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| Need opinion RE HP/Agilent 6623A power supply |
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| member_xyz:
I am looking for a older and less expensive alternative to newer Agilent E3631A triple output power supply. Does anyone own or has experience with older HP 6623A triple output power supply to comment on ease/difficulty of use in operating the unit via front panel keypad, overall accuracy and reliability? Thanks |
| free_electron:
i have 6624's ( 4 channel version ) drawbacks : - no 'dial' you need to type in the voltages on the keypad . this makes 'playing' hard ... - heavy as hell - noisy as hell ( fan noise ) - if you fry the supply kiss it goodbye. the hybrids are unobtainium ... advantages ( if you can call em that ) - bulletproof design - rock solid output - overdesigned and built like a tank. the 662x series is NOT a lab power supply. it is not intended for that use. it is intended to sit in an instrumentation rack under software control and perform automated testing. it will happily sit in a corner and do this for 30 years 24/7 without even blinking. in terms of accuracy they are on par with the 3361. in terms of reliability : they are more reliable than the 3361. the 3361 is a bench instrument , the 662x is a rack instrument different breed in terms of manual control : the 662x stinks... need to go up 100 millivolt : start punching keys ... and if you miss the dot you may get settings you don;t like .... the rotary encoder is much more forgiving than the keypad ... now , the 662x have serial port in the back... take a pic or whatever flavored cpu , hook up 2 rotary encoders ( one for voltage , one for current ) and simply send in the numbers ... if i got a moment later today , i'll pop the cover off one of my 6624's. they are really built like a tank. the circuit boards are massive. it's amazing how much they crammmed in that chassis.. the transofrmer is like half the size of the chassis and custom built for hp. its got like 20 secondaries. ( each channel has 2 or 3 power windings so they can switch dynamically , and like 4 or 5 'assisting voltages' that are all isolated. there is a truckload of cables coming from that transformer. |
| member_xyz:
Thanks free, This is exactly the type of information I am looking for. If you get a chance please pop the cover off one of your units and post some photos of the internals. |
| casinada:
I Have an HP6627 Agilent Flavor and an HP6624. As Free_Electron mentioned they are built like tanks and they are designed to be mounted on racks. There are no relays inside like other designs and they don't have front Connectors so you have to bring the cables to the front somehow. They Have a big Fan in the back that sucks air from 4 heat sinks and make noise. On both of my units one of the outputs was bad. The power supplies wouldn't work unless you disable the self diagnostic (internal jumper or switch depending on the vintage). The good thing is that Agilent still makes them so there are parts available for them. In the end I had to replace the Custom 6805, a couple of fuses and a capacitor. Each Processor cost me $20 from Agilent. The Capacitor would have cost me $50 from Agilent but i Replaced it with a Nippon Chemicon for less than $10 (via china). The Little Fuse 7A Fuses cost about $1 a piece. The design must be sound as it hasn't changed since its creation. The Transformer is a beauty. Pros as mentioned: Reliable, Built like a tank, stable, repairable, GPIB remote control. Keypad entry. Cons: Rear panel connections, Big, Heavy, Noisy It definitely has its place in industry and labs were the unit will be connected for long periods of time and/or controlled remotely. I can post pictures if requested :) Thank you :) |
| Dago:
I have a couple 6632A power supplies and I made a blog post about them with some pictures and info if you are interested: http://www.dgkelectronics.com/hp-6632a-power-supplies/ |
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