Hey all,
I purchased the infamous Keithley 2015 from eBay for standard DMM duty and some audio projects. It showed up in good electrical shape and has calibration stickers on it from 2014 and 2015 and agrees with my other test equipment, so that's good. But, the plastic display was quite scratched and difficult to read the VFD behind it. I had heard of a number of people replacing the VFD, but I didn't think mine was that dim and thought some polish might help.
Figured this is pretty generic process and anyone with a tired looking DMM could follow similar steps. Except of course those with proper glass displays that don't get scratched by just looking at them... but hey, it's only a $4k DMM.
After some disassembly I restored it in a few steps:
- Mask off the edge of the display, Keithley Logo, and Model text to avoid removal during sanding
- Wet sand the display flat with 2000 grit sandpaper and a Dura-Block AF4400 I cut down to size to get the deep scratches out and while keeping the display flat and not wavy
- NOVUS 3 Heavy Plastic Heavy Scratch Remover
- NOVUS 2 Heavy Plastic Fine Scratch Remover
- NOVUS 1 Plastic Clean and Shine
- Back to work!
When you're done with the Dura-Block AF4400 makes an ok DMM stand to prop it up for easier reading since almost none of these have the original handle anymore.
The display is hard to photograph because it either looks bad or it looks fine with little in the middle. But, in use it's a night and day difference. The DMM went from feeling used and abused to aged and dignified, as any VFD display should feel these in this day and age.
If I could do it over again, I'd spend a little bit of time sanding the edges of the display. They look ugly and rough in the photos, but aren't noticeable in real life.
I've attached the highlight photos but have a bunch of pictures in an
Imgur album.
Thoughts?