The bench as a tool of its own!

Рет қаралды 2,510

Күн бұрын

First off let me say THANK YOU to all that have joined the lab and helped us get there we are today. Content is based of viewer questions and comments. And will continue to be. In this case this upgrade is so we can do some testing as requested by viewers specifically on 10Mhz references. So as always more is on the way.
Ways to support the channel:
Patreon - / zenwizard_studios
Paypal - Zenwizard@Zenwizardstudios.com
This video was an request from a Patron of the channel. I was asked to go in to a bit more detail about the bench and how I built it. I also discuss some of the errors that I made in the design and getting it up and running. As well as some more details about the lab space as and future planning. I hope this video helps in the build up of your own lab and process. At the very least inspiration may strike!.
** Repair exposes the Tech to mains electric and should only be done by trained personnel. Errors can be fatal. **

Пікірлер: 23

@Runco990 2 ай бұрын

When I built my new dual bench, I used RiveTier shelving with furniture grade plywood. All standard dimensions stuff, 2 tier hutch, and infinitely adjustable. Strong as hell, too! The great thing is I can alter the bench any time I need. I'm surprised you mentioned the roller blade wheels.... I did this too! Smooooooth!!! LOL! But to protect the carpet in the shop, which I really didn't want to tear out due to cold winters, I also bought tempered glass floor pads for the chairs. Static is not a problem and everything is set up to mitigate it anyway. Too bad I can't share a pic, it came out pretty nice! I needed to raise the lower shelf after working with the bench a while, and thanks to the heavy duty rivet shelving structure, all I had to do is pop the beams into the next hole up! The bench was arguably more expensive to build this way, but it's totally collapsible, re-usable, and re-configurable. Watched a lot of videos and no one else has done it quite this way as far as I know.

@hughgilbert390 4 ай бұрын

I attached a length of unistrut to the bottom of my sagging test bench shelf. It is now straight and solid. I had to cut notches at the ends for the shelf supports. Unistrut really strong for its size.

@jolierouge8332 3 ай бұрын

Love your videos. If you do the benches again - consider steel angle iron in lieu of 2x4s as structural elements. 1x1 3/8 inch steel angle iron is comparable to a 2x4 on edge with you losing 1 inch of headroom compared to 3.5". My benches are wood top like yours, but 1 use 2x2 1/8 inch steel both for the horizontal frame as well as for the legs - all mig welded, but they could have been also drilled and bolted.

@apollorobb 4 ай бұрын

I changed my bench around 4 times last year. Ive almost landed on something i like .Well then a new piece of gear shows up and i have to shuffle things around its a constant struggle so i know how you feel .And i do my components the same way if im working on something and i come across a component that needs replaced and i dont have one and need one i order 10 most of the time to get a better price and have spares. That adds up quick .

@rpbale 4 ай бұрын

Appreciate you sharing the guts of the lab. Playing with the lab is almost as fun fixing things!

@ZenwizardStudios 4 ай бұрын

It is a never ending process... I am having so much fun I have 2. I'll have 3 once the dirty side is up and running as well. but at that point I might have to call it a live in workshop!

@rpbale 4 ай бұрын

This electronics repair thing is like a disease. Mine started with an electric guitar, which lead to building two big guitar rig racks and vintage TUBE amps. But my friends and I needed our tube amps restored, which according to the explanation I gave my wife, requires acquiring lots of cool test gear. I couldn't afford or justify modern new lab equipment, so that lead to collecting vintage test gear. But that gear needed calibrating and repair. I remembered I had an old Tek 5440 scope packed away in the garage from 25 years earlier...causing the disease to increase by tens of orders. After a couple of months of using it, my Tek lit a pc trace and smoked it and just had to be restored, which lead to needing more test gear, that needed restoring. How can you have a proper audio lab without calibration gear from HP, Fluke, Tek and Keithley, vintage that is. Clearly a volt bug flew into the shop. Now another 15 years later I have a collection of restored and calibrated test gear from the 30's to current times. I just got a killer deal on a ESI 104 10K resistance standard so I can keep an I on my HP 3458, so I can keep an eye on my AA501A's lab mates, and on and on. Your chopped up TM502 was so clever. I totally copied that because...ah...because the lab needed one. I've arrived at the 1ns threshold because of a couple of repairs on a TG501 and 5L4N. I can hear the higher gigz calling me. I always said I wouldn't do RF, but here I stand at the pearly radio gates...it a disease I tell you!

@GlenBeer 4 ай бұрын

@@rpbaleor an addition 😂

@larrybud 4 ай бұрын

In the middle of watching, so you might cover it, but I highly suggest putting some raised lips (couple of inches) around the back and sides of the bench so that you're not accidentally knocking stuff off the back and having to crawl under to get it. I do that in my woodshop too.

@darrenmurphy6251 4 ай бұрын

yes thats very good advise it took me far to long to do that myself the nightmare it saves especially if you work on someone elses kit for repair and you just lost some wierd custom or rare smd chip with no shematics available to even know what part number it was , i take lots of photos now too

@PrimeHiFi 4 ай бұрын

Awesome video man, excited to see where the lab goes from here! I have the same Pomona lead holders, they’re really great to have. I have an AA501 I may want to send you. Has intermittent IMD readings. I recapped it, soldered all of the IC’s on the IMD board, and cleaned / resocketed all other IC’s on the other boards with no improvement. They are the terrible TI sockets though, so they’re probably still faulty.

@ZenwizardStudios 4 ай бұрын

If that is the case I would replace ALL the TI sockets the bad ones of that era really are AWFUL. Let me get uncovered and the que down and I will see about getting some more units in for repair.

@mikajuurikivi4293 4 ай бұрын

I like the idea of a top down camera.

@darrenmurphy6251 4 ай бұрын

one thing i found very late in my game is that if the size of the device under test/repair is going to vary alot , like i work on arcade game boards hifi amps car amps then suddenly tall stuff like a crt arcade monitor, or a one piece "stack" hifi i have a diy sort of mini desk on a lcd tv swing arm bracket to swing over my soldering/desoldering stations to me when stuff is small , then move it right back and far right when i need bench width and the bench is clear underneath for soldering supplies screwdrivers ect ,its gret if like me you dont like dragging your kit over to the job ,and kinda feels smarter (and like a dentist setup) but really cheap to do

@darrenmurphy6251 4 ай бұрын

i find work height is absolutelly crucial , the typical error is sat at the bench and being able to reach your gear at the back and yet when you bring your arm back the desk is to high and you drag all those little components you either just had delivered or parts taken out waiting for out of circuit testing get swiped onto the floor and always under the castors on your office chair or into some open amp or something under the desk.

@zxborg9681 4 ай бұрын

My bench at work was in the middle of the lab, so that the back of the bench was accessible to plug in BNCs and so on when test gear had rear connections. We had several benches like this, sort of in pairs back to back with a narrow walkway between them for cable access. I'm planning to do a narrower bench in my basement that's offset away from the wall by 24 inches or so for the same reason. I liked your walkthrough - really nice setup, though, and I had the same idea for 19 inch rack spacing of my 2x4 supports. Maybe I missed it, but that big array of light bulbs - is that a dummy load, or for current limiting power when trying to plug in unknown equipment? Or just studio illumination, LOL?

@ZenwizardStudios 4 ай бұрын

Good catch! The array of light bulbs is in use. That is the current limit for the varic dim bulb and isolation supply. It is very switchable each bulb is about 0.5 Amps at 120Vac. I like the idea of the cabling walkway. I can go up to about 10 amps isolated.

@darrenmurphy6251 4 ай бұрын

cant believe youve got decent room infront of a tek 7xxx i had a 7403n 25 years ago and they are huge depth wise , i had to have it diagonal from far right of the bench to fit just a cb radio infront of it so that desk must be massive

@ZenwizardStudios 4 ай бұрын

a full 4'X8' sheet of 3/4" ply double stacked.

@brianbloom8771 2 ай бұрын

I've been out of the game due to space constraints for some time, but I moved and am currently taking on a very large custom bench build. My equipment is similar to yours, such as 7854, 485, TM500, etc. This vid has helped a bit with my design. It's 42" deep, I set the height at 32", and is "L" shaped 122" x 112". Like yours, I'm not permanently mounting the shelf structure to the main desktop. I'm working on the first section, which will be 64" wide, but I haven't made a decision as to depth and/or angle. Would you say that the 24" working space you have in front of your shelves is more than sufficient? At 24" depth, I'd be left with 18" of unobstructed desk in front of the shelf. At 20" depth, I'd have 22". Did you settle on 24" not only because it's half a sheet, but because it'll completely cover a 7K mainframe?

@ZenwizardStudios 2 ай бұрын

It has worked out well for everything BUT working on the 7K equipment. When working on a plugin or a 7000 series mainframe I need the full bench depth Mainframe + rigid extender card + Plug in for service sticking out the front is starting to get really deep in terms of dimensions. The final "vision" will have more bench top and racks but I am still working up to that point. Iteration 2 and 3 are already formulating but If i had to build the bench again today I would do exactly the same thing modified like I said in the video. I also need to find a good place for the dim bulb tester. I have a great option already build but I have not worked it in to the lab where I am really happy about it yet from a physical location stand point.

@brianbloom8771 2 ай бұрын

@@ZenwizardStudios I made some progress and installed two tiers of 20" Deep x 64" Long shelves over the left side of the "L" bench at 22" shelf height and 40" shelf height. Instead of the 2x4 modification you mentioned for shelf support, I'm planning to get some 1.5" steel square tube to keep the obstruction to a minimum. I don't like the setup you have going with the 7K mainframes where you have to create clearance if you'd like to swap plugins, so I'm going to be installing deep corner shelving, and potentially sloping it 5 or 10 degrees for viewing ease. Measurements show that I should be able to achieve at least 30" width of 24" depth, so, enough for two 4-bay mainframes plus breathing room. Now that I've got a solid game plan for the bench itself, I need to work out my lighting solution, so beating that dead horse it is. I've got a bunch of low-cost-decent-build-quality dimmable, CCT selectable, 6" round LED light fixtures, but they're low CRI and I've not tested them for interference. I don't expect I'll be using them. If you don't mind sharing, what are your thoughts on lighting solutions based on your experience thus far?