General > General Technical Chat
HP 181A vintage scope - shipping fail
<< < (3/5) > >>
bdunham7:
About a third, maybe more, of the repairs I do are handling or shipping related.  Sometimes the scars are permanent, and in the worst case very valuable equipment is destroyed and unrepairable.   I just had a very expensive pressure calibrator turn out to be non-repairable because its fused-quartz bourdon tube--the heart of the system--had been damaged, presumably by some rough handling, after it suffered a relatively minor malfunction.  Even having things professionally packed and shipped by people who should know better frequently doesn't work.  That packing job is actually a bad joke--the thin foam sheets are pointless--but I've seen any number of surprisingly expensive items shipped using it.  The worst was four Fluke 8846A DMMs all shipped in the same flimsy box with ONE layer of that stuff taped around them. 

One thing though--scope CRTs are usually pretty safe when installed, especially in portables.  Since the scope isn't physically badly damaged, there must have been a very large impact or a latent defect to cause that implosion.
TerraHertz:

--- Quote from: Stray Electron on March 18, 2022, 02:37:25 pm ---  Good grief! THAT hurts! 

   I would think that any reshipper would automatically want to open and examine every package that they handle just to ensure that they wouldn't be blamed for damage that was incurred before they received the package and to ensure that it was adequately packed.

--- End quote ---

They do prefer to. With Shipito you can turn that default service off, and have it done only for parcels you select. Due to some uh, unfortunate experiences I've had with their 'open and photograph' service, I turned it off a while ago. I _should_ have had photos taken of this. But it takes them up to a few days to do it (they seem overworked) and sometimes their repack is not so great. So given the seller explicitly claimed he'd pack well, I skipped it. Worst shipping mistake I've made for a while. Entirely on me.

Oh, and "to ensure that it was adequately packed" - that's a joke. They can pack light small things fairly OK, but for big heavy things their understanding is about the same (hopeless) level as the seller of this scope. They simply can't do it. Don't have the necessary materials, solid boxes, or common sense.

A couple of things I had sent to them late last year were badly packed. In the end I had to get them sent outside to a foam-in-place packer. It worked out OK but overall a costly exercise. Shipito's 'process' totally can't handle that, so effectively I paid as if each parcel went through their system twice.


--- Quote from: bdunham7 on March 19, 2022, 05:53:32 am ---One thing though--scope CRTs are usually pretty safe when installed, especially in portables.  Since the scope isn't physically badly damaged, there must have been a very large impact or a latent defect to cause that implosion.

--- End quote ---

Yes, very high-G impact. I see other signs of it. A large electro cap displaced, a circuit board popped out of it's mountings, impacts of screw heads with the bottom outside cover, deforming it and making dents in the cardboard below.
I'd estimate it was dropped flat onto a floor, from a height of maybe two feet.
No sideways impacts, since there are no indents of the handles etc into the box walls.
mansaxel:
I bought a 6206B from the US late 2020. Ad looked like this:

The thumbnail is the only pic left, borrowed from my purchase history. It did look grimy, but not mechanically unsound.



On arrival:



Also, a cooling fin on the rear was cracked, and while not visible on this pic, the meter selector switch assembly (V/A/range) was pushed in and separated.

I bought and fitted a new mains switch, swapped the sad power cable out, cleaned the unit up, carefully pressed the rotary switch together, rebuilt the bezel/holder assembly for the meter, and converted it to Real Mains.  It required no component repairs beyond this, and is now my to-go supply on the bench.

Also, it was Ebay GSP, so I got a refund for everything except the shipping from seller to Kentucky. Sometimes, one gets lucky. 
TerraHertz:

--- Quote from: mansaxel on March 19, 2022, 06:46:03 am ---I bought a 6206B from the US late 2020. Ad looked like this:

The thumbnail is the only pic left, borrowed from my purchase history. It did look grimy, but not mechanically unsound.
--- End quote ---

At the time you buy ebay items, ALWAYS save all seller full size photos in a folder for that thing. I do this even for things like manuals (usually), not just equipment (always.)  So I end up with pics_ebay, pics_reshipper, and pics_arrived in each item's folder. You'd be surprised how often this is very useful. Even a long time later.


--- Quote ---I bought and fitted a new mains switch, swapped the sad power cable out, cleaned the unit up, carefully pressed the rotary switch together, rebuilt the bezel/holder assembly for the meter, and converted it to Real Mains.  It required no component repairs beyond this, and is now my to-go supply on the bench.
--- End quote ---

So basically, the main problem was the meter retainer clip broke, letting the meter loose inside the case?
But this is a generic problem with ALL those style HP meters. The bezel clips break off, because there is too much stress on them. Culprits are 4 small metal springs. They fit in holes in the front face of the meter casing that are behind the metal panel. They push the meter back against the bezel clips. But the springs are way too strong. The solution, to apply to ALL those meters before they break, is to unclip, remove the springs, use rough old side cutters to clip off one turn of the springs then reassemble.
mansaxel:

--- Quote from: TerraHertz on March 19, 2022, 10:46:49 am ---

So basically, the main problem was the meter retainer clip broke, letting the meter loose inside the case?

--- End quote ---
No, actually, the meter assembly came back together quite easily. The major issue was the rotary switch, until I'd figured out a way to disassemble it and use the workshop press to squeeze it together.


--- Quote from: TerraHertz on March 19, 2022, 10:46:49 am ---But this is a generic problem with ALL those style HP meters. The bezel clips break off, because there is too much stress on them. Culprits are 4 small metal springs. They fit in holes in the front face of the meter casing that are behind the metal panel. They push the meter back against the bezel clips. But the springs are way too strong. The solution, to apply to ALL those meters before they break, is to unclip, remove the springs, use rough old side cutters to clip off one turn of the springs then reassemble.

--- End quote ---

Useful advice, thanks!
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod