Beb's Vintage Tech - Simpson 260-3 Multimeter Repair

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4 жыл бұрын

Today will be Part One of the repair and recalibration on this Simpson 260 Series 3 multimeter. I believe this one is around a 1959 vintage but not positive.
It starts out as not really being a "repair", my plan was to just replace the capacitor and germanium diodes, clean it up, and calibrate it. Once I opened it up though, there was a broken PCB trace that was pretty simple to fix.
Like I say in the video, I don't plan on using this meter, but having it as a non-functional shelf ornament doesn't seem fair to such an iconic piece of test equipment. So once it's up and running, I'll try to find places where it can be used, if only for sentimental reasons if nothing else.
Stay tuned for Part Two which will cover calibration (although we won't be able to go up to the 1000V range!).
Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share! I'm also on Instagram @bebsrepairbench, go follow me for almost daily updates!
Check out the Simpson 260 website for lots of great info:
simpson260.com/
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Пікірлер: 25

@Shnick 2 жыл бұрын

Came back to this video as a reference on my second 260 refurb. This one ended up having 4 precision resistors out of spec. Thanks for keeping the video up!

@mcdradus 3 жыл бұрын

those are very good meters! if you do any work on vintage equipment mainly tube equipment those analog meters are a must have.

@VintageElectronicsGeek 4 жыл бұрын

Nice meter...Simpson has been copied by many! Really hard to watch video due to the CNC and its really high pitched noise, had to just skim through the video. Great job on servicing...looking forward to part 2. ~Jack, VEG

@bebsrepairbench5074 4 жыл бұрын

Yeah I always imagine this is how a dog must feel when someone blows a dog whistle, I think they were milling slots in a stainless steel pipe, so it had a HORRIBLE tuning fork effect. Multiply that by a quantity of 1000 parts (with multiple slots in each) and it made for a deafening month of fun. The good news is I've swapped to a lapel mic, which brings it's own challenges to overcome, but isolates my voice much better.

@armandoperdomo Жыл бұрын

Hello my friend, 3 days ago I bought the same Simpson 260 Series 3 multimeter. I discovered the broken fuse, a desoldered diode. Although I fixed it and now measured, I think the previous owner moved the potentiometers. Can you help me calibrate it, because in R*100 and R*1 the measurements are not correct. I tested the resistors with a Fluke 77 tester. Best regards.

@jaredsciguy1634 4 жыл бұрын

I just got one of these, it was being thrown away. It's a simpson model 260, never heard of em till just looking them up, mine looks older than yours and has no series number, the inside is way different also.. it was corroded inside around a D battery and also has 4 smaller AA batteries in it, just like you said but not designed the same. caps are very old school and a few things I couldn't ID from memory or personal experience, looks like silver/gray cylinders, a bit smaller than a cigarette but same shape/proportions and has metal shavings stuck to it like its magnetic. I'm guessing high tolerance resistor? It was used in a research lab used by students I think, wasn't taken care of too well. Could I get the corrosion out and take out all the cloth wound wire, (there is both cloth and plastic coated conductors) and rebuild it with more modern parts and expect it to work? I dont really care to use it as a viable meter, but I like little projects like this and would be upset to find I cant get it working, for all I know if I give it a real battery terminal it may work already. But I'm not holding my breath cuz this thing looks rough and I'm expecting at least a few burnt components by smell alone.

@bebsrepairbench5074 4 жыл бұрын

Sure you can! That's one of the great things about these old Simpsons. They don't use any black magic to work, so they can be "updated" easily. In fact I need to get back on mine and finish restoring it, but I've bee obsessed with 3D printing lately. I'd love to see what the inside of yours looks like to help ID what series it could be, and what those mystery parts are. My first thought of silver cans is capacitors, but I don't think they would be long like you're saying. Resistors seems the most likely and I think that would make your model a bit newer than mine with its hand wound resistors. Are there any markings on them?

@jaredsciguy1634 4 жыл бұрын

@@bebsrepairbench5074 hey thanks for replying! I'd love to send some pics, how would I do that without an Instagram.. email? I haven't seen markings on them, I haven't taken it apart fully yet, this is kind of a hobby and I'm going to do more research before I open it further, looks like its 2 halves with everything in between and I'll have to unsolder a few connections before separating the 2 halves. Idk much about aged things, I assumed older because I cant see any kind of pcb in it at all. But I also haven't gotten it apart all the way. It was a lab's meter for students, I think, and could be modified already. It has a label that says model:260 serial no. 69875 simpson electric company Chicago ILL. USA

@bebsrepairbench5074 4 жыл бұрын

@@jaredsciguy1634 you can email me at bebsrepairbench@gmail.com if you'd like. You may also want to check out the Simpson 260 website. I'll edit my video description and put it in there. They have some good info in there that's helpful in IDing what meter you have.

@carlospagan9763 Жыл бұрын

Tendras alguno para vender yque este en perfecta funcion como el 260 3?

@christianhudspeth3338 2 жыл бұрын

I've got one of these from my grandfather whom passed away when I was young. It seems to be in working condition but the wires and knobs are missing. These can use any kind of banana plug right? (Edited grammer)

@bebsrepairbench5074 2 жыл бұрын

Any multimeter probes with 4mm banana plugs will work, they just can't have the shroud over the plug.

@nor4277 4 жыл бұрын

That cap you put in is that a ,.1 mfd ccapciator ? Nice job on your meter Hours is in better shape then mine .

@bebsrepairbench5074 4 жыл бұрын

I believe I used a .1mfd 630V but don't quote me on that. I'll open the meter back up and check it next chance I get. It's really just there to filter out any DC so the rating isn't very critical, but you definitely want it to be high voltage.

@christianhudspeth3338 2 жыл бұрын

It's funny because the circuit board in that artifact is probably hand soldered and not a printed circuit board as you refer to it thru the video.

@bebsrepairbench5074 2 жыл бұрын

The components are hand soldered, but the board is still a printed circuit board, although I'm sure the exact method used to manufacture it differs from modern methods. The term refers to the board itself, not the way components are mounted.

@Shnick 4 жыл бұрын

Is that .1 millifarad or .1 microfarad? Schematics say “mfd”, which according to what I’ve read, is nowadays referred to as “uF”.

@bebsrepairbench5074 4 жыл бұрын

I used a .1 millifarad. I think you're right that it's supposed to be microfarad.

@tpaairman 3 жыл бұрын

It would have to be a .1 µF, not mF. That type of cap he used doesn't come in values as high as any mF.

@lesstime1678 Жыл бұрын

a mfd cap is biger than a meter , just come>>sense people ,,please !,,,

@erin19030 2 жыл бұрын

Those varistors are wire wound low value precision parts. Leave em alone !

@oscarcastillo736 4 ай бұрын

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