¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 Groups.io
Date

Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Put the neon lamp at the end of a one foot plastic rod.

Harvey

On 7/20/2021 8:24 AM, Keith wrote:
Hi Jeff,
Well, glad you are cautious...we don¡¯t need any ¡°did you hear about Jeff...¡± posts popping up. ?

Still, and fwiw, you don¡¯t have to get very close with the neon bulb, in fact, not as close as you get with your HV probe, and of course you can still wear your rubber gloves with the neon bulb too. Personally I find it quite safe, as I¡¯m merely hovering a nonconductive object several inches away from the general area, versus putting contact pressure and therefore pushing my hands toward a definite live multi-kV point with a probe. But I surely get your point, safety first!

And of course since you have the probe, why not use it and get the data, instead of just an indicator of possible function. (He said...enviously)

Because SOME OF US (eye-roll) aren¡¯t lucky enough to have a snazzy 40k HV probe ?

Cheers!
Keith





Re: What's another good plugin to get for a 544 with 1A1?

 

re: Ebay sky high.


I almost hate to rub it in, but did you see the link I put up the other day, from eBay? A fellow in Corona California selling six plug in modules he had gotten from a storage unit purchase. He had very little idea what he had. He sold them for $25 - for all six!

Sadly, the auction was almost over when I first found it and it ended at a weird time too, but I did throw it up on the forum in hopes that someone here would get it.

So I reckon there are still a few plug-in bargains, even on fleabay, but yeah not like ten years ago for sure.


Cheers

Keith


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Hi Jeff,
Well, glad you are cautious...we don¡¯t need any ¡°did you hear about Jeff...¡± posts popping up. ?

Still, and fwiw, you don¡¯t have to get very close with the neon bulb, in fact, not as close as you get with your HV probe, and of course you can still wear your rubber gloves with the neon bulb too. Personally I find it quite safe, as I¡¯m merely hovering a nonconductive object several inches away from the general area, versus putting contact pressure and therefore pushing my hands toward a definite live multi-kV point with a probe. But I surely get your point, safety first!

And of course since you have the probe, why not use it and get the data, instead of just an indicator of possible function. (He said...enviously)

Because SOME OF US (eye-roll) aren¡¯t lucky enough to have a snazzy 40k HV probe ?

Cheers!
Keith


Re: [OT] Datasheet for NC7033 or NCR7033 NVRAM needed.

 

Many thanks!!!

I am often amazed by the expertise and help available on the web.

Thanks again,

Dave

On 20/07/2021 01:23, Tom Lee wrote:
Early yes, standard not so much.

The 7033 is an MNOS (sic) EAROM. The underlying enabling principle was
discovered when Gordon Moore punked the entire industry into chasing
nitride gates as the solution to MOS's notorious threshold shift
problem. Nitrides turned out to be even more unstable then
sodium-contaminated oxide (Intel had already pissed away big bucks
finding that out; Moore helped everyone else experience the pain). That
instability was exploited to make EAROMs, but they could never really
stabilize the instability, if you get my meaning. These devices could
not tolerate many write cycles. Their primary use was as channel
memories in TVs and cable boxes, where reprogramming was a very rare event.

The datasheet is the last appendix of the following:


Hope this helps. Good luck!

-- Cheers,
Tom


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð,

What I've got is a Weller TC202 with a TC201P iron that I inherited from my father, with three tips (long conical #8, screwdriver #7, and narrow screwdriver #6). From a Weller tech sheet I found online it looks like these are 800¡ãF, 700¡ãF and 600*F respectively. I was using one of the screwdriver tips when I was having trouble with the ceramic strip, so I should try the long conical tip instead (which will let me get into the terminal slot better than the screwdriver tips did. I was using them because I had heard that the broader tip transferred heat better, but maybe an extra 100 or 200 degress is worth more than surface conduction).

I should also order a few extra tips: the ones I have belonged to my father and date from some time in the 80s, and they already had a fair amount of use when they came to me.

I'll be sure to get myself some scotch brite pads too.

-- Jeff Dutky


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Jeff-
what i used and found worked best is the old 100/140W weller solder gun, actual temp? I do not know , in and out fast. I am sure one of the chisel tips would also work if they have enough mass. the ones available at work were too low temp for the job and not enough heat quick transfer. So...I ended up bringing my own tools from my shop.
a little extra rosin also helps , but start with clean leads and surfaces ( scotch brite pad works great here) .
on the caps note the outside foil side and try and match locations. the mylars may or may not have an outside foil. orange drops do sometimes not marked.
test/verify with a scope and your hand...
¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð

On 7/19/21 9:13 PM, Jeff Dutky wrote:
¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð and Harvey,

The scope still has it's emergency spool of silver solder, apparently unused, but I also bought three 0.35 oz coils of Kester 62/36/2 silver solder when I was working on the 475 or 475A HV sections a few months ago.

When you say "high heat" ¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð, what temperature are we talking about? I already replaced one blown resistor in the LV section, and I used my old Weller iron (the kind with the magnetic tips that you have to change to select the temperature). It was not easy to do, but I think some of that was because I did not clean the area very well before applying the heat. I also have a surface mount rework station with a soldering iron attached, and it allows me to adjust the temperature with a dial. What temperature should I be using on the ceramic strips?

I'm was already planning to test all the electrolytic cans, so testing the axial leaded caps is only a little more work. I'm glad that mylar caps will do as replacements, as I already happen to have a good supply of those that I have been using on some EICO instruments.

-- Jeff Dutky




Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Then there is the other trick of powering-on, if safe to do so, and turning
out the room lights for a few seconds. (Stand back)
This should show any arcing or flashovers in the HV compartment. Sometimes
a smell of Ozone,
I once did this with a 536, and one of the HV rectifier tubes was lit up
like a blue Neon sign.
Usual warnings apply: HV = High Vigilance !!

Tim

On Tue, 20 Jul 2021 at 05:13, Jeff Dutky <jeff.dutky@...> wrote:

¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð and Harvey,

The scope still has it's emergency spool of silver solder, apparently
unused, but I also bought three 0.35 oz coils of Kester 62/36/2 silver
solder when I was working on the 475 or 475A HV sections a few months ago.

When you say "high heat" ¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð, what temperature are we talking about? I
already replaced one blown resistor in the LV section, and I used my old
Weller iron (the kind with the magnetic tips that you have to change to
select the temperature). It was not easy to do, but I think some of that
was because I did not clean the area very well before applying the heat. I
also have a surface mount rework station with a soldering iron attached,
and it allows me to adjust the temperature with a dial. What temperature
should I be using on the ceramic strips?

I'm was already planning to test all the electrolytic cans, so testing the
axial leaded caps is only a little more work. I'm glad that mylar caps will
do as replacements, as I already happen to have a good supply of those that
I have been using on some EICO instruments.

-- Jeff Dutky






Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð and Harvey,

The scope still has it's emergency spool of silver solder, apparently unused, but I also bought three 0.35 oz coils of Kester 62/36/2 silver solder when I was working on the 475 or 475A HV sections a few months ago.

When you say "high heat" ¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð, what temperature are we talking about? I already replaced one blown resistor in the LV section, and I used my old Weller iron (the kind with the magnetic tips that you have to change to select the temperature). It was not easy to do, but I think some of that was because I did not clean the area very well before applying the heat. I also have a surface mount rework station with a soldering iron attached, and it allows me to adjust the temperature with a dial. What temperature should I be using on the ceramic strips?

I'm was already planning to test all the electrolytic cans, so testing the axial leaded caps is only a little more work. I'm glad that mylar caps will do as replacements, as I already happen to have a good supply of those that I have been using on some EICO instruments.

-- Jeff Dutky


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Kieth,

That's an interesting trick to know about, but I already invested in a 40 kV probe (and heavy rubber gloves) back when I was working around the HV section of my 475. I think I'll stick to the HV probe. I haven't worked long enough around HV to lose my skittishness about it, and "holding a neon bulb near the HV section" while it's operating is well outside my comfort zone.

-- Jeff Dutky


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Jeff-
make sure you use silver bearing solder on the ceramic strips. sometimes the strips can be cleaned...but ya have new ones on the way moot point. too much heat too long will also cause the silver to come loose from the ceramic...use high heat get in and get out! ( don't ask how i know.....)
personally ,I have had mixed luck with the old oil/paper caps. I would look at those last they may be just fine. tek used pretty good ones!. however, ..If they are cracked they go otherwise... replacement - mylar have been fine in some of my restorations. some will say Orange drops....both will work fine and are most likely superior in the long run.
¸é±ð²Ô¨¦±ð

On 7/19/21 6:52 PM, Jeff Dutky wrote:
Fresh off of several victories with my 7603 and plug-ins, I turned my attention tonight to the 533A and found the courage to peek inside the left half of the HV section (the section on the opposite side from the CRT, with the five 5642 rectifier tubes). The section was entirely covered in soot, which is expected where you have high voltage, but after I got done cleaning the soot off of everything a possibly serious problem became apparent: two of the ceramic terminal strips at one end of the row of rectifiers was still pitch black.

I have uploaded pictures of the HV section to this album: /g/TekScopes/album?id=266270

I have already ordered replacement ceramic terminal strips, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I assume that I will need to unsolder the rectifier tubes both to replace the terminal strips, and to verify that there isn't more damage to components beneath the rectifiers.

I'm also wondering if I'm going to need to replace those black axial leaded capacitors that can be seen in the foreground. I think that there are more like that elsewhere in the scope, but I have done a detailed inventory yet. If I need to replace them, what do I replace them with?

Any advice is appreciated.

-- Jeff Dutky




Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

I've heard that you need to be careful how you solder to those ceramic strips.? What I did hear is that you do not put the iron tip in the notch.? Pleas check to make sure I got it right.

Harvey

On 7/19/2021 10:03 PM, Brenda via groups.io wrote:
Hi Jeff! Great to see you are working on your 533A! I have one as well, but it's in really bad shape on the inside. Those 2 back strips is perfectly normal. My 535A and my 545A is like that as well. I read somewhere on the forum that it's called corona dope, since that is where the 10KV is. I think that you will find that after a really good cleaning of the HV board that everything will be just fine. You really do want that coating to be on those last 2 strips, but don't worry, it's really hard to get off. As far as those 2 Black Beauties goes, most likely, those will be just fine. It's a "newer" scope as by this time, Tektronix got rid of the bad capacitors as your HV section has ceramic and those will be just fine as well. I have a few scopes that use these Black Beauties with the red writing to be fully functional. The ones with the yellow writing are most likely going to be very leaky.

Brenda





Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Keith,

I have not done that trick in some time. I have done it before. Great way to test for high voltage being present.

Mark


Re: [OT] Datasheet for NC7033 or NCR7033 NVRAM needed.

 

The story I'd heard was that Intel learned that silicon nitride is excellent at gettering or otherwise blocking sodium. They pissed away a fortune trying to make a good gate insulator out of the stuff, but threshold stability was even worse than for the oxide they were trying to replace. That Intel was experimenting with nitride was not a well-kept secret, and Moore was asked at a conference about it. His reply was "We found pretty much what we expected." Interpreting that as "nitride is good", AMD and others immediately ramped up their research into nitrides, pissed away fortunes, then angrily approached Moore at yet another conference about his earlier statement. His reply was, "Engineers always expect disappointment, and so we found pretty much what we expected."

-- Tom

--
Prof. Thomas H. Lee
Allen Ctr., Rm. 205
350 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-4070

On 7/19/2021 18:19, Jim Ford wrote:
Yeah, Tom, I remember reading about Gordon Moore or somebody else at Intel meeting with a gentleman from another semiconductor house and revealing the sodium issue in exchange for the solution to another vexing process problem.? I don't remember the details, but the story was hilarious!? Laugh out loud funny!? Maybe you know the details?? ? ? ?Jim Ford?Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------From: Tom Lee <tomlee@...> Date: 7/19/21 5:23 PM (GMT-08:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TekScopes] [OT] Datasheet for NC7033 or NCR7033 NVRAM needed. Early yes, standard not so much.The 7033 is an MNOS (sic) EAROM. The underlying enabling principle was discovered when Gordon Moore punked the entire industry into chasing nitride gates as the solution to MOS's notorious threshold shift problem. Nitrides turned out to be even more unstable then sodium-contaminated oxide (Intel had already pissed away big bucks finding that out; Moore helped everyone else experience the pain). That instability was exploited to make EAROMs, but they could never really stabilize the instability, if you get my meaning. These devices could not tolerate many write cycles. Their primary use was as channel memories in TVs and cable boxes, where reprogramming was a very rare event.The datasheet is the last appendix of the following: this helps. Good luck!-- Cheers,Tom-- Prof. Thomas H. LeeAllen Ctr., Rm. 205350 Jane Stanford WayStanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-4070 7/19/2021 16:48, David Slipper wrote:> Sorry for the OT but I'm getting desperate - it's supposed to be a > standard early NVRAM but it and it's data-sheet seem to be unobtanium.>> Regards,> Dave>>>>> >>



Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Guessing you both know the trick about holding a little NE-51 or similar neon bulb in close proximity to the HV section to confirm its operation? If your HV section is working, the little neon will light up from the radiated energy.

Cool to see and an easy way old fashioned service trick to know something is there without having to resort to the high voltage probe, etc.


Keith
Coolblueglow


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Jeff,

Brenda is right about the corona dope. Leave those strips in. Clean them to remove dust. I have not seen any of the black beauties any good. These are a wax condenser in a plastic case. I replace them on sight. The Good-all ones I also replace on sight. Replacements I use are Sprague Orange Drops or other high quality ones at 630V, e.g. Panasonic. Radial types work fine to replace axial.

Mark


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

Brenda
 

Hi Jeff, I am glad that I was able to contribute this this forum.

I would have to say, in my opinion, since you started to clean that section, you should keep cleaning it until it is spotless. I have read from another post that you don't clean this section well, that you would actually create leakage and that would throw your HV into chaos. Once it's all clean and dry, you should be able to power it up without any problems. My 545A was filthy, more so than yours most likely was. Mine was covered in all that soot, but was covered in cigarette tar so I had to clean it. I mean, it was pure yellow and sticky and I am not that knowledgeable so I learned the hard way that all this smoke and tar gave me a LOT of HV issues. I am sure that others on this group will chime in as I am still learning about these old scopes with my 535A being my favorite. I would also advise to check and reseat the 12AU7A and the 6AU5GT tubes that are on the underside of the HV oscillator, at least that is what I would do myself.

Brenda


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Brenda,

thanks for that tip; I had never heard of "corona dope" before, but a quick google search (on the correct term) reveals all.

Any idea how I would test be certain that everything is okay? I mean, I guess I can just power the instrument up and wait for the arcing to start, but maybe there are less reckless approaches?

I can guess that I won't simply be able to check resistances, because any leakage would be expected to be at high voltage. I am currently building a small HV power supply in order to test capacitor leakage, but it will only go up to 500 V, and I'm guessing that the voltage on those terminal strips is in the kV range.

-- Jeff Dutky


Re: Working on the HV Section of a 533A

Brenda
 

Hi Jeff! Great to see you are working on your 533A! I have one as well, but it's in really bad shape on the inside. Those 2 back strips is perfectly normal. My 535A and my 545A is like that as well. I read somewhere on the forum that it's called corona dope, since that is where the 10KV is. I think that you will find that after a really good cleaning of the HV board that everything will be just fine. You really do want that coating to be on those last 2 strips, but don't worry, it's really hard to get off. As far as those 2 Black Beauties goes, most likely, those will be just fine. It's a "newer" scope as by this time, Tektronix got rid of the bad capacitors as your HV section has ceramic and those will be just fine as well. I have a few scopes that use these Black Beauties with the red writing to be fully functional. The ones with the yellow writing are most likely going to be very leaky.

Brenda


Working on the HV Section of a 533A

 

Fresh off of several victories with my 7603 and plug-ins, I turned my attention tonight to the 533A and found the courage to peek inside the left half of the HV section (the section on the opposite side from the CRT, with the five 5642 rectifier tubes). The section was entirely covered in soot, which is expected where you have high voltage, but after I got done cleaning the soot off of everything a possibly serious problem became apparent: two of the ceramic terminal strips at one end of the row of rectifiers was still pitch black.

I have uploaded pictures of the HV section to this album: /g/TekScopes/album?id=266270

I have already ordered replacement ceramic terminal strips, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I assume that I will need to unsolder the rectifier tubes both to replace the terminal strips, and to verify that there isn't more damage to components beneath the rectifiers.

I'm also wondering if I'm going to need to replace those black axial leaded capacitors that can be seen in the foreground. I think that there are more like that elsewhere in the scope, but I have done a detailed inventory yet. If I need to replace them, what do I replace them with?

Any advice is appreciated.

-- Jeff Dutky


Re: [OT] Datasheet for NC7033 or NCR7033 NVRAM needed.

 

Yeah, Tom, I remember reading about Gordon Moore or somebody else at Intel meeting with a gentleman from another semiconductor house and revealing the sodium issue in exchange for the solution to another vexing process problem.? I don't remember the details, but the story was hilarious!? Laugh out loud funny!? Maybe you know the details?? ? ? ?Jim Ford?Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

-------- Original message --------From: Tom Lee <tomlee@...> Date: 7/19/21 5:23 PM (GMT-08:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TekScopes] [OT] Datasheet for NC7033 or NCR7033 NVRAM needed. Early yes, standard not so much.The 7033 is an MNOS (sic) EAROM. The underlying enabling principle was discovered when Gordon Moore punked the entire industry into chasing nitride gates as the solution to MOS's notorious threshold shift problem. Nitrides turned out to be even more unstable then sodium-contaminated oxide (Intel had already pissed away big bucks finding that out; Moore helped everyone else experience the pain). That instability was exploited to make EAROMs, but they could never really stabilize the instability, if you get my meaning. These devices could not tolerate many write cycles. Their primary use was as channel memories in TVs and cable boxes, where reprogramming was a very rare event.The datasheet is the last appendix of the following: this helps. Good luck!-- Cheers,Tom-- Prof. Thomas H. LeeAllen Ctr., Rm. 205350 Jane Stanford WayStanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-4070 7/19/2021 16:48, David Slipper wrote:> Sorry for the OT but I'm getting desperate - it's supposed to be a > standard early NVRAM but it and it's data-sheet seem to be unobtanium.>> Regards,> Dave>>>>> >>