EBAY: Many faulty hp/agilent 34401a multimers

[teksturi]

Hi. Normally i do not list eBay item because everybody have to find they own deals but just notice that one seller sell 14 faulty 34401a multimeters. To me postage kills the point and I just buy one. There is also make offer if you dear to try. Every meter cost 159$ + postage. Meters are located in Philippines. Hope we get many repair topics to repair section 


Here is the link http://www.ebay.com/sch/Multimeters-/58277/i.html?_udlo=70&_sop=10&_nkw=34401a+multimeter&_udhi=200&_mPrRngCbx=1&_from=R40&_trksid=m194

[crispy_tofu]

Thanks for sharing! 
I wonder what the deal is with that 34401A that's sold 'as-is'... they haven't even showed any errors! 

[teksturi]

Maybe just very good deal  There is actually 15 meters. One is little bit cheaper (99$) but it miss faceplate. But user zucca can still have one for   sale https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fs-34401a-window-front-panel-display-34401-49311/msg411737/#msg411737. Zucca live europe now I think.

[nctnico]

Neat tinkering object. I wouldn't pay the asking price though since it seems somebody else already went through them and deemed the meters beyond repair. All of them are missing the rear bezel as well for some reason. Maybe they got opened and damaged on purpose before decommisioning?

[teksturi]

Good points. May be still good deal to buy all off them. If seller agreed for 1000$ or something close for all units it may be winner deal. Unlucky or lucky (depends point) that I have wife. Love to see that kind of repair. Love to do that myself too but but the wife point

[MadTux]

Look at TiN's 3458A repair thread. And ask him if he would buy that 3458A again. Then think again about buying those potatoes for budget price.

Don't get me wrong, I really like fixing stuff. But there are limits to what is fun and pays off. Repairing drowned and severely neglected DMMs certainly isn't fun for me.

[nctnico]

It seems to me like these don't have water damage because they look much too clean for that. I'm more worried about the missing rear bezels. I doubt everything from this seller has been in water. That would make his stock run out pretty quick.

[EEVblog]

Same seller has a faulty 15MHz analog scope for $120 
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hitachi-V-152B-Oscilloscope-15MHz-Power-On-No-Display-/252148372910?hash=item3ab536d5ae:g:cx4AAOSwv0tVbahe
Dream'n

[MadTux]

But what other possibilities are there for a company to produces 20+ dead DMMs? It seems to me that most of them have the same stickers on them, so they must originate from the same place.

Sure, one possibility is that one company dumped lots of working DMMs into dumpster, but why? And I would also expect most of them to work after beeing dumped and pulled from dumpster. From experience I can tell that higher end HP bench DMMs are really reliable, so it certainly takes lots of effort to kill 20+ meters. And I would guess that even the dumbest engineer would stop after the second or third.

Concerning the water damage: Look at the 'No Input reading' one, RS232 port on the rear. Clearly some corrosion going on there.

[Macbeth]

All of them are clearly faulty AND have been interfered with before (no doubt stripped/part swapped for the expensive/unobtanium parts like Caddock resistor arrays, ASICs, etc). Just look at the hell TiN has been through from dealing with this sellers crap. OldSchoolCool wisely got shut of his HP3458A from the same seller.

The asking prices are insane. Much like the $20,000+ asked for the rusty 3458As. These really are worth their scrap value alone. You would guess 3 meters to make 1 or 2 good'uns, except you find the rare parts just happen to be the ones missing/swapped in ALL of them.

[Macbeth]

But what other possibilities are there for a company to produces 20+ dead DMMs? It seems to me that most of them have the same stickers on them, so they must originate from the same place.

You clearly have never worked in a service shop. When I did you would be amazed at the amount of old skeletons and carcasses kept on shelves to rape for parts (with stickers!). Only when they were stripped of all the good stuff and/or we needed space would they be dumped.

Now guess were all that stuff ends up? On a slow boat to a third world country for cheap landfill where it is sorted by children into piles, then efficiently moved up various chains to end up on ebay after all the vultures have taken whats left of what could be the good stuff.

[MadTux]

No, never worked in a repair shop. But I certainly have experience in raping broken units for parts, as my lab mostly consists of cheap ebay instruments 

But I wouldn't expect that any company, no matter how large, produces that much scrap that it keeps 20 or more of the same DMMs in stock to rape for parts, while it is still supported by Agilent. Anyone with a working mind would order replacement parts instead of new units.

[Macbeth]

Oh lord! Closer inspection of the "no faceplate" and the service tech has helpfully wrote "defective a/d chip" on the masking tape label.

Shudder!   

I dunno where this Filipino seller gets his HP stuff, but he has form! 

[nctnico]

Concerning the water damage: Look at the 'No Input reading' one, RS232 port on the rear. Clearly some corrosion going on there.

In a moist climate these connectors rust rather quickly. I've owned more HP gear with corroded sub-D and HPIB connectors (mostly the nuts) but the corrosion was definitely not caused by water damage. It is just poor surface treatment of the connector hardware.

[HighVoltage]

I have paid less on ebay Germany for broken 34401A meters and they were in better condition. This doers not seem to be a good deal.

[teksturi]

There are other interesting multimeter items like 21pcs Keithelys 2015 from same seller. Price is under 6000$. So one meter price will be about 300$. They say that every meter works and has been calibrated last year. And they from Nokia so I think they has been calibrated every year.

But price is way too high. Cosmetic conditions are not so great. And who want to risk 6000$ dollars. You can find this meters way cheaper from eBay.

I have paid less on ebay Germany for broken 34401A meters and they were in better condition. This doers not seem to be a good deal.

I have same though but if you can offer low price from all off them that's the different think. Then you may have spare parts. But hey, I just wanna see someone is going to try the repair   

[teksturi]

Prices just go down 20%

[free_electron]

I wouldn't touch those with a barge pole. They are ALL missing the back bezel. And there is a reason for that. The back bezel holds the little sticker with the serial number of the machine.

This means one of two things :

1) These machines have been decomissioned.  The serial number will be wiped from EEProm as well. You can not have these things officially calibrated as they are marked as 'scrap'.
2) these machines are really broken beyond repair or beyond economical repair so they have recycled the serials to other machines to 'erase' certain traces...

This stinks from a mile away. chances you can fix these are VERY slim.

[PedroDaGr8]

I wouldn't touch those with a barge pole. They are ALL missing the back bezel. And there is a reason for that. The back bezel holds the little sticker with the serial number of the machine.

This means one of two things :

1) These machines have been decomissioned.  The serial number will be wiped from EEProm as well. You can not have these things officially calibrated as they are marked as 'scrap'.
2) these machines are really broken beyond repair or beyond economical repair so they have recycled the serials to other machines to 'erase' certain traces...

This stinks from a mile away. chances you can fix these are VERY slim.

Are you sure on that? I see the serial number sticker on 5 of 5 that i have checked so far. The serial number on these is on the back case on a sticker right above the VM Comp and Ext. Trig jacks.

That being said, my HP 34401A has a little sticker on the back bezel and no sticker on the back of the case. Interesting if that little one is the serial number for mine, I thought mine was sold without a sticker.

[nctnico]

Prices just go down 20%

I'm still happy they turned my $50 offer down 

[MadTux]

Serial is still there, it's on the back of the aluminium chassis, not on the plastic frame which is missing.
http://www.amplifier.cd/Test_Equipment/Hewlett_Packard/HP_meter/images/HP34401A_back.jpg

More probable reason for missing back frame is, as already mentioned, that a few people messed with them before. First guy in some company probably opened and tested them, found that they are beyond economical repair and dumped them. Second guy, perhaps someone in association with the seller, opened them again and stripped all good parts, except CPU board, rubbery keypad and VFD, so they can show a 'working' unit on ebay.

One of these guys was lazy and didn't put the back frame back on. Perhaps the same guy that found it handy to have a few replacement VFD filter/cover plates.

[iampoor]

If someone who sells primarily test equipment sells units "as-is" its bad news.....

[Macbeth]

They are worth their VFD's - which isn't saying much, because half of them are totally shot, the rest just passable. The ridiculous postal charges make them not even worth scrap. Seller insists on very expensive courier delivery.

I seriously doubt there is a "ringing" industry in T&M gear with serial numbers being swapped around  . I mean, yes with cars and motorbikes there is the government agencies that hold a chassis number to a registered vehicle - and people often used to sell a logbook or V60 registration document along with a "chassis" which consists of nothing but a piece of metal with a VIN plate on it as a whole vehicle - which thieves then steal a vehicle and swap the plates and numbers around. It was a big problem back in the day, but I don't hear of it now.

But on crappy old 34401's lol... Nope! I think someone is pulling our legs. 

[Macbeth]

If someone who sells primarily test equipment sells units "as-is" its bad news.....

Just see what TiN has had to do with his 3458A from the same seller. New transformer, new voltage reference, repairs to power supply boards, repairs to A/D boards - replacement of A/D board. (Unobtanium parts). Anyone would think someone had took all the good boards and shoved in all the shit ones, even forgetting the VREF totally, and sell it on...

[iampoor]

If someone who sells primarily test equipment sells units "as-is" its bad news.....

Just see what TiN has had to do with his 3458A from the same seller. New transformer, new voltage reference, repairs to power supply boards, repairs to A/D boards - replacement of A/D board. (Unobtanium parts). Anyone would think someone had took all the good boards and shoved in all the shit ones, even forgetting the VREF totally, and sell it on...

Yep, I followed that "ordeal"....I honestly cant believe he persevered. I think I would have thrown it out a window. 

Whenever I look at something "as-is" on Ebay, I would never consider purchasing it if the seller appears to know what they are talking about. Only 1 bad experience so far. 
Im sure this seller would list the parts individually if there was anything of value.....they seem pretty scummy to me.