HP 53131A Restoration and Time Base Alignment (not a tweak alignment)

Рет қаралды 1,252

4 ай бұрын

A huge thank you again for all that continue to Join us in the lab for repairs and alignments. The channel would not exist with out all of you so thank you again for dropping by.
Ways to support the channel:
Patreon - / zenwizard_studios
Paypal - Zenwizard@Zenwizardstudios.com
In this video we take a look at my HP 53131A Frequancy counter. I found out from a fellow KZfaqr that the power supply will most likely need some love to keep it running in for long haul. Also whale we are in there I did an alignment on the time base to get a more accurate measurements. My example of an 53131A came with the medium stability time base This had an interesting calibration procedure due to this being a software calibration NOT a pot tweak.
** Repair exposes the Tech to mains electric and should only be done by trained personnel. Errors can be fatal. **

Пікірлер: 15

@jspencerg 4 ай бұрын

Makes me want to inspect/ recap all the 90's units...

@SQ5DBF 3 ай бұрын

Nice video. Ripple and noise(bad caps) on power supply rails +5/+12/-12V can affect timebase stability.

@PapasDino 4 ай бұрын

I leave my 131A unpowered since I don't routinely use it and since I have a Rb standard I turn both on when I need it since for my ham workbench that's fine. I do have a knock-off after market mid-level oven but haven't mounted it yet. You convinced me I need to investigate my counter for recapping, thanks! 73 - Dino KLØS

@Runco990 4 ай бұрын

I don't leave my 53131A powered on all the time. While it IS calibrated, I run it on my GPS/Rubidium standard. I very much remember the 90's capacitor plague. Edit: I DID change the fan to a noctua mounted with rubber mounts. It is whisper quiet. I really hate the whiny fans that have shown up in everything so they can make the tiniest heat sinks. Worthwhile mod for anyone that leaves these counters always connected.

@NearFarMedia 3 ай бұрын

I have had to recap both my 53132A and a 53181A (which went to my brother's lab). The caps in the PSU's were well dead and leaking. In the 53181A even some of the ceramic caps were bad too surprisingly... Both are now running great. I updated the firmware and replaced the fans and used rubber mounts to get them all nice and quiet again, as well as replacing the dimming VFD displays with new bright ones sourced from ebay. How are you performing the fine time interval calibration? Or didn't you bother with that?

@ZenwizardStudios 3 ай бұрын

I just did the time base alignment. There are 3 processes Quick , Time base, and Fine at the moment I do not have the equipment to generate the fine required waveform. I left the calibration offsets alone and just the time base alignment.

@sebastian_harnisch 4 ай бұрын

Do you happen to have a list of the capacitors required for a full recap? I have an identical unit, also with the HS oven, would be really handy ;)

@Vitalii-R. 4 ай бұрын

I have, try to find little bit later

@ZenwizardStudios 4 ай бұрын

I don't have a list per say. Ill be honest I have a giant shelf with about 100 different values in stock. The only odd ball one was the electrolytic on the board the large 63 Vdc cap. But if i remember correctly LOTS of 10uF.

@sebastian_harnisch 4 ай бұрын

@@ZenwizardStudios No worries!

@ofgjf 4 ай бұрын

You can also exchange the PSU to a newer one. Not all rails of the DELTA PSU are used. Just the 5V, 12V and -12V are needed. Mine is working fine with a meanwell RPT-60B.

@sebastian_harnisch 4 ай бұрын

@@ofgjf Thanks for the info! That's interesting.