can be said for how you feel about the field as well. Keep up the great work, at keeping the fine art of professionalism alive and well. The information that you are imparting is of great value. Schools now days do not get into a good deal of practical details. Especially when it comes down to practical knowledge related to older electronics.
Respectfully,
Professor: Howard Daniel Rollins III
Inventor and Scientist.
Love this Repair. I'm from italy, and i'm following you a lot of video ago, your explainations are so clear and helpful. It can be a dream for me to repair a scope like you. This seems to be a good scope for little amatorial works or just for educational purpose!(150Mhz and 4 channel!)
+simone de santis
Glad your enjoying the video's. I hear Italy is a very beautiful place. Thanks for your comment!
I absolutely love how those 90s PCBs look
Nice way of soldering the battery and nice work getting the O-scope working!