Agilent E3648 display replacement

[nexus]

Hi all,

I picked up an agilent E3648A on ebay recently. Like most power supplies of this type, it is a high mileage unit with a faded display.

I'm having some trouble pinpointing a replacement vfd for this one. The original part is a Samsung SVI-12MS06.

There is one chinese company that seems to make an aftermarket SVI-12MS06 replacement: Shanghai Pufeng Opto Electronics Technology (ssot.cn/en/pro_view.asp?id=90).
I've tried going back and forth with them, but they do not sell through conventional avenues (ebay, aliexpress). It just seems too dodgy to send an international wire transfer, with no invoice, for an amount that exceeds the original cost of the power supply (they want twice the vfd cost for shipping and wire transfer fees).

I've seen this website where another gentleman replaces the display in his E3646A (uses the same vfd). You can see a few high res photos of the display, front and back: https://www.dcddcc.com/blog/2017-12-02-agilent-e3646a-power-supply-repair.html

I also reached out to keysight directly, and their parts division explained that they do not stock these displays, and a whole unit exchange is the only method of service they offer for the E3648A.

I'm wondering if anyone has performed a display replacement on an E364X and was able to find a new vfd, OEM or aftermarket. After an extensive ebay search, I messaged a few of the top Chinese display sellers asking about this part. If anyone has one or knows where to get one, I'd appreciate the tip.

Thank you!

[ddcc]

Coincidentally, I'm the author of that blog post. Unfortunately, I don't have any spares, but I'm curious what they are charging you for the VFD? You may have better luck waiting for a broken unit on eBay and using it for parts, but the front panel does seem to get damaged fairly often.

[nexus]

Coincidentally, I'm the author of that blog post. Unfortunately, I don't have any spares, but I'm curious what they are charging you for the VFD? You may have better luck waiting for a broken unit on eBay and using it for parts, but the front panel does seem to get damaged fairly often.

Thanks for the excellent post and reaching out!

They are asking $60 for the VFD which is perfectly fine, but they said that the least expensive shipping is still $80 USD. Add a $45 international wire transfer fee and the sum is $185 to get 1 display in hand. Does that seem reasonable in comparison to your buying experience?

Also, how has the aftermarket VFD held up? If it is as reliable as OEM with no issues, I'd be more inclined to pay the price.

I did reach out to samsung extensively about this part # too (on the phone for several hours). I finally ended up at a parts division (J&J International Inc) where they are doing a "research case" to look for it. Would be cool if I could get this part from OEM.

Strange that Keysight does not have any... I wonder if they just throw out the entire front panel if a display is damaged.

[ddcc]

Hmm, that total is fairly expensive. IIRC, at that time they offered DHL/FedEx shipping, and it ended up being around ~$100 for something like FedEx International Economy on my shipping account. You could try to avoid the wire transfer fee using something like WeChat, although I've heard recently that adding a balance from a US bank account is pretty difficult.

I ended up switching the E3646A for an E3648A, so I'm not sure how well the VFD held up, but I recall it was pretty bright when I originally installed it.

I've not had much luck getting custom parts directly from vendors, like transformers for the E364xA series. Although Keysight told me who their OEM is, the OEM has refused to sell custom parts to anyone else.

[nexus]

I've not had much luck getting custom parts directly from vendors, like transformers for the E364xA series. Although Keysight told me who their OEM is, the OEM has refused to sell custom parts to anyone else.

Yeah, I wish manufacturers would at least support some level of end user troubleshooting these days. Test/measurement customers usually engineers anyways. You can't even get a schematic for the new stuff

I'm sure Keysight makes most of their service money from big companies who just replace the whole box, but they could still earn some side profit with no risk by selling parts that are already in production. Non-proprietary stuff like transformers, display modules, knobs, etc would sell like candy for the used instrument market.

I just got lucky with eBay for this VFD! I sent messages to about 10 different sellers. 9 of them said they didn't have it, and the last one said they did in fact have the right one! I just bought mine on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/VFD-Display-for-HP-Agilent-Keysight-E3648A-LCD-Display-Screen/202108813294

So at least that is checked off! I am also replacing the encoder, fan, and all electrolytic and x/y safety capacitors (they are RIFAS  ). This power supply will be ready for many more years of use!

[ddcc]

Nice, I'm glad it worked out. I'd be curious to know where they're sourcing the VFD from, if there's any labels on it once it arrives.

Keysight does make parts available for many instruments, including knobs, fans, encoders, and random individual components, on their parts store, but I think the front panel is only available as an assembly.

[nexus]

Nice, I'm glad it worked out. I'd be curious to know where they're sourcing the VFD from, if there's any labels on it once it arrives.

Keysight does make parts available for many instruments, including knobs, fans, encoders, and random individual components, on their parts store, but I think the front panel is only available as an assembly.

Will post an update once it arrives. For all we know it may be the same as the aftermarket one you got. Although, the seller did say "It's new original", so I'm also curious who's logo is on there now.

I did have a look on Keysight's website for any parts of interest. Like you said, front panels are tricky... that should be the first item on the list for these E36XX series supplies. The transformer is towards the front, so they always fall face first XD

[nexus]

New VFD finally arrived all the way from China. I already had everything else ready; all parts cleaned, new fan, all electrolytic and safety caps replaced, also did the rotary encoder since that is a known wear item too.

New display is virtually indistinguable from the "Samsung" marked part. I wouldn't be surpised if they came off of the same assembly line; can't imagine that there is a huge aftermarket for these since Keysight definitely doesn't waste time with display replacements, and it is not a trivial repair. The desoldering/resoldering were a real test of patience, but I didn't let that impede my perfectionist standards.

In the end, did 15 min test at max load for each channel and range. Cal'd against a new DMM6500, and she's ready for another 10+ years of faithful service!

Also, second front panel board is from a recently acquired E3647A currently getting similar treatment. No display replacement however; it's a much lower hour unit. Just caps, encoder, and a good cleaning. 

[ddcc]

Looks good, and that's a pretty fancy rack too!

[nexus]

Looks good, and that's a pretty fancy rack too!

Thanks! The rack definitely saves space around the lab. Plus, it all rolls around together!