If your 2215 actually exploded it’s probably the RIFA caps. Dead simple fix.
Don’t buy a Hantek.
I'm not sure how you would come to that conclusion. How many 2215s have you found have that issue? Is it a known issue with that machine?
Why would you say "don't buy a Hantek"? From what I can ascertain reading through the people who have bought that brand, the build quality is pretty ordinary. If I was still doing this malarky professionally I would want something decent. My original CRO was a Kenwood (not a brand that comes to mind normally), given to me by my father who was also in the game. It was by far the best oscilloscope I'd ever used and I will always miss that machine (it was stolen). Not high bandwidth and with no bells/whistles, but a rock solid machine that always triggered well and did what it said on the box.
In the research I've done so far I didn't see any obvious trend in terms of reliability or otherwise in regard Hantek. People are generally quick to whinge and complain when something goes wrong, and I've seen most brands pretty well represented on the whingometer. Once I narrow down what it is that I actually need I will refine the brands more. I certainly appreciate the reasons why recommendations are being made so I can learn for myself and make up my own mind, as without that the person at the other end of the keyboard could be sitting there with a lucky 8 ball for all I know.
I’ve repaired numerous scopes (tens of them) including a few 22xx units. The age of the units and the power supply design suggests that as a failure mode. Other failures usually result in power supply ticking. RIFAs are the hot side and the only bit that tends to actually let magic smoke out as they’re the only bit that doesn’t fail safe.
Not hantek because you’re paying to have every corner cut. 8 bit sample size. Bad. Low memory depth. Bad. Lowest bidder. Bad. UI and software are just dire. Most of the reviews are from people who haven’t used anything better.
Personally I’d go for the Rigol DS1054Z. 4 channels, crack it to 100Mhz and 24M sample depth and 12 bit ADC. Software is a bit laggy in places but it seems to win on value. Software is pretty mature as well and most of the bugs have been worked out. Also why it’s still extremely popular today on here. Siglent are also a perfectly good contender.
However one thing to factor in here. Your 2215 has lasted a long time. Nothing you buy today has any guaranteed longevity past 3y really. 5y if you’re lucky. 7y if you’re really lucky. Factor that into the purchase cost. Hantek maybe 1-2y.
Edit: nctnico mentioned GW as well. Definitely worth a look there.
I didn't intend the post to be about the 2215, so don't want to be drawn too far in to that area. For the record however it's now blowing fuses (didn't do that before). As I said, I believe the source of the smoke was a small PCB type arrangement on one of the semiconductors. It's a weird arrangement and anyone who has actually fixed one of these would know what I'm referring to, but it's a totally crap arrangement in my opinion. I did manage to get a thermal imager on it, and one of the output caps is overheating. It only ran for a few seconds but it was thermally very obvious. That would be in keeping with the age of the machine in my experience, especially one that's not used very often. That was one of the motivations for not pursuing it as it's not unusual to have a whole pile of faulty caps in machines of this age/lack of use. If it was fired up regularly it would likely last much longer. I will reassemble it and put it to one side until I get a replacement. If I find the time/motivation I may throw a new cap in there and see what happens, but it's barely worth the effort in my opinion. These old power supplies can be an absolute PIA to repair sometimes (unless you're into guessing and weegie boards).
I did however want to address the comments made about the Hantek brand. I'm definitely not trying to hold myself out as any form of instant expert, which is why I joined to forum and will accept anyone's opinion. However I also know how to read a spec sheet!
Most oscilloscopes in the price range I'm looking at are 8 bit, including (I believe, though happy to be corrected) the one you recommended. From what I can determine that isn't considered a limitation for this type of work. As I said in my opening post, the memory depth varies from 40K to 2M in the 5000 series. That's the whole point of my question, to determine what is the most appropriate memory for my application. Hantek is a brand, not a model number. I already said I have no need for a 4 channel oscilloscope, I thought the DS1052Z is very dated and didn't overwhelm me. The DS1054 is 2 more channels I don't need and attracts a significant price premium down here in 'stralia. The Hantek can also be hacked, to 200 MHz in that case, no biggie in my opinion, I would just buy the higher bandwidth oscilloscope if it was important to me. Hacking machines isn't a selling point to me.
I was one of the agents for GW when they first came in to Australia. Don't know anything about them now. They were one of the first "affordable" test instrument companies available here, well before the days of the internet of course.
Sadly you're right and longevity is just a sign of the times. What I'm finding is that even buying what was previously a very good brand is no guarantee that you're getting any real value. My wife was only 30 minutes ago bemoaning that fact with our relatively new Asko dishwasher. We've used that brand for many years and are prepared to pay a premium. However the past two appliances from them have been very disappointing. My Hilux is the same. So it goes on. I do sense there is a definite brand snobbery when it comes to the test instrument area, and it appears Hantek is the bottom of the pile. When I was in the game it was GW. That's fair enough, but even I can see that many of the assertions are being made based on no personal or even close experience. Many of the reviews I've seen have indeed come from extremely experienced people in the field and they acknowledged the generally low attention to build detail with the Hantek brand. Nevertheless they have been reasonably balanced reviews. I've looked carefully at both Hantek and Rigol, and it appears to me the Hantek functionality is better. I don't hold out much hope for either of unwrapping an HP when I open the box!