Having philips PM3214 scope repaired, should I bother?

240z4u · 25th June 2008, 01:35 PM

Hey guys, I aquired a philips PM 3214 through work. The scope belongs to the company, but something is wrong with it. I have another scope so I am going to ask if I can keep this one (if its worthwhile).

The problem is, I absolutely cannot get the darn probes calibrated to show me a nice flat square wave from the test pattern on the scope. The probes are fine, they work well on the BK 2120 that I have here. I also tried using the calibration signal off the BK 2120 to see if the signal was odd in the phillips.

There is something wrong (I think, I am pretty noob-ish) and am wondering if I should even bother with it. I want to use it to troubleshoot audio circuits.

Thanks! - Evan

SY · 25th June 2008, 04:46 PM

What does the square wave look like?

240z4u · 25th June 2008, 04:57 PM

Let me try to describe it, sorry no camera here at work.

The trailing edge of the square wave is curved, both on the top and the bottom of the wave. It looks like over-compensation adjustment on the test probe. I am unable to get it dialed in though.

Evan

EDIT; The controls are dirty and this very well may be the culprit! I also notice that lines on the X axis are not perfectly straight...

EDIT EDIT; The real problem is only on channel A. I may try to deoxit the controls.

Evan

SY · 25th June 2008, 05:15 PM

Yeah, clean the controls and it may be worth jiggling the trimmers a bit. If that doesn't do it, don't bother any further. It's a 25MHz scope, which is pretty marginal anyway.

240z4u · 25th June 2008, 05:45 PM

Thanks SY, Ill do that and see what happens.

Evan

240z4u · 27th June 2008, 07:19 PM

Seems to be better, but still not great. Off to the corner of crap that doesn't work with this one.

Evan

megajocke · 27th June 2008, 07:29 PM

Are you sure your probes are compatible with the oscilloscope? The probe or its manual should say what scope input capacitance range it has. The input capacitance should be printed either beside the input or in the scope manual.

edit: I had one of those PM3214 actually. It's quite nice except that the switches get dirty and intermittent. Contact cleaner worked on mine though.

240z4u · 27th June 2008, 07:40 PM

Well, if thats the case maybe ill stick with it.

The problem is if I touch the knobs, the scope screen jumps around (dirty contacts I am assuming). I wasn't able to get in there very far. Maybe I just need to suck it up and take the entire thing apart to get to them.

All the switches seem good after cleaning.

Evan

megajocke · 27th June 2008, 07:47 PM

Mine only had dirty push-buttons and some pots. I remember the push-buttons and pots were pretty easy to get contact cleaner into but the attenuator switches and timebase switches may have been inside screened boxes. These were good though on mine so I didn't need to clean them.

240z4u · 27th June 2008, 08:40 PM

Those are the exact pots that really need the cleaning. You have given me the motivation to really dig into it. Thanks alot.

Evan

25th June 2008, 01:35 PM	#1
240z4u diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madison WI	Having philliips PM3214 scope repaired, should I bother? Hey guys, I aquired a philips PM 3214 through work. The scope belongs to the company, but something is wrong with it. I have another scope so I am going to ask if I can keep this one (if its worthwhile). The problem is, I absolutely cannot get the darn probes calibrated to show me a nice flat square wave from the test pattern on the scope. The probes are fine, they work well on the BK 2120 that I have here. I also tried using the calibration signal off the BK 2120 to see if the signal was odd in the phillips. There is something wrong (I think, I am pretty noob-ish) and am wondering if I should even bother with it. I want to use it to troubleshoot audio circuits. Thanks! - Evan __________________ Yeah... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

25th June 2008, 04:46 PM	#2
SY diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Chicagoland Blog Entries: 1	What does the square wave look like? __________________ If there's a sucker born every minute, where do the rest of them come from?

25th June 2008, 04:57 PM	#3
240z4u diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madison WI	Let me try to describe it, sorry no camera here at work. The trailing edge of the square wave is curved, both on the top and the bottom of the wave. It looks like over-compensation adjustment on the test probe. I am unable to get it dialed in though. Evan EDIT; The controls are dirty and this very well may be the culprit! I also notice that lines on the X axis are not perfectly straight... EDIT EDIT; The real problem is only on channel A. I may try to deoxit the controls. Evan __________________ Yeah... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

25th June 2008, 05:15 PM	#4
SY diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Chicagoland Blog Entries: 1	Yeah, clean the controls and it may be worth jiggling the trimmers a bit. If that doesn't do it, don't bother any further. It's a 25MHz scope, which is pretty marginal anyway. __________________ If there's a sucker born every minute, where do the rest of them come from?

25th June 2008, 05:45 PM	#5
240z4u diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madison WI	Thanks SY, Ill do that and see what happens. Evan __________________ Yeah... it seemed like a good idea at the time.


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27th June 2008, 07:19 PM	#6
240z4u diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madison WI	Seems to be better, but still not great. Off to the corner of crap that doesn't work with this one. Evan __________________ Yeah... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

27th June 2008, 07:29 PM	#7
megajocke diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2003	Are you sure your probes are compatible with the oscilloscope? The probe or its manual should say what scope input capacitance range it has. The input capacitance should be printed either beside the input or in the scope manual. edit: I had one of those PM3214 actually. It's quite nice except that the switches get dirty and intermittent. Contact cleaner worked on mine though.

27th June 2008, 07:40 PM	#8
240z4u diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madison WI	Well, if thats the case maybe ill stick with it. The problem is if I touch the knobs, the scope screen jumps around (dirty contacts I am assuming). I wasn't able to get in there very far. Maybe I just need to suck it up and take the entire thing apart to get to them. All the switches seem good after cleaning. Evan __________________ Yeah... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

27th June 2008, 07:47 PM	#9
megajocke diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2003	Mine only had dirty push-buttons and some pots. I remember the push-buttons and pots were pretty easy to get contact cleaner into but the attenuator switches and timebase switches may have been inside screened boxes. These were good though on mine so I didn't need to clean them.

27th June 2008, 08:40 PM	#10
240z4u diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Madison WI	Those are the exact pots that really need the cleaning. You have given me the motivation to really dig into it. Thanks alot. Evan __________________ Yeah... it seemed like a good idea at the time.

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