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Troubleshooting 7603 High Voltage board
I bought a broken 7603, the fan was working but nothing else.
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I opened the power supply and started looking but did not really find anything. I did not find on the power supply board the TO transistors that Stefan mentioned (referenced below). After moving to the LV Regulator Board, they were there - 6 of them. Re soldered all those connections and now I have graticule lights and power led on. After I reconnected the power supply to go to the LV Regulator I noticed something was smelling. Turned the power off and decided to change the position of the cable that goes to the Z-Axis Amplifier board and supplies 15V unregulated. P870 on the PS has 3 pins but the cable only two wires. The smell got stronger and I noticed that the big transistors connected to the HV board were getting hot. So that was a bad move I made. After accessing the High voltage board I noticed that it was just floating, the one metallic post and the 3 plastic ones were not secured. It seemed to me that the contacts of the transformer could have been making contact with the metallic enclosure. I also noticed that the big HV disk cap had some melting on both sides. I secured the board with the metallic post (don't have plastic screws for the other 3)and made sure that there was a good separation between the big HV disk cap and adjacent caps. At this moment nothing smelling burned so I suspect the transformer was making contact with the metallic enclosure. However, Q1152 on the Z-Axis board which seems to supply 130v to the HV board on line B overheats. When I remove the cable that supplies 15V unregulated the problem goes away. At this point I am not sure how to continue. I only have a Multimeter to check continuity. I may get a cheap old Radio Shack Transistor tester and a cheap Chinese ESR tester like this one: or this one: How do I go about testing the transformer on the HV board? Stefan Trethan wrote: There are big TO-3 series pass transistors on a heatsink, the >>problem Another common failure is big Sprague capacitors with internally As you can see I know more about the 7603 than the 7623A, my 7633 >>has ST |
This might help. It is some extensive tests on a 7603 HV I did a few years ago. Bob --- In TekScopes@..., "gshashte@..." wrote: > > I bought a broken 7603, the fan was working but nothing else. > > I opened the power supply and started looking but did not really find anything. > > I did not find on the power supply board the TO transistors that Stefan mentioned (referenced below). After moving to the LV Regulator Board, they were there - 6 of them. Re soldered all those connections and now I have graticule lights and power led on. > > After I reconnected the power supply to go to the LV Regulator I noticed something was smelling. Turned the power off and decided to change the position of the cable that goes to the Z-Axis Amplifier board and supplies 15V unregulated. P870 on the PS has 3 pins but the cable only two wires. The smell got stronger and I noticed that the big transistors connected to the HV board were getting hot. So that was a bad move I made. > > After accessing the High voltage board I noticed that it was just floating, the one metallic post and the 3 plastic ones were not secured. It seemed to me that the contacts of the transformer could have been making contact with the metallic enclosure. > I also noticed that the big HV disk cap had some melting on both sides. > I secured the board with the metallic post (don't have plastic screws for the other 3)and made sure that there was a good separation between the big HV disk cap and adjacent caps. > > At this moment nothing smelling burned so I suspect the transformer was making contact with the metallic enclosure. > > However, Q1152 on the Z-Axis board which seems to supply 130v to the HV board on line B overheats. When I remove the cable that supplies 15V unregulated the problem goes away. > > At this point I am not sure how to continue. I only have a Multimeter > to check continuity. I may get a cheap old Radio Shack Transistor tester and a cheap Chinese ESR tester like this one: > > http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-TRANSISTOR-TESTER-CAPACITOR-ESR-INDUCTANCE-NPN-PNP-MOSFET-RESISTOR-METER-/160943358553?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2578f8c259 > or this one: > http://www.ebay.com/itm/170962636077?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 > > > How do I go about testing the transformer on the HV board? > > > > >> Stefan Trethan wrote: > >>The 7603, unlike the 7623A, has a linear power supply. > > >>There are big TO-3 series pass transistors on a heatsink, the >>problem > >>is that they are in sockets that combine an unfortunate choice of > >>plating with an unfortunate mounting arrangement. Thermal expansion > >>and contraction stresses the solder joint between socket pin and >>PCB, > >>which eventually causes even the leaded solder to fail. The failure > >>line is very thin and difficult to see even if you are used to >>looking > >>for this. Usually the driver transistor has failed from carrying the > >>load current, but the TO-3s are still good once you reestablish > >>contact. > > >>Another common failure is big Sprague capacitors with internally > >>corroded terminations (reading no capacitance / excessive ripple on > >>the supply). > > >>As you can see I know more about the 7603 than the 7623A, my 7633 >>has > >>been working fine so I was never in there. > > >>ST > |
Hi
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The connectors in the 7603 for the most part are color coded. For example a P1 connector will often be brown and P2 will be red. With this knowledge and the manual you have a better chance of avoiding crossed connectors. Each connector has pin 1 marked with a small arrow on the body. There will be a corresponding arrow on the pcb. Make sure you have the right connectors in the right place and all the pin 1 arrows are matched. Leave the +15v unregulated unconnected for now and verify all the voltages are correct going into the z-axis from the lvps board. It is VERY easy to make a mistake when working with the connectors. Jerry Massengale
-----Original Message----- From: gshashte To: TekScopes Sent: Tue, Jan 1, 2013 11:43 am Subject: [TekScopes] Troubleshooting 7603 High Voltage board
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I bought a broken 7603, the fan was working but nothing else.
I opened the power supply and started looking but did not really find anything. I did not find on the power supply board the TO transistors that Stefan mentioned (referenced below). After moving to the LV Regulator Board, they were there - 6 of them. Re soldered all those connections and now I have graticule lights and power led on. After I reconnected the power supply to go to the LV Regulator I noticed something was smelling. Turned the power off and decided to change the position of the cable that goes to the Z-Axis Amplifier board and supplies 15V unregulated. P870 on the PS has 3 pins but the cable only two wires. The smell got stronger and I noticed that the big transistors connected to the HV board were getting hot. So that was a bad move I made. After accessing the High voltage board I noticed that it was just floating, the one metallic post and the 3 plastic ones were not secured. It seemed to me that the contacts of the transformer could have been making contact with the metallic enclosure. I also noticed that the big HV disk cap had some melting on both sides. I secured the board with the metallic post (don't have plastic screws for the other 3)and made sure that there was a good separation between the big HV disk cap and adjacent caps. At this moment nothing smelling burned so I suspect the transformer was making contact with the metallic enclosure. However, Q1152 on the Z-Axis board which seems to supply 130v to the HV board on line B overheats. When I remove the cable that supplies 15V unregulated the problem goes away. At this point I am not sure how to continue. I only have a Multimeter to check continuity. I may get a cheap old Radio Shack Transistor tester and a cheap Chinese ESR tester like this one: or this one: How do I go about testing the transformer on the HV board? >> Stefan Trethan wrote: >>The 7603, unlike the 7623A, has a linear power supply. >>There are big TO-3 series pass transistors on a heatsink, the >>problem >>is that they are in sockets that combine an unfortunate choice of >>plating with an unfortunate mounting arrangement. Thermal expansion >>and contraction stresses the solder joint between socket pin and >>PCB, >>which eventually causes even the leaded solder to fail. The failure >>line is very thin and difficult to see even if you are used to >>looking >>for this. Usually the driver transistor has failed from carrying the >>load current, but the TO-3s are still good once you reestablish >>contact. >>Another common failure is big Sprague capacitors with internally >>corroded terminations (reading no capacitance / excessive ripple on >>the supply). >>As you can see I know more about the 7603 than the 7623A, my 7633 >>has >>been working fine so I was never in there. >>ST |
Thanks, will study the info you gave me.
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--- In TekScopes@..., "Robert" <go_boating_fast@...> wrote:
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Bob,
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My Q1216/Q1218 are overheating. Looking at the Diagram from your website, the 15.7 ohm resistor was added to the Q1216/Q1218 loop. I am in "first grade" electronics, lacking some elementary knowledge but comparing my circuit with yours(I have a much older 7603), mine does not have resistor R1217 (47 Ohms). Seems to me that in later versions they added R1217 to limit the current opening Q1216/Q1218 and consequently their current. Did you try limiting the Q1216/Q1218 by using a higher value of R1217. I am not totally sure how the circuit works but it seems to me that there are 2 ways that the current on Q1216/Q1218 can increase: 1) Decreased resistance on the gate (Q1214 is failing, the driver is putting higher current or a resistor has lower value). 2) Q1216/Q1218 are deteriorating and allowing higher current or a short on the transformer. In the end, were you able to completely solve the problem? --- In TekScopes@..., "Robert" <go_boating_fast@...> wrote:
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My purpose in adding a resistor was to limit the inrush current. I believe my problem was a bad HV transformer. Based on symptoms, I think there was a partial short in the output. This could have the effect of changing the input-output ratio. So the regulator circuit would have to drive the transformer harder to get the output voltage up to spec. However this level of regulation would be outside the regulator design.
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Without the current limit ( snubber?) resistor, the regular circuit would first overdrive than over correct and under-drive resulting in a ringing waveform instead of a sine wave. Much like a new car driver learning to steer. By limiting the input a bit, the regulator circuit was just able to work within its design. I finally got a working HV output and trace. But after about an hour it started to go unstable and then slowly got worse. I finally turned it off figuring to replace the transformer before it failed completely and took out more components. This of course is just a guess on my part. It's still on the shelf as I have gone on to other things. Also it seemed to me that the whole HV box heated up a lot faster than other 7603s I have worked on. This is subjective, but would fit as the HV circuit would be driving more energy that normal. Bob --- In TekScopes@..., "gshashte@..." <gshashte@...> wrote:
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Same problem that I have. I suspect a short to ground (or to the HV coil)on the LV side of the transformer as the measured resistance between the two coils is only about 5.5 KOhms.
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Will have to keep this one for parts unless I can find another cheap 7603 for parts (with a good HV board). --- In TekScopes@..., "Robert" <go_boating_fast@...> wrote:
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If your 7603 is good otherwise, HV transformers are available, as Ebay 271043134636. (no connection to me). I got one and will sometime try it.
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Bob --- In TekScopes@..., "gshashte@..." <gshashte@...> wrote:
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