"Err 1" on Fluke 1652

[JohnW2]

I for one will definitely subscribe, if you were to start posting teardown videos on YouTube! ... I'm sure flameport wouldn't mind the competition

I think the most you can expect (if anything) is 'stills', not any videos

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

An unpopulated 'BT2' .... Though as you say, this is the 1652'C' - good luck!

The inside of my 1652 (see below) looks identical to my previous one - but, as you can see, very different from the 1652C in the video.

There's absolutely nothing visibly wrong so far, so the next step is to remove the 'top' board (well, actually, the bottom one - I wasted some time because I had forgotten that it's the bottom, rather than the top, part of the casing which comes off first!). More 'watching this space', I guess!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

.... There's absolutely nothing visibly wrong so far, so the next step is to remove the 'top' board (well, actually, the bottom one - I wasted some time because I had forgotten that it's the bottom, rather than the top, part of the casing which comes off first!). More 'watching this space', I guess!

Slight delay - I have been distracted by having to address an 'acute plumbing problem' However, it will hopefully not be too longer before I can put my screwdriver into action!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

A good source of information in regards to repairing test instruments, is [email protected] - I know it says Marconi, which is the specialisation, they do cover other other manufacture's instruments too. There is also a more general website forum, but they tend to deal with the really old test equipment repair.

 

[JohnW2]

A good source of information in regards to repairing test instruments, is [email protected] - I know it says Marconi, which is the specialisation, they do cover other other manufacture's instruments too. There is also a more general website forum, but they tend to deal with the really old test equipment repair.

Thanks. I'll have a look. [plumbing now sort-of sorted, so I should be back on MFTs fairly soon!]

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

... There's absolutely nothing visibly wrong so far, so the next step is to remove the 'top' board (well, actually, the bottom one - I wasted some time because I had forgotten that it's the bottom, rather than the top, part of the casing which comes off first!). More 'watching this space', I guess!

Eureka!! - I think/hope Touching lots of wood .....

When I got them out, there was absolutely nothing visibly wrong with either of the boards, so I was close to 'giving up'.

However, as I said, the innards of my current 1652 look identical to those of my previous one (which I have, 'in pieces'). On the basis that there was 'nothing to loose', as a long shot I replaced that 'top' board (the one closest to the bottom of the machine) (which appears to be the 'processing' board, the other one doing the 'heavy work', with big resistors, power transistors/triacs etc.) with the one from my previous machine and, 'hey presto' it seemingly sprang back to normal life, and currently seems to be doing 'what the doctor ordered'! So, I continue to 'touch wood', and will obviously report back if anything changes.

I never did discover exactly what was wrong the the previous 1652 (whose board I have just put back into service). As some of you may remember (I'll see if I can find the old thread, which was a very long one!), it was an infuriating fault, because it seemed (and still does seem) very probable that the machine was still capable of working fine, except that failure of one of it's own 'testing procedures' wouldn't let it! ... it was failing to recognise that leads were plugged in, when they were, as a result of which it just produced a "LEAd" error message, and refused to allow the machine to do anything! However, since the leads plug in to the 'other' ('heavy' activities) board, it seems very likely that the problem was somewhere in that board, and that the other board (the one I have just used as a replacement) was probably fine - which does now, indeed, seem to be the case.

I suggest that you continue 'watching this space', although I obviously hope not to see any changes that I need to report!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I suggest that you continue 'watching this space', although I obviously hope not to see any changes that I need to report!

Just a thought - have you considered that your simply swapping the boards over, might have cleaned the oxide from the contacts and ribbon cables? Try swapping back to the original board maybe?

 

[JohnW2]

Just a thought - have you considered that your simply swapping the boards over, might have cleaned the oxide from the contacts and ribbon cables? Try swapping back to the original board maybe?

Thanks.

Yes, I not only considered the possibility that some 'disturbance' during in swap is what cured the problem, but I also investigated that possibility by (as you suggest) 'swapping back', and the Err 1 did, indeed come back (and went away again when I 'swapped' for the third time). Those ribbon cables are pretty fragile and fiddling, so I'd be hesitant to try again!!

However, I have very recently (just a few minutes ago) 'noticed something', which may mean that there will be a 'new chapter' to this saga, so some continued 'watching of this space' is probably still necessary

Kind Regards, John

 

[RandomGrinch]

However, I have very recently (just a few minutes ago) 'noticed something', which may mean that there will be a 'new chapter' to this saga, so some continued 'watching of this space' is probably still necessary

I'm on tenterhooks!

 

[JohnW2]

I'm on tenterhooks!

Maybe, but I'm a little nervous (I could do without 'further chapters of the saga' ). Clarification soon, I hope!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

However, I have very recently (just a few minutes ago) 'noticed something', which may mean that there will be a 'new chapter' to this saga, so some continued 'watching of this space' is probably still necessary

Maybe, but I'm a little nervous (I could do without 'further chapters of the saga' ). Clarification soon, I hope!

I was right to be nervous - this is seriously annoying since I seem to have managed (arguably 'unnecessarily') to put myself back to square one!

The machine (with swapped board) was still working fine today. However, the 'something' I noticed (which might possibly have been the case for a long time, maybe throughout my ownership) was that, although the F1 button did what it should for the two RCC tests (e.g. switching between IΔns), on the Voltage, Low Resistance ('IR') and Low Resistance ('continuity') ranges it was doing nothing - it ought to switch between L-N, L-E and N-E, but was 'stuck' on L-E in all cases, with the F1 button doing nothing.

The annoying/frustrating thing is that this really would not have mattered to me (and maybe why it may have previously been the case, with my noticing - see ** below) - but, nevertheless, I decided to 'investigate'. Since the F1 switching in on the front panel/display board, I thought that there might be some problem with that board, so swapped the front panel (plus board) with my 'old' one (which, again, appeared identical). When I did that, the Err 1 came back!

That, in itself, would not have been a disaster, but I soon encounter one - since when I 'reversed the swap' and put the machines front panel etc. back, it still had the Err 1 problem - so I'm back to square one, with a non-functioning machine! Although I've nervous about palying with them more than I have to, I've checked all the ribbon cable connections, and all seem to be fine - so I don't really know where, if anywhere, I can go from here, with what seems to be a strange sequence of problems. Any ideas??

[** As I said, for the Voltage and two Resistance ranges being 'stuck' on L-E would not have been a problem for me, and may possibly have been the case for a long time, without my noticing. I very rarely, if ever, use it for measuring voltage and, in any event, all three of these ranges are simply 'two wire' ones, so I simply use the probes appropriately, according to the 'setting' of the machine. In fact, I imagine that I've probably always used L-E for all resistance measurement ('IR' and 'Continuity'), anyway. It's therefore seriously annoying that I seem to have 'killed' the machine again by trying to address that minor issue!]

Any further thoughts? I think I probably need to start paying attention to what is happening on eBay (which, prior to my initial 'Eureka' is where I had always thought I would probably end up!)!

Kind Regards, John.

 

[jj4091]

Did you try using a product like De-oxit on the ribbon cable connectors & sockets, seems to me like the only thing you have been disturbing & they are notorious for becoming contaminated as Harry suggested.

 

[JohnW2]

Did you try using a product like De-oxit on the ribbon cable connectors & sockets, seems to me like the only thing you have been disturbing & they are notorious for becoming contaminated as Harry suggested.

I don't think that I have got any such product to hand, but I'll have a think/look around.

The ends of all the ribbon cables certainly look pristine and, rather nervously, I have re-seated all of them more than once, but I obviously cannot speak for the contacts within the sockets. However, if I keep playing, it's presumably only a matter of time before I damage them!

In terms of what happened today ('taking me back to square one'), it's only really the cable connecting 'front panel' to one of the boards that I have knowingly disturbed in any way, and I have tried both the 'old' and 'new' ribbon cables for that, with no difference.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Did you try using a product like De-oxit on the ribbon cable connectors & sockets, seems to me like the only thing you have been disturbing & they are notorious for becoming contaminated as Harry suggested.

I don't think that I have got any such product to hand, but I'll have a think/look around.

My 'looking around' reminded me that I do have some WD40 "Specialist Contact Cleaner" - would that be 'safe' for this purpose (it's label implies that it ought to be)?

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

Not sure, but do know that if you use De-oxit, it should be followed with a product like Servisol 10 to re-lubricate surfaces.

It does sound like a dodgy connection somewhere, possibly a dry joint, but more likely a poor ribbon cable contact.