Fnirsi-TC4

[BillyO]

Thanks Josh.  That's the original battery size, but .. you have a few very small "dimples" just above and near the trash can.

Looks like they pulled it off the production line to make the changes you noted.

What is the battery charge life like?

[KungFuJosh]

That's true, it does look like they applied the fix after the fact.

I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, I've been redoing my workbench. I'll leave it on tomorrow and see how long it lasts.

[BillyO]

I hope to do my bench re-do sometime this winter.  Lots of "honey do" projects right now.

My "lab" is a mess, especially full of wibbly-wobbly banana thingys,  except, its not.

Keep the positive charged end up!!

[KungFuJosh]

I've got some honey-do stuff I should probably finish too. 


I left the TC4 on, and forgot to pay attention after about the 5th hour of it sitting with the display on. Somewhere between 4 and 5 hours the battery icon showed the less than half BS with a little red block in the battery section. I dunno when it died. I might do it again tomorrow, but the same thing might happen again.

Anyway, I assume that's probably good enough, and better than the defective units.

[BillyO]

I've got some honey-do stuff I should probably finish too. 

It brings peace, acceptance and forgiveness.  You know, when you want to get that 8.5 digit DMM?

[KungFuJosh]

I've got some honey-do stuff I should probably finish too. 

It brings peace, acceptance and forgiveness.  You know, when you want to get that 8.5 digit DMM?

Nooooooooooooo, no 8.5 digit DMM!

...a 7.5 digit DMM is tempting though. 🤔

[BillyO]

Nooooooooooooo, no 8.5 digit DMM!

Oh sure, you strike as a 3458A kinda guy.

That's something I might aspire to someday ..

Actually, I just acquired a 34401A for $200.  It apparently "Reads wrong voltages".

In fact, only AC was F'd up.  On closer inspection I found that it reported errors 621 and 622.  Taking it apart I discovered that CR306, C311 and C323 were missing.  Not only that, but under the two capacitors the board was burned to the glass fiber, each had a pad missing and the two active pads were missing where the Zener should be.  Someone had attempted a repair at one time and gave up.  I bodged in leaded components as replacements the best I could and it passed all tests.  So far, it seems to be working very well.  I just need some way of ringing it out.  I have a few resistor standards and this is the first time I measured them exactly as marked, But I don't know about the other functions yet, other than it  agrees with my two 5.5 digit meters so far.

Maybe when you get your 3458A you can loan it to me to fully check my 34401A out?   

[KungFuJosh]

Okay, I might have been tempted by the 3458As a couple times, but they're easy to avoid for two reasons. 1. Too expensive to buy, and too expensive to calibrate. 2. Useless if not calibrated.

All my 6.5 digit meters agree well enough, and the DAQ was calibrated earlier this year, so I'm gonna keep that simple.

[BillyO]

My loss!  LOL!

Some day though ... the digits won't be denied! 

[KungFuJosh]

Did the test again. Kinda funny. After 4 hours, the battery icon looks half full, but the capacity color is red. About 30 minutes later, it dies.

[BillyO]

Did the test again. Kinda funny. After 4 hours, the battery icon looks half full, but the capacity color is red. About 30 minutes later, it dies.

There is something amiss with those batteries.

You might want to do the swap.

[KungFuJosh]

Did the test again. Kinda funny. After 4 hours, the battery icon looks half full, but the capacity color is red. About 30 minutes later, it dies.

There is something amiss with those batteries.

You might want to do the swap.

I would if I was going to keep it. However, I have the TC3, and while the TC4 is prettier, that's about all it has going for it. They both suck the same at detecting things.

[mohamed]

HI BRO HAVE YOU FOUND A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM?

[BillyO]

HI BRO HAVE YOU FOUND A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM?

I think FNIRSI have fixed it in production, but if not on yours, you can try something like in this video:

[lazyman]

Hi. I have had a accident with this tester. I was about to test electrolitic capacitor, from faulty power supply. This was one of the bulk capacitors, and developed some kind on break inside, or oxidation on contact. Measured no voltage on this capaciter, but when i connected this capacitor on tester, it fell on the side and i heard "spark" sound. Tester is probably shocked with some serious voltage.
I have removed input protection component, which are short circuited, and replaced 32G032 microcontroler.  old 32G032 from factory was shorted.  Tester does not started, but after replacement, tester starting, but still cannot complete component tester part.  Tried also with fimware update, and also tried to program factory bin with NSING tool, thru serial port.. 
No sucess, i'm not sure is there some option bytes to set with programming, or something else i could check?