60 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
60 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
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date = "2017-12-01"
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title = "Repair: Hewlet Packard 34401A Bench Multimeter"
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tags = ["repair", "electronics", "equipment"]
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categories = [ "Electronics Repair" ]
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description = "After watching The Signal Path for some I decided to treat myself to a classic 34401A 6½ digit multimeter."
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![The HP 34401A Bench multimeter](/img/hp-34401A-front.jpg)
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I've been watching [The Signal Path](http://thesignalpath.com/blogs/) for quite a while now and
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I _really_ like the repair videos. After doing a lot of audio repairs I wanted to give electronics
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test equipment a try.
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The Agilent/HP/Keysight 34401A is a very popular bench multimeter with decent specs:
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* 6½ digit resolution
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* 10 measurement functions: DC/AC voltage, DC/AC current, 2- and 4-wire resistance, diode, continuity, frequency, period
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* Basic accuracy: 0.0035% DC, 0.06% AC
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* 1000 V max voltage input, 3 A max current input
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After scouring the internets for a few weeks I finally found an auction for a defective unit _and won_.
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The description simply stated DC current measurement did not work. No word on the other fuctions
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whatsoever.
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When I got the unit in the mail I prepared to make a Youtube video of this repair. Well,
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the repair turned out to be _so_ easy it's barely worth this blogpost, let alone a whole Youtube
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video.
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First things first, I took the cover off and took a peek inside. Very clean and nothing out of the
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ordinary there.
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![The insides of the HP 34401A Bench Multimeter](/img/hp-34401A-insides.jpg)
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Next I powered the unit on and ran a self test (hold the `shift` button when powering the unit on). It
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passed.
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Next I started with some measurements: DC voltage, resistance, frequency, continuity. All good. Then I
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was time to check DC current. Nothing. Open circuit. Well, guess what's the first thing to check when
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a fused circuit is open?
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![The bad fuse. 250V 3.0A](/img/hp-34401A-bad-fuse.jpg)
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Yeah. The fuse. It's a 250V 3.0A fuse in a holder located on the back of the unit. It was blown. There's
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also a 7.5A fuse inside of the unit for extra protection, but this fuse turned out to be fine.
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![The fuse is located on the back](/img/hp-34401A-fuse.jpg)
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Well, I put in a new fuse and voila, DC current measurement is working again. Here's a picture of the
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unit testing a 5.0V reference IC.
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![Testing my 5.0V Voltage Reference](/img/hp-34401A-test-5V.jpg)
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For those interested, it's an Intersil [ISL21090BFB850Z](https://www.intersil.com/content/dam/Intersil/documents/isl2/isl21090.pdf)
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which I plan to put in a box. The IC generates 5.0V ±0.025% whereas the HP 34401 is specified with a basic 0.0035% accuracy.
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So the 5.0016V reading is well within spec. Nice!
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Next question: keep it or sell it? I haven't decided yet.
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