Saving a Keithley 2410 1100V SourceMeter - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: Rafael
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2022, 05:16:03 pm
content: Hello People!Do you know any tips on what I can do to repair the unit?I bought it as for parts and my wish is to get this unit up and running. It can be very useful.There is major damage to the analog board, if I disconnect the 10-pin flat connector, next to the transformer, the unit turns on. If I connect, I only hear the fan and small pops in sequence.Thanks a lot! Happy 2022!

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2022, 06:09:15 pm
content: The damage to the PCB could be a real problem. Around the burned areas one would have to remove and restore quite a bit of the burn area. With no schematics this could prove difficult.When removing the charred parts be careful to take picture or maybe an xray up front to get an idea where the traces go.With high voltage / high power hitting the sensitive parts this could also have caused quite some damage to semiconductors. At least here the parts a labeled and less guess-work. It can still become expensive.

author: Le_Bassiste
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2022, 10:47:10 pm
content: the p.c.b. in your photos is a newer version than mine.anyway, region around U230 seems to be pretty similar. hth!

author: Rafael
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2022, 11:28:27 pm
content: Quote from: Le_Bassiste on January 09, 2022, 10:47:10 pmThis is amazing! Thanks a lot.I have some x-ray images to try to understand a way to manual restore.As I said, if I turn off a flat cable from analog board, I can power on the unit. I can set V and I but when I press output, only shows OVP. Maybe try to use as a bench multimeter can be possible restoring U230…Oh, it’s a multilayer PCB. Extreme challenge.Maybe a small drill in low speed to remove burned areas to see if it’s possible to link the tracks again.Cheers…

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2022, 10:07:54 am
content: you have to remove all the burned carbonised traces and stuff, it could be conductive, rebuild the pcb base / layer with epoxy, redo some traces with wire wrap ?For the replacement chip you could add an carrier pcb for the chip and do some wirings ??Not sure if you can / could rebuild some pcb traces, i do know some companies can do that, but $$$$

author: Le_Bassiste
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2022, 12:35:16 pm
content: Quote from: Rafael on January 09, 2022, 11:28:27 pmgreat to have some x-ray images, that will help.there are _two_ flat cables to the analog board: the one at the back is the power supply to the HV transformer, the other one is dealing with the analog circuitry and auxillary supplies.i wouldn't consider re-using it as a benchmeter, that would do this instrument no justice. i'd rather go all-in, it's worth it.Quote from: Rafael on January 09, 2022, 11:28:27 pmnope, it isn't. have a closer look first. before considering to amputate the leg, thoroughly clean the wounds to check what actually can be rescued. the damage is probably much smaller than you have anticipated. seems that only pins 3,4,5 took heavy damage, the others may still be fine. so, _before_ you lay your axe to the stem, make a magnified hand drawing of the entire area in question on paper using different colors and figure out all 16 connections to U230. then, you may want to remove the scorched area. again, try to save as much as possible of the board.also, thoroughly check the power supply board. see page 65 of the service manual. there is some voltage multiplication going on, and the actual voltage markings on the board itself may be false. when powering up the analog board again, do not connect the ribbon cable ("AC1, AC2")at the back. that will protect you from getting electrocuted, and the analog board from further damage in case (which is likely) the output stage is also defunct.

author: Rafael
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2022, 01:21:39 pm
content: Quote from: Le_Bassiste on January 10, 2022, 12:35:16 pmIn fact, if you look at the x-ray images and the images on either side, you will notice additional tracks and, additional layers for these tracks…As the pcb was burnt on both sides, by scraping the burnt area, a hole with the burnt edges will surely remain.Please see the attached image, there are 3 flat cables connecting the analog board, the one that is marked in red, does not allow the unit to start if it is connected.I wonder what must have caused this and what the other damages might be that are not visible.After repairing the board with a new DG444DY, I will map the voltages to see if at any other point there is damage.It's a beautiful device, expensive too, despite being practically impossible to find an analog card, in the same version, separately, for sale, trying to repair it seems to be the only way.Thank you.

author: Le_Bassiste
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2022, 01:41:54 pm
content: yeah, you're right, apologies for my sloppy response re. the flat cables, memory isn't getting any betterthe red one ist the "AC1,AC2" primary supply to the HV power transformer. this connection should be left open.if the unit fails to start with this one connected, that's actually a bad, but not too bad a sign. it tells you that the HV branch on the analog board is defective, but also that the power supply on the bottom p.c.b. is still trying to "deliver", which is a good sign.to further check into this, you can try to start up the instrument with the white jumper removed. if it starts up, then the HV transformer is most likely still ok, and the culprit is just downstream of the HV transformer, which means that the power transistors are probably blown. that's going to be expensive, but had to be expected anyway.the green one on the back of the instrument (to the right in your picture) is the opto-isolated control interface. this must be connected.the green one to the bottom of your picture is for the analog and auxillary supplies. must also be connected.

author: Rafael
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2022, 02:11:23 pm
content: Quote from: Le_Bassiste on January 10, 2022, 01:41:54 pmPardon my limitation, where do I find this white jumper?

author: Le_Bassiste
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2022, 02:25:22 pm
content: have a closer look into the area of the red circle that you have drawn in your picture.

author: Rafael
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2022, 02:57:42 pm
content: Great, setting the white jumper to off position, the unit starts.Output on or off, I am reading in output terminals: -75vWhen set Vscr to 1v, meas display is showing -0,3vWhen set Vscr to 10v, meas display is showing Overflow V