Repairability of Tektronix 24xx

[echen1024]

I am and always have been getting interested in purchasing one of these scopes for parts or not working, but have always wondered about the repairability. I see that the scopes use many custom Tek parts, and the error 04 is NVRAM. I was wondering, given any broken 2400, what are the odds one can repair it with someone who is very skilled in analog systems.

[PaulAm]

People repair these all of the time.  The NVRAM error is probably a bad battery in the Dallas NVRAM chips.  Pop the chip, read the contents, program a new chip and install.

Performing a full cal is a bit involved though.  Get a service manual and read through it and make sure you have the required equipment, or its functional equivalent, before starting.

Repair difficulty is going to depend on the model, the 2400 series has DSO and analog models.

Best course: buy a second parts unit of the same model.  Either you'll be able to salvage the parts to get the first one fixed or it will become a second project.

Check through the yahoo tekscopes archives.  There are known problems that show up: Dallas NVRAMs, the power supply, shorted tantalums, fried u800 chips, flaky eproms, etc.  A couple hours reading will give you a good taste of what you're letting yourself in for.

[echen1024]

People repair these all of the time.  The NVRAM error is probably a bad battery in the Dallas NVRAM chips.  Pop the chip, read the contents, program a new chip and install.

Performing a full cal is a bit involved though.  Get a service manual and read through it and make sure you have the required equipment, or its functional equivalent, before starting.

Repair difficulty is going to depend on the model, the 2400 series has DSO and analog models.

Best course: buy a second parts unit of the same model.  Either you'll be able to salvage the parts to get the first one fixed or it will become a second project.

Check through the yahoo tekscopes archives.  There are known problems that show up: Dallas NVRAMs, the power supply, shorted tantalums, fried u800 chips, flaky eproms, etc.  A couple hours reading will give you a good taste of what you're letting yourself in for.

I understand that error 04 is related to NVRAM.

[David Hess]

On the analog models calibration is more difficult than NVRAM replacement so if the calibration data is already lost, that is a problem.  In comparison, the calibration is relatively easy on the digital models so when I lost the NVRAM contents changing mine, it was not a large setback.

[echen1024]

Worst thing is is a lack of reasonably priced ones. I'm talking about the Analogs, which are what I'm interested in.