Buying "For parts or not working" equipment on eBay - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Dongulus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 07:09:57 pm
content: Recently, off eBay, I bought a HP/Agilent 3478A DMM for $49 USD (plus $20 s/h) which was less than half of the lowest closing price I could find of the same model listed in the last three months. This particular unit was sold by a company that refurbishes test equipment but they listed this one as "For parts or not working" even though they claimed that it passed all tests except it wouldn't calibrate resistance. Since precision in resistance measurement is something that I don't regularly encounter, I thought I would take a chance.I've noticed while looking further into eBay auction listings that there are many units listed as "For parts or not working" by non-tech savvy sellers that have neither the means nor know-how to test if the equipment on their own. They are sold "As is" but that doesn't necessarily mean non-functioning. The prices that some of these are going for are so low compared to what they typically close at that they seem so tempting to bid on.Does anyone have any experience of bidding on these types of items. Is this a good way to get burned and lose money or can you get some great deals?

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 07:25:55 pm
content: Quote from: Dongulus on March 18, 2013, 07:09:57 pmYes.QuoteYes.They're sold "as is" because the seller doesn't want to be bothered dealing with you if they're wrong about it working fine. Do you trust their judgment?

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 07:51:01 pm
content: to c4757I bought equipment "for parts or not working" before and I can assure you it is a lottery. My biggest advice (if it is worth any) is: only spend the money you won't cry about if the equipment turns out to be a lemon.Keep in mind that used equipment sold as "working" can also fail suddenly and may or may not be repairable depending on skills/free time/will to repair it, or simply replacement parts that are impossible to find.I've experienced all three cases throughout my life of disassembling/reparing equipment (not necessarily restricted to eBay purchases).

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 08:01:02 pm
content: 1) Be sceptical when the vendor says "haven't got the expertise to test", especially when their other items include test gear which would allow them to do just that.The main exception is where the vendor deals in a high volume of used equipment and it's clear they are mainly a box shifter.2) Don't buy anything that you can't get a service manual for.3) Don't go wild bidding - I see a lot of stuff that goes for almost the same as working items (more, sometimes).

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 08:11:56 pm
content: A while ago I bought a Tektronix scope (a TDS540, 4 channel, 500 MHz) of a guy on Ebay. It was sold as not working, failing a couple of the power-on self tests, and was cheap. Aside from the faults, it looked in good condition.These scopes have some well known and well documented failure modes, so I figured it was worth a shot.When it arrived, it was exactly as described - working apart from a couple of self-test failures. So far, so good.I opened it up and took a look inside. Someone had already had a go at fixing it - but they'd made mistakes, the soldering was poor, they'd not done a thorough job, and there was some damage to a few PCB pads. Nothing that couldn't be sorted, thankfully, but clearing up after the previous "fix" was another job I hadn't reckoned on having to do.It took longer than I expected, but I fixed all the faults, gave the scope a good clean, and tested it. All workingI took some photos ready for the sale, then took it into the office to use it for a week or so to make sure it really was all working OK and I hadn't missed anything.After a few hours the screen went blank. Something died in the CRT or its driver boardThe scope is now sitting in bits in my lab, and there's a replacement driver board stuck in the post somewhere between here and China. I'm sure it'll all be fine once it's back together, and some lucky engineer will get a 500 MHz bargain, but I'd have to question whether it's really been worth all the time and effort.Part of me likes the idea of keeping a piece of kit alive, and it seems a great shame to junk an instrument for the sake of a few capacitors, a faulty RAM chip and some TLC. Another part of me works out how much I've spent in time, money and effort, and wishes he hadn't bothered.If it hadn't been for the screen deciding to pack up then it would have been a satisfying repair and well worth it - but if I end up having to put in an LCD conversion, I'll be lucky to break even.

author: ve7xen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 08:22:53 pm
content: Quote from: grumpydoc on March 18, 2013, 08:01:02 pmI think this is really important, but I wouldn't really judge them if they treat all equipment the same and don't test any of their listings. What is a huge red flag for me though is when a seller tests some equipment (and often shows photos of the tests, or at least the unit powered up), and claims ignorance for other items. You might still be getting something that's easy to fix, but chances are there is actually something wrong with it, and it's unscrupulous of the seller to claim ignorance if they know it's dead (which I'd assume in this case), so I avoid.I've had good luck buying things this way, just be patient and don't overspend, and if possible only buy stuff with decent photos of the unit so you can be reasonably sure there aren't any components missing or major exterior damage. Powered-on photos are a bonus. Either way, don't spend money you can't afford to lose, though realistically unless you overpay you can probably resell the item to someone else for a similar amount if it doesn't work.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 11:21:08 pm
content: Probably the biggest factor is whether anyone else has got at it, both from the point of view of bodged repair, and filtering out of simple fixes (and worst of all, missing parts).An issue particular to test gear is that the sort of person who owns test gear is often the sort of person who will have a go at fixing it, and/or know the difference between simple and difficult/expensive issues.It's always going to be a gamble, but worth doing some research into things like other current and past items from that seller, and also whether you can spot the same item having changed hands recently.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2013, 11:32:05 pm
content: As someone who sells a lot of test gear, much of it on ebay. I wouldn't buy non-working stuff from someone like me, unless it's something that is different from what they usually sell, unless it's very clearly described.eg, I've got a few scopes that need fixing and a quick trawl shows that I don't sell scopes (at least until I get a batch in next week) so they could be fairly easy fixes. It just isn't worth my time spending a few hours fixing an item with a small profit margin on it.i've also got a pile of power supplies that need fixing, however as I've already sold over 50 of the HP6632Bs the ones I have that don't work have real issues with them. I've done all the simple fixes, it's worth my time spending a couple of hours working out the common failure modes. The rest I'll sell in parts at amateur radio rallies and the like.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 02:06:37 pm
content: Whether buying equipment with problems is smart depends on your repair skills. I have bought quite a lot 'for parts' equipment from Ebay and always managed to fix them. But I do my homework before buying and having a service manual with schematics helps a lot. Some equipment can't be fixed due to lack of parts. In case a CRT is bad I usually replace it with an LCD screen. I bought a TDS510 with a smashed screen for $200. After the LCD replacement I got an excellent scope. Then again you can get burned when buying equipment 'in excellent' condition. I got once a spectrum analyser with a bad hybrid (open circuit so easy to fix with a solder patch) and the HP3314 I bought needed new reed relais because the original ones got sticky.@KJDS: what scopes do you have?

author: stratogazer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 02:50:53 pm
content: I agree with the above post. It depends on your repair skills. It also depends on if compatible parts are available.Beware, do homework, and don't be afraid to ask questions. Good luck!

author: ddavidebor
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 04:38:30 pm
content: Quote from: Dongulus on March 18, 2013, 07:09:57 pmI've bought a lot if things this way.There is a simple rule:If is broken, you need to know the problem before buy it. The seller can't say it, he usually don't know. You need kristal sphere. Also your wife should be a witch.For example"i sell this thing, i think is a frequency counter. It measure only casual number, i sell it as broken" ok all frequency counter do this"i sell thi bench power supply, i can't turn it on" it's the fuse..."i sell this agilent meter, it gives to me ERR 123" you should look on the service manual

author: willb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 04:47:12 pm
content: I buy broken stuff all the time off eBay. In fact, just last week, I bought a HP 6034L 60V 10A GPIB power supply for 134$ which was listed as "powers up, display changes when knobs are turned, no further testing was done". Of course, when I got the unit, it wasn't working correctly. The unit was stuck in CC limit mode and the current would not adjust, the output would go unstable/unregulated above 35VDC, it would fail the self test, etc. Turns out the issue was a single 220uF 50V cap.Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. Before I buy anything on eBay, I usually check if I can get service manuals. If I can't, I don't usually bother, hence why I prefer buying older HP gear. I've had good luck buying broken equipment on eBay, but YMMV.

author: PaulAm
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 04:52:57 pm
content: I've bought a lot of "for parts" stuff off ebay. Generally, I've had good experiences and most things have been easy fixes.As a general rule, I wouldn't buy high end equipment marked "for parts" unless you are OK using it for parts. Lower end stuff is generally easy to fix. I know of some people who got burned buying a unit for parts, opened it up and found most of the boards missing.On the other hand, I've gotten some really nice equipment cheap.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 04:58:24 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on March 19, 2013, 02:06:37 pmI've got a batch of Hitachi V522 and an assortment of Kikusui scopes that I'm collecting next week. No idea what condition they are in yet, yet another bought unseen, however I suspect that half will work, most of the rest will be fixed by swapping modules and unless there's something obvious wrong I'll sell the remaining pile for parts rather than fault finding to component level. The exception to that is if several have the same fault, then it's worth my time to find out what the fault is and fix them all.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 07:23:31 pm
content: Those PSU's look nice, but posting it to ZA would be more than the cost of the unit.

author: Dave
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 07:57:20 pm
content: I have tried bidding on some faulty multimeters in the last few months. Contrary to my belief, the auctions ended with VERY high winning bids (70-80% of the price of fully functional units sold on eBay). I could not believe how much money people are prepared to gamble on a faulty meter.

author: Dongulus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 08:28:24 pm
content: Thanks for all of the advice. I think I'll continue to try the "For parts or not working" lottery. I'm a recent college student and I'm missing having so much lab equipment available to me whenever I want it. Currently I'm short on money but still wealthy in freetime so it seems to my benefit to try and I have the time to sit back and wait for opportunities that appear fixable at the right price.Quote from: nctnico on March 19, 2013, 02:06:37 pmQuote from: AndyC_772 on March 18, 2013, 08:11:56 pmI'd like to hear about how a CRT to LCD conversion is done.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 08:57:30 pm
content: https://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=23147

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 19, 2013, 09:08:59 pm
content: I love really great ebay deals on known broken stuff. The first criteria for a "for parts, not working" buy is that it is seriously cheap. The second thing is that it must look really cool. There is always a possibility it's fixable and if not you aren't out much money. Worst case is you have a piece of "test equipment art" to decorate your lab with. No one need to know it doesn't work.