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Hi, where did you get the new VFD? I need to replace mine as it is very dim with non-uniform intensity on various segments
I bought one on ebay Germany and that worked well.
When I wanted to buy more, the guy had sold them all.
Since these VFDs were the Japanese ITRON made version, I looked on the Japanese Yahoo auction site and found a few more and upgraded all my counters to new VFDs.
You need to look for
Itron model number:
CC1187G
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#101 Reply
Posted by
analogRF
on 07 May, 2018 13:41
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Hi
I have a 53132A which seems to be working OK. Passes the power on self test, also passes the ALL TEST self tests (in Utility menu: power + recall key) and passes calibration procedures.
However, when I choose specifically the FR END test in the utility menu, for which you have to connect the 10MHz out to ch1 and ch2 via a BNC-T, it always fails.
Can anyone with a working unit try this test and see what happens? My unit came with original option 010.
History: the power supply and the 38V VFD supply were dead which I fixed and now all voltages are well within specs and solid but I am not sure about their noise. Could that be the problem? Perhaps replacing the PSU caps would help?
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#103 Reply
Posted by
analogRF
on 07 May, 2018 13:49
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Hi, where did you get the new VFD? I need to replace mine as it is very dim with non-uniform intensity on various segments
I bought one on ebay Germany and that worked well.
When I wanted to buy more, the guy had sold them all.
Since these VFDs were the Japanese ITRON made version, I looked on the Japanese Yahoo auction site and found a few more and upgraded all my counters to new VFDs.
You need to look for Itron model number: CC1187G
thanks! I will keep looking. Right now I could not find anything on japanese yahoo auctions.
I have seen those on ebay but I was hoping to find it cheaper. The seller offered $85 but the shipping to Canada is also $30
So $115 for display is a bit too much...
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#104 Reply
Posted by
ArthurDent
on 23 May, 2018 18:54
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I just bought an HP 53132A on Ebay that was listed as parts only with a blank display. I gambled and got it and it looked pretty good. It had the 3 Ghz card and the HS oscillator (010 option) but as shown on Ebay, the display was completely dark. I took the case off and visually inspected the inside and the only problem at first glance was the white bumper on the main board was completely melted with just some goo remaining.
Looking more closely I noticed one cap in the power supply had a bulging top so I replaced that 1000 uF/16V cap and the counter works perfectly. It took a while to find which REV I had so I could access the cal procedure but once I got that info and went through the cal menu, everything seems to be working as it should, even the display looks fairly bright. I had to relube the fan because it wouldn't always start on its own but after the oil worked its way onto the entire shaft it worked o.k. as well. If the fan was stopping that might have shortened the life of the faulty cap. I'll replace all of the power supply caps, just in case.
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Congratulations on an easy repair.
Yes, it is a good idea to exchange all electrolytic capacitors and measure the voltages and ripple.
Carefully remove the goo and install a new silicone bumper.
I would also replace the fan with a new silent type.
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#106 Reply
Posted by
analogRF
on 25 May, 2018 15:29
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I just bought an HP 53132A on Ebay that was listed as parts only with a blank display. I gambled and got it and it looked pretty good. It had the 3 Ghz card and the HS oscillator (010 option) but as shown on Ebay, the display was completely dark. I took the case off and visually inspected the inside and the only problem at first glance was the white bumper on the main board was completely melted with just some goo remaining.
Looking more closely I noticed one cap in the power supply had a bulging top so I replaced that 1000 uF/16V cap and the counter works perfectly. It took a while to find which REV I had so I could access the cal procedure but once I got that info and went through the cal menu, everything seems to be working as it should, even the display looks fairly bright. I had to relube the fan because it wouldn't always start on its own but after the oil worked its way onto the entire shaft it worked o.k. as well. If the fan was stopping that might have shortened the life of the faulty cap. I'll replace all of the power supply caps, just in case.
how do you get rid of that white glue sticking the caps together in the power supply and how do you re-apply that glue?
I know what it is used for but i don't know what is the material and where I can get it. It's used in many power supplies...
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#107 Reply
Posted by
ArthurDent
on 25 May, 2018 16:58
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When I removed the bad cap I found on the power supply in my HP 53132A, I scraped the ‘glue’ off the board then washed the area thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol to make sure that the electrolyte residue that leaked out of the cap was removed and wouldn’t cause future problems with the board. After repairing the board I make sure the board was good and dry before reapplying power.
The ‘glue’ on this power supply board was hard (or had hardened with heat/age) but some glue used on other pieces of equipment I’ve had was somewhat flexible like silicone rubber sealant that you could buy in any hardware store. I’ve seen Dave in some videos and others refer to this flexible glue as ‘snot’. I wouldn’t get too carried away with applying it because you still want some air flow around the heat sinks on the board.
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Keysight just released a new firmware 3.00 for all 532xx Series counters.
The Option 150 - Pulse Microwave Measurements is now a free upgrade
And the "about" screen is more clear about installed options.
I updated the FW of my 53230A counter from v2.05 to v3.00
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#109 Reply
Posted by
TheSteve
on 21 Dec, 2018 16:00
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So far I have found the html5 interface quite buggy.
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Got my hands on another 53230A... this one however, has CH1 dead, but the price was right, so need to figure out if the Front End got hit hard enough to fry something obvious. All is under that shield can I do believe, (lots of 5V relays as well). If anyone has ventured in there and repaired anything, it would be nice to hear of your adventure.
No schematics on these of course, (at least that we can have) so even more fun.
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#111 Reply
Posted by
TheSteve
on 28 Mar, 2019 21:22
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I made some offers on that one
If you're lucky it is a broken connection right where the BNC is mounted. If not, feed in a signal to both channels and see where it stops.
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Over the years I had two counters with a broken BNC solder connection / PCB crack at the BNC connector. Sometimes the BNC connector is not well mounted. If this is the case on yours, make sure to make the mechanical connection between the BNC connector and housing is well done and not wiggly.
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Hi,
Possible a bit of board flex caused it, but since it is purposely a very, very thin trace, it appears the intent was for the trace to pop before anything else, on high current, maybe. If you look closely at the OP photo, you can see the BNC shell is directly soldered onto the board, as is the signal connection. To replace that thin trace with a bus bar is probably not a great idea. I plan to use a very small piece of wire, if it turns out this is the failure. I would much rather re-visit the wire, than troubleshoot, and replace components in the Front End.
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I got VERY lucky. Broken fusible trace at CH1 BNC input...
Working again.
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Congratulations !
Now make sure the BNC connectors are good and stiff mounted in the housing.
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No "adjustments" to the BNCs are possible. They are soldered securely to the main board, pass through the tight fitting plastic front panel openings. That's it. It is what it is...
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On one of my counters, the BNC wiggled inside the housing. So, before inserting it, I added a very thin layer of shrink-tubing on the BNC to make it tight.
May be not all counters have this issue with space between BNC and housing.
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yes... the plastic is tight around the BNCs... no room for the thinnest heatshrink ever manufactured.
Which makes me conclude this was never a mechanical issue at all. Purely an overload condition that popped the fusible portion of the trace. If you look closely under magnification you can see the fusible spots along the input trace. Thank you HPAK.
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#120 Reply
Posted by
richard.cs
on 12 May, 2020 21:31
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Bumping an old thread... I figure as this morphed into a general repair thread over 3 years it can do no harm and I could use some advice from people who've had them apart.
I have a HP53132A that was a skip rescue, it was working perfectly, though I had not used it very much. This evening I go to turn it on and the front panel flashes and internal relays chatter continuously. I am thinking PSU problems causing it to power cycle when the load is increased (the rear fan runs fine in standby, doesn't slow noticeably when I try to turn it on but it's rather hard to tell with all the chattering). Sound plausible?
I see there's not a great deal of detail in the service manual, it being geared more towards replacing modules, though there is at least a set of testpoints and target voltages. I don't suppose anyone found further details than that? I've seen schematic snippets in this thread, some reverse engineered and some looking like they come from HP/Agilent documentation. Of course I may yet find an obvious failure when I crack her open, but it's 22:30 here so that's not going to happen today.
I suspect it may well have had some rough treatment before I owned it, but it's been in (very) occasional use for a couple of years without problems.
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Did you test all power supply output and especially for any ripple on the dc rails?
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#122 Reply
Posted by
richard.cs
on 13 May, 2020 10:13
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Did you test all power supply output and especially for any ripple on the dc rails?
First thing on my list to do, hopefully I'll get a chance today. Is there a target ripple specification, the service manual only gives DC tolerances.
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#123 Reply
Posted by
richard.cs
on 13 May, 2020 18:48
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It's very clearly a PSU fault, the supply voltages are low in standby, and fall further and become noisier when I turn the instrument on.
| Supply | Standby | On |
| 5V | 3.5 | O2.4 |
| +12V | 10.6 | 10.1 |
| -12V | -11.9 | -7.3 |
| -9V | -8.9 | -8.9 |
Overall it's quite dusty inside and in need of a good clean, but there is no visible damage (no domed caps or visible heat damage apart from perhaps a slight PCB yellowing near Q1).
The -12 and 5V seem to be the worst offenders, with +12V being out-of-spec but not dropping much at switch on. Looking at the schematic Jf2014 posted, likely candidates would seem to be the primary current sense (R5) failing high, problems with the aux supply (D2, R4, etc.) causing cycling when more gate drive power is demanded, feedback problems, etc. I am not sure I quite understand the whole circuit* but there are some interesting features in there like making the current sense dependent on primary voltage. I'm not quite sure what IC3 is about either - cleaner shutdown when power is removed?
*What's that complex arrangement on the bottom left? I know it's one of the controllers where V(comp) sets Ipeak, but the role of Q22, Q23, Q24 does not seem clear to me.
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That is a very good start for the repair.
Most likely one or more components are pulling too much current.
Just follow the current path and remove a possible suspect and see if the voltage jumps back to its normal values.
Unless the problem is within the power supply rails, check that first.
You should find the culprit easily.