[FOUND] WTB case parts for 80s brown-era Keithley - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Hydron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 12:08:16 am
content: I just picked up a Keithley 181 from ebay and got it running (culprit was a dodgy IC socket someone added probably ~30 years ago), however it's cosmetically in pretty bad shape and I need some mechanical parts for it.Most urgent are some buttons for it (see attachment showing how few it came with), butthe top and bottom halves of the case are in bad shape too, so I'd be keen to get my hands on any of these parts, or even an entire donor unit from this series of units (e.g. a 705 scanner is not nearly as valuable as a 181 for most, but has enough buttons for this use, and the case should be the same).Getting the exact matching set of buttons might be a stretch but even some which don't quite match the surround would be much better than only having 2 working buttons, so I'm willing to entertain any useful offers.I haven't specified a region as something like the buttons can probably be easily mailed from abroad - if someone has case parts or a donor unit then UK is best, though I can probably find shipping options with family/friends in a few other countries so please let me know if you have something anyway.Edit for clarity: got some buttons from a kind member (see last post)Update: Found a cheap donor unit for the case parts.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 01:42:42 am
content: the Keithley 195A has the same buttons if i recall

author: guenthert
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 07:14:13 am
content: Many Keithley products share the same enclosure and buttons. A (still) quite affordable one on the secondary market is the 705 scanner.

author: Hydron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 08:00:25 am
content: Thanks and yeah, grabbing a cheap scanner or other unit off eBay was already my backup plan, just posting here first incase another forum member can help (being in the UK rather than the US makes it a lot harder to find a donor too).The 705 annoyingly also doesn't have enough yellow buttons, though I may need to just live with that.Forgot to add to the original post - of course it didn't come with the matching cable, so I would also be interested if anyone has some of the connectors etc (otherwise a pricey mouser order is in my future).

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 09:09:21 am
content: I would 3D print these parts. It's unlikely you will find NOS parts, old equipment like this is already written off and on the landfill.You don't even need a 3D printer, there are online shops that will print this for you for like 5 bucks, SLA even.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 09:20:17 am
content: To stay original, I would just buy a cheap 705 scanner and use the knobs and housing.Your front panel looks like it can be cleaned in such a way that it will look like almost perfect.The connectors can easily be obtained at low cost.It is an Amphenol part.Part Numbers:97-3106A-16-11P97-3057-1008-1The original Keithley cable is near impossible to find and if they show up, they are very expensive.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 10:01:53 am
content: same toughti came across low priced brown units ... on fleabay, surely you may be able to grab one ??

author: Hydron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2024, 03:42:53 pm
content: Would have already grabbed a cheap 705 scanner or other unit if any had been available locally - sadly the market here is pretty awful (was very lucky to get the 181 even in it's current state), and just the shipping for a donor unit from the States will be significantly more than the 181 originally cost me.I'll still go down the eBay donor route if needed, but I'd like to try here first, especially as a 705 scanner won't have the two yellow buttons that I'd ideally want. If I can get some buttons then I'll probably just fix my existing case and avoid the cost of shipping large parts across the world.

author: Hydron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2024, 07:41:23 pm
content: Update: thanks to AVGresponding for a set of buttons - still interested in case parts if anyone has spares, but it's not nearly as urgent due to the existence of duct tape