Fluke 8050A refurbish/repair questions

[HalFoster]

All-

I have a big pile of recently acquired 8050As that need some work, cosmetic and otherwise.  Most seem to function fine and only need minor work (and new batteries) to be up to spec.  All the cases are, however, very badly UV yellowed, mostly unevenly due to stickers and decals.  The ones that have more serious issues seem to all be just bad LCDs, but three are parts-only.  I normally work with HP boat anchor gear but I was able to pick these up cheap to refurbish for fun and then sell.  I've never really dealt with anything like the little plastic cases they are in and so am looking for suggestions.

Various options depending on the condition - please give your thoughts on each and other ideas:

Electronics:

  Replace displays with something custom - probably just do up something to replace the whole display board.  Keep original bezel or remove and fit to larger opening? Personally, I think it would look better to keep it simple to match the meter -maybe a faux VFD look (colored Plexiglas | screen | LED sandwich)...

  Install new batteries, or modify no be AC only

Yellowed plastic:

  Clean as best as I can and call it done.

  Try to bleach with peroxide - if doing this, anyone know a good way to remove the label on bottom beforehand and then replace?  Maybe heat would loosen the adhesive?

  Possibly sacrilege here, but: clean and then paint the cases.  A high quality glossy paint made for plastic would probably look good.


Hal

[coromonadalix]

For the display you have some projects on google, but it may be a daunting task ?? It depends on your experience

For the stickers resisdues, you have googone  or  light oil like wd 40,  works well for me,  Do a plastic test before ......  sillicon based stuff may attack plastics.

Some here had success with peroxyde to de-yellowish the case parts

I would try to keep them originals as possible in my case.

[retiredcaps]

Regarding display, see

http://mrmodemhead.com/blog/gallery/fluke-8050a-led-conversion/

[HalFoster]

Thanks!

I probably wasn't as clear as I should have been - I got these since the actual process of refurbishing something is what I enjoy and these looked like they would be fun; when they are done, though, I don't care about keeping them so I will just sell them.  So, I'm not asking so much *how* to do something (other than the case yellowing removal) but rather *what* should be done from the perspective of someone who likes this type of meter.  To me, they offer restoration/modification possibilities that I'm not used to having - just not sure whether they are *good* possibilities or not...


Re the display:  There are several that the original displays are bad, so they will have to be replaced with *something* to be used.  For the rest, it is optional - keep OEM or do something non-standard?  I've found the various mods people have done and thought that some of them looked very nice - but they vary considerably from 7 segment LEDs with the original bezel to graphic OLEDs taking up the whole opening. To me, the large OLED solutions look very nice but just don't fit the style of the meter.  I think that the meters have a simple elegant, retro look and a high-tech display would clash - but that's just me and why I was asking for other opinions.  No matter what style of replacement though, I would not just hack something on top of the existing board.  In the end, it would be a lot simpler and probably no more expensive to just design and have made a complete replacement for the display board.  That way it could be easily done with no physical modifications to the meter - the old board and display (if working) could be swapped back in with no changes if desired.

Re the case:  Two issues - first, how to deal with the yellowing of the case.  I really would like to bring it back to it's original appearance if at all possible.  The only way I am aware of is to bleach with peroxide and UV light; to do this, though, the label on the bottom of the case would have to be removed and preserved to put back on when done - which is the second issue.  If repainted, the labels would not be an issue.  A couple of the meters cases are broken past repair, so I can experiment on them - but I really don't want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to.  And, of course, yellowing is pretty typical of this generation of plastics so there is a lot to be said for leaving it as-is and keeping it "vintage."


Batteries?  Personally, I would not want the NiCd batteries and all the issues they bring - to me, these fall into the "bench meter" category and as such the batteries aren't needed.  Put together with the fact that the units with the battery option won't work without a *charged* battery installed settles the issue for me.  What are your thoughts?

Again, I just do this for fun and the challenge, and don't care about keeping them when done.  So, for those who *would* own a meter like this, what would of the ideas would you like? Dislike?

Thanks,

Hal

[GregDunn]

I love the vintage Fluke style.  If I were to buy one of these I'd be delighted to see the batteries replaced by a standard line power supply (I did this for an 8600A) and at the very least a backlight for the LCD.  I really like the simple, uncluttered 7-segment LEDs (of the same or higher count).  You can't really add an OLED display without altering the look of the meter radically; it looks awkward.  I don't care what color the case is, as long as it's not damaged or missing pieces, but I would expect it's hard to get durable paint to adhere to the old plastic; so leaving it alone wouldn't bother me at all.

[HalFoster]

Update-

Started painting the ones that needed it; so far I like the results...

[Kinkless Tetrode]

Update-

Started painting the ones that needed it; so far I like the results...

Very nice job with the paint finish.  It looks great.
The choice of color makes it look like a Tektronix 8050A instead of a Fluke.   

[bd139]

That looks rather good that does! 

[med6753]

Agreed, that looks great!  What brand/color spray paint is that? I have a spray blue that I use for re-spraying Tek cabinets that are all beat up.

I forsee my 8010A, 8050A, and 8810A getting similar treatment.