Fixing a vintage digital multimeter(Data Precision Model 134)

[@davidworth4692]

Thanks for this. I have the same meter, a gift many years ago. I will see how well it is behaving.

[@T2D.SteveArcs]

Panaplex display mate... cool vid Tanner 👍👍

[@TannerTech]

Thanks mate! I was wondering what the name of that display tube was

[@ArduGeek6502]

Awesome video can't wait for next ones

[@gatesmw50]

I have this same meter which has the B & K name on it. Mine also had a bad capacitor but works now.

[@venw6811]

Very nice video. I just got one of these and it is dead. Can you post the manual or schematic? Can't seem to find it scanned anywhere.

[@sorcererstan]

Quick suggestion -- add the meter make & model in your video title, so if someone else is looking for information/help on the same or similar meter they will find you.

[@TannerTech]

Will do!

[@davidworth4692]

Thanks. I have the same meter, so I got straight here.

[@roci750]

Hello from Portugal 😊

[@jmanranger7271]

Hey tanner you still talk on the ham bands

[@TannerTech]

Yeah, the only radio I have access to is my little 2 meter baofeng. I mostly talk on the MIT repeater. Once covid restrictions subside though, I will have access to a lot of powerful radios at the ham radio club here. What bands do you talk on? Also, what state are you in?

[@h7qvi]

I've got one. Can that manual be downloaded ?

[@Tailss1]

Schematics included (on paper) with electronics are a unicorn these days.

[@cotto887]

why where'nt other diodes and capacitors checked. did have a ESR tester?

[@phonotical]

Your bus bars may be part of a resistive division network 😛

[@LutzSchafer]

Yeah the good old tag tants are the first things to look at usually... They almost always fail short.

[@TannerTech]

That makes sense, I just found that the hard way. Do you have any idea why?

[@patmx5]

When they first came out they were billed as kind of wonder capacitors - wouldn’t dry out like electrolytics, stable, reliable, didn’t need to be underrated, etc, etc. Equipment manufacturers took the cap makers at their word and would run them close to their rated voltages. Turns out they really DON'T like being overvolted, but they were often used in conditions close to their voltage limits (a 6 V cap being used on a 5 V rail, for instance). This is close enough that turn on spikes can stress the cap, and unfortunately their failure mode when overstressed is typically to short. On high current supply rails they have a bad habit of turning into matches when they do so. Luckily the one in your meter was in a circuit that couldn’t pump a few amps through it, so it just loaded things down rather than emitting its magic smoke. Nice repair - I very much like nixie and panaplex displays, and have been collecting instruments that use them for years now. That Data Precision is a nice little meter - congrats on the fix!

[@ubtech2938]

I see a new oslilloscope around:P

[@TannerTech]

Yep! I found it in the trash. It looked like somebody had connected one of the BNC connectors straight to the mains power supply and blown it out. I soldered in a new BNC connector and it worked good as new. These tek scopes sure can take a beating.

[@phonotical]

You dont have to have it powered to test things like diodes, the meter should already come with a diode option and foward voltage option👀 Don't assume anything is good or bad, chances are, it'll be the last thing you check but the first to go wrong Be careful when replacing bidirectional capacitors 😅 what are they teaching you at that school of yours

[@nixietubes]

Panaplex, score