Fluke 199B - Battery or board?

[W4PJB]

I recently picked up a 199B with a bunch of test leads and an i2000 Flex high current probe for a nice price. The battery is completely hosed, but after letting it sit on the charger for a bit I was able to get it powered on, though it dies the second the AC adapter is pulled.

The DMM inputs seem to work fine (just tested off of a 9v battery that was handy) but both the "A" and "B" channels of the scope are non-responsive.

Could this be from the low battery? Or is it pretty safe to say there is a board issue with the RF inputs?

My inkling is to return it ASAP and get a refund, but if there's a possibility that it's due to the low battery, maybe it's worth gambling $35 on a new one before giving up on it.

[mahi]

The Fluke 190 series ScopeMeters should work just fine on the external power supply - even if there's no battery installed.

The unresponsive A and B channels hint at a more common problem of these ScopeMeters: Dead ASIC(s)...

[ZGoode]

I agree with Mahi here, there is probably something else wrong here.  If it turns on it should work completely fine regardless of battery condition.  He's probably right about something wrong with the basics.
If it was listed as completely functional, definitely return it.  Its not worth the hassle since I don't think there is a schematic posted for this unit.  Plus you probably wouldn't be able to source new ASICs anyways due to them being custom and all.

[W4PJB]

Thank you very much for the replies and for confirming my suspicions. I had one of these years ago for work and it was a great unit for field use. I never recalled a dead battery giving me any issues when connected to AC power, but then again, I only ever had a battery that was drained and not failed. My thought was a failed / shorted battery could be pulling down a bus voltage or doing something else causing weird problems.

I had read some posts about the ASIC chip. I am going to suspect this is the problem here, since both channels are failed.

[BeBuLamar]

I had a 199C at work. I can run it with AC even when the battery is completely dead. So I think there is problem with your scope rather than just the battery.