Tektronix TDS 684B Signal Path Compensation (SPC) Error

[seancsnm]

I just picked up this scope at auction and powered it on. It threw a signal path compensation error but after running a full signal path compensation through the utility menu, no errors are being thrown when the scope powers up. Should I stop here?

I did just a bit of reading up on these scopes and it looks like earlier versions (like the tds 600) have serious cap issues but the later versions fixed these issues for the most part. Still, I'm wondering if I should go ahead and try to do a cap overhaul on the scope just to prevent future problems.

I've been running a similar scope (TDS 640A) from a similar origin (same local auction) fairly heavily for over a year now with zero problems - I just plugged it in and started using it. So I think I'll probably be ok if I just start using it, but I'm also a tad bit nervous that I need to do some maintenance on it to be safe. 

[AndyC_772]

Open it up, check the processor and acquisition boards to see what type of caps they have.

If they've got electrolytics, replace them and be prepared to find and fix further damage. Later boards have tantalum caps which are fine.