My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get
it back and apart.

I do not know anything about these units in particular, but the most common
reason for any power supply to fail is bad electrolytic capacitors.
Sometimes you can see these right away because the tops or bottoms are
bulging, or electrolyte is leaking. They can also be checked without
removing by using an ESR meter. Is this worth your time to troubleshoot and
fix? One bad capacitor may mean the others are near the end of their lives.

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, "Tom Gardner" wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.


Tom:-

Probably pretty easy to repair unless a custom transformer is burned
up. If it don't smell of smoke, it ain't irreparably broke.

"Tom Gardner" fired this volley in
:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.



Tom,
As Anorton said, a common reason for power supplies to fail is for bad
capacitors. However, with switching supplies, which this most likely is,
bad caps usually take out a semiconductor or two while they're at it.

Two things:

1) IF the manufacturer hasn't removed or obscured all the part numbers,
most of the stuff related to the power supply will be easy to source.

2) The inductor(s) will not be. They're often proprietary.

Don't rule out just a blown internal fuse, too. It happened just a
couple of weeks ago to me with a high end "library quiet" AC unit I have.
A fuse on the board, with NO way to change or check it without
disassembling the unit!

LLoyd


LLoyd

Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get
it back and apart.
Well, if you can determine the correct voltages for the power supply,
then replacements should be available. If they have odd voltages there,
they you might have to cobble two supplies together. If it is a simple
rectifier/capacitor/linear regulator supply you should be able to fix
it, if it is a switching supply, it is probably easiest to just replace
the whole supply.

Jon

Tom Gardner wrote:
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.



My neighbour has a Uniq DRO IIRC and I'll enquire about whether he has
any info regarding the power supply. We had noted a software flaw in one
routine where it defaulted to metric regardless of the setting but that
could be lived with.

I have a Newall DRO and it failed due to what was likely a vibration
induced failure in the power supply chip legs. The DRO display was
mounted in a common manner on the headstock of the lathe and it failed
when doing an operation which caused chatter which I rarely allow.
Talking with a tech at Newall he mentioned that failure was common which
didn't impress me for something which should have been designed for an
industrial situation. I had looked for such problems but didn't look in
that detail, next time I will.

On 8/13/2012 2:36 PM, Tom Gardner wrote:
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.




I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?

On 2012-08-13, Tom Gardner wrote:
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.

Switching power supplies (which this is likely to be) can be
difficult to repair -- since schematics are hard to find. However,
modular power supplies are pretty cheap -- find out the voltages needed
(likely +5V and perhaps +/- 12V or +/- 15V) and look for a single power
supply or multiple ones which will either fit in the existing housing,
or if necessary, put them in an external housing, with short wires to
the DRO. If you have to do this, you probably want some extra filter
capacitors right at the connections to the DRO's logic boards to make up
for the inductance in the wires.

Yes, get it back and see what power supply it needs. If it used
a wall wart, some external power supply should be easy to find.

O.K. Doing a little web searching, it looks as though the power
supply is internal, since there is an AC power cord connector ont he
back -- so you might have to pull out that connector, go for power
supplies in an external housing, and feed it through a multi-pin
connector in place of the power cord connector.

At a guess, the power supply has at least +5V and +/- 12V, since
there is what appears to be a pair of serial ports on the back though
those are likely to be for the encoders in reality.

If it were mine, I would try replacing the power supply, even if
it had to be done with an external one. The current power supply should
be a module with the AC connector as part of it, or wired directly to it
(perhaps through the rocker switch on the back). For that matter, is it
possible that the rocker switch has gone bad?

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:51:54 -0400, Tom Gardner Mars@Tacks wrote:

On 8/13/2012 2:36 PM, Tom Gardner wrote:
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.




I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?
I put a UPS on the complete"computer" on the big CNC lathe at a
clients - as well as on the mill. Solved a lot of issues.

Tom Gardner wrote:


I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?
Most cheap UPS's are not on-line, meaning they only cut in the inverter
when the power completely fails. They have little filtering or
surge suppression when the average voltage is normal. A surge
suppressor might be a better choice, but most of those are
really poor, too.

Jon

"DoN. Nichols" writes:


If it were mine, I would try replacing the power supply, even if
it had to be done with an external one. The current power supply should
be a module with the AC connector as part of it, or wired directly to it
(perhaps through the rocker switch on the back). For that matter, is it
possible that the rocker switch has gone bad?

I concure with DoN. Check some simple things, then go for a replacement
supply.

--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

Power: DC 5V (15%) 80 MA.

Does that use a wall wart, Tom?

'Should be very easy to replace.

--Winston

On 8/13/2012 3:28 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, "Tom Gardner" wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.


Tom:-

Probably pretty easy to repair unless a custom transformer is burned
up. If it don't smell of smoke, it ain't irreparably broke.


Nope, no magic smoke smell!

On 8/13/2012 11:35 PM, Jon Elson wrote:
Tom Gardner wrote:


I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?
Most cheap UPS's are not on-line, meaning they only cut in the inverter
when the power completely fails. They have little filtering or
surge suppression when the average voltage is normal. A surge
suppressor might be a better choice, but most of those are
really poor, too.

Jon


Yea, I was thinking of an "Active" UPS.

On 8/14/2012 12:20 AM, Winston wrote:
On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

Power: DC 5V (15%) 80 MA.

Does that use a wall wart, Tom?

'Should be very easy to replace.

--Winston


Unfortunately, the PS is internal. I'm kinda' surprised that nobody
seems to have parts.

On 14 Aug 2012 04:20:04 GMT, the renowned Winston
wrote:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

Power: DC 5V (15%) 80 MA.

Does that use a wall wart, Tom?

'Should be very easy to replace.

--Winston

80mA (400mW) doesn't sound like nearly enough. Maybe that's the power
_output_ for the scales.

The "Sino" lathe DRO I have contains a small more-or-less open-frame
5VDC switching supply, just 5V out. about 140 x 60 x 40mm. I would
expect yours is quite similar. Similar 25VA units are around $20 qty
1.


(RS-232 for the last decade or two generally used +/-V generated from
5V or 3V using a MAX232 or similar chip).




Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:35:19 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:


I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?
Most cheap UPS's are not on-line, meaning they only cut in the inverter
when the power completely fails. They have little filtering or
surge suppression when the average voltage is normal. A surge
suppressor might be a better choice, but most of those are
really poor, too.

Jon

So get a good UPS..Crom knows they are all over the place in surplus
outlets

Gunner

One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not
agree that "violence begets violence." I told him that it is my
earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure
- and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his
fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

- Jeff Cooper

In article ,
David Billington wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get
it
back and apart.



My neighbour has a Uniq DRO IIRC and I'll enquire about whether he has
any info regarding the power supply. We had noted a software flaw in one
routine where it defaulted to metric regardless of the setting but that
could be lived with.

I have a Newall DRO and it failed due to what was likely a vibration
induced failure in the power supply chip legs. The DRO display was
mounted in a common manner on the headstock of the lathe and it failed
when doing an operation which caused chatter which I rarely allow.
Talking with a tech at Newall he mentioned that failure was common which
didn't impress me for something which should have been designed for an
industrial situation. I had looked for such problems but didn't look in
that detail, next time I will.

A chattering lathe has prodigious vibration power, a major fraction of
the motor output power, and if the DRO is rigidly attached to the
headstock, I bet it got quite the shaking, to a degree that very few
industrial (versus military) designs can handle. Especially if the
chatter frequency happened to coincide with a mechanical resonance in
the DRO.

If the DRO is instead attached to the cabinet or splash shield, it won't
get quite the shaking, and may live longer.

Joe Gwinn

On 8/14/2012 1:12 AM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On 14 Aug 2012 04:20:04 GMT, the renowned Winston
wrote:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

Power: DC 5V (15%) 80 MA.

Does that use a wall wart, Tom?

'Should be very easy to replace.

--Winston

80mA (400mW) doesn't sound like nearly enough. Maybe that's the power
_output_ for the scales.

The "Sino" lathe DRO I have contains a small more-or-less open-frame
5VDC switching supply, just 5V out. about 140 x 60 x 40mm. I would
expect yours is quite similar. Similar 25VA units are around $20 qty
1.


(RS-232 for the last decade or two generally used +/-V generated from
5V or 3V using a MAX232 or similar chip).




Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany


Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any
reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

"Spehro Pefhany" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:01:12 -0400, Tom Gardner Mars@Tacks wrote:

On 8/14/2012 1:12 AM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On 14 Aug 2012 04:20:04 GMT, the renowned Winston
wrote:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

Power: DC 5V (15%) 80 MA.

Does that use a wall wart, Tom?

'Should be very easy to replace.

--Winston

80mA (400mW) doesn't sound like nearly enough. Maybe that's the power
_output_ for the scales.

The "Sino" lathe DRO I have contains a small more-or-less open-frame
5VDC switching supply, just 5V out. about 140 x 60 x 40mm. I would
expect yours is quite similar. Similar 25VA units are around $20 qty
1.


(RS-232 for the last decade or two generally used +/-V generated from
5V or 3V using a MAX232 or similar chip).




Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany


Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any
reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

Probably not.. AFAIR the newer ones need pins shorted to get them to
start up and the load might not be enough to start, but I bet it would
work. It's a big ugly box to hang off the back, but if that doesn't
bother you, I don't see much of an issue.



Shorting the Green wire to ground will fire-up the supply.

"Jon Elson" wrote in message
...
Tom Gardner wrote:



Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any
reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?
Jameco and Marlin P Jones have modest quantities of surplus power
supplies for VERY cheap, I suspect you can find one that will fit
fine, with luck you may find one that is a drop-in replacement,
assuming the power supply is not integral to the main board of the
DRO.

Jon

Cool! Even Electronics Goldmine has a bunch.

Tom Gardner wrote:
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.




Usually the power transistors fail in the switching circuit and also the
filter caps. Switching power supplys cans give you all sorts of
trouble. A sure fix is to just replace it with a new switching supply
which can cost less than 25 bucks for some units. A cheap but effective
way to mount it is with silicone sealant the good stuff. Make sure the
surfaces are clean of all oils and dirt.
I have replaced a ton of older supplies in cnc machine tools including
a bunch of my own machines. The GE 1050 has all three of the old
switchers replaced with the new ones including the 30 Amp. 5 volt unit.
I just did a Monarch VMC175 for a customer that had his older power
unit go bad.
I stock one each of a 5, 12 and 24 volt switcher din rail mount unit.

John

John

On Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:01:34 -0400, john
wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:
My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get it
back and apart.




Usually the power transistors fail in the switching circuit and also the
filter caps. Switching power supplys cans give you all sorts of
trouble. A sure fix is to just replace it with a new switching supply
which can cost less than 25 bucks for some units. A cheap but effective
way to mount it is with silicone sealant the good stuff. Make sure the
surfaces are clean of all oils and dirt.
I have replaced a ton of older supplies in cnc machine tools including
a bunch of my own machines. The GE 1050 has all three of the old
switchers replaced with the new ones including the 30 Amp. 5 volt unit.
I just did a Monarch VMC175 for a customer that had his older power
unit go bad.
I stock one each of a 5, 12 and 24 volt switcher din rail mount unit.

John

John

Something like this is what I would use, assuming it would fit inside
the case and 5V only:-

If I order it by 9:00 pm tonight it's on my desk the next morning.

http://www.digikey.com/product-searc...%09285-1890-ND

For $16.80 I'm not going to do a lot of troubleshooting beyond looking
at any fuses that may be present on the PCB.

Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
David Billington wrote:


Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power supply
is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct replacement
"UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I get
it
back and apart.




My neighbour has a Uniq DRO IIRC and I'll enquire about whether he has
any info regarding the power supply. We had noted a software flaw in one
routine where it defaulted to metric regardless of the setting but that
could be lived with.

I have a Newall DRO and it failed due to what was likely a vibration
induced failure in the power supply chip legs. The DRO display was
mounted in a common manner on the headstock of the lathe and it failed
when doing an operation which caused chatter which I rarely allow.
Talking with a tech at Newall he mentioned that failure was common which
didn't impress me for something which should have been designed for an
industrial situation. I had looked for such problems but didn't look in
that detail, next time I will.


A chattering lathe has prodigious vibration power, a major fraction of
the motor output power, and if the DRO is rigidly attached to the
headstock, I bet it got quite the shaking, to a degree that very few
industrial (versus military) designs can handle. Especially if the
chatter frequency happened to coincide with a mechanical resonance in
the DRO.

If the DRO is instead attached to the cabinet or splash shield, it won't
get quite the shaking, and may live longer.

Joe Gwinn

You may be right but I rarely allow chatter and it was an odd occasion
that it happened, I was cutting short lengths of small tube about 6mm in
diameter with a slitting saw in the spindle and it excited the system on
my Harrison M300 so the lathe was certainly not struggling. The DRO is
mounted on an arm extending forward from a pillar mounted to the back of
the headstock as is fairly common. I compare the Newall against the Sony
Millman on my BP which has never given me a problem in twice as many
years of ownership. The Sony is fitted to an arm fitted the the column
on the BP and it more regularly sees vibrations due to cuts compared to
the Newall on the Harrison. The Sony has never exhibited any problems or
software flaws whereas the Newall has shown several software flaws such
as trashing of the linear error compensation values and losing the
setting for what type of hardware it is. The hardware type is exhibited
by it not knowing about tool offsets which shows it has had its hardware
type reset or corrupted so it doesn't know whether it is a lathe or mill
DRO, I was provided with the procedure to reset those settings if they
became corrupted.

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:35:19 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:


I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?
Most cheap UPS's are not on-line, meaning they only cut in the inverter
when the power completely fails. They have little filtering or
surge suppression when the average voltage is normal. A surge
suppressor might be a better choice, but most of those are
really poor, too.

Jon
Who said anything about a "cheap" UPS. For critical applications only
a dual conversion UPS will do the job. A line interactive unit comes
in a distant second. A "standby" UPS is NOT a UPS.

On Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:04:06 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
wrote:

On Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:01:12 -0400, Tom Gardner Mars@Tacks wrote:

On 8/14/2012 1:12 AM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On 14 Aug 2012 04:20:04 GMT, the renowned Winston
wrote:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

Power: DC 5V (15%) 80 MA.

Does that use a wall wart, Tom?

'Should be very easy to replace.

--Winston

80mA (400mW) doesn't sound like nearly enough. Maybe that's the power
_output_ for the scales.

The "Sino" lathe DRO I have contains a small more-or-less open-frame
5VDC switching supply, just 5V out. about 140 x 60 x 40mm. I would
expect yours is quite similar. Similar 25VA units are around $20 qty
1.


(RS-232 for the last decade or two generally used +/-V generated from
5V or 3V using a MAX232 or similar chip).




Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany


Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any
reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

Probably not.. AFAIR the newer ones need pins shorted to get them to
start up and the load might not be enough to start, but I bet it would
work. It's a big ugly box to hang off the back, but if that doesn't
bother you, I don't see much of an issue.

It will work, but you need to put a load on the 12 volt supply for it
to run (and short the green? wire to ground to turn it on)

On 2012-08-14, Tom Gardner Mars@Tacks wrote:
On 8/14/2012 1:12 AM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On 14 Aug 2012 04:20:04 GMT, the renowned Winston
wrote:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

[ ... ]

80mA (400mW) doesn't sound like nearly enough. Maybe that's the power
_output_ for the scales.

The "Sino" lathe DRO I have contains a small more-or-less open-frame
5VDC switching supply, just 5V out. about 140 x 60 x 40mm. I would
expect yours is quite similar. Similar 25VA units are around $20 qty
1.

[ ... ]

Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any
reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

Depends on the PS (and particularly the age of the PS). Some of
the older ones required a minimum load on the 5V to be able to also
deliver a regulated load on the other voltages -- especially the +12V to
spin up the disk drives). If you have one of those, you may need to add
a power resistor as a dummy load to assure good regulation.

Other than that there is the fact that will almost certainly not
fit inside the housing -- but if you replace the AC connector with a
multi-pin one which is right for the voltages you need, you should be
fine. The typical older power supply for a PC provides +5V, +12V (lots
of current for those two), and -12V (just to complete the RS-232
voltages back then. Newer ones also produce something like +3 VDC to
power the CPU chip, and often have a pair of pins which you have to
connect together to turn on the power supply -- if the computer has a
front panel button for power on/power off, instead of a bigger switch in
the back or on the side.

So -- first determine what voltages you really need. +5 is
almost a given, +12 maybe for some circuits. Maybe a weird voltage to
power the plasma display (I think it looks like it has a plasma disply,
based on the one which I found elsewhere last night)-- unless it is using
a DC-DC converter to develop that from 5V or 12V. If it is, that could
be what really failed -- if the LEDs light, but the digits don't.

Good Luck,
DoN.

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On 2012-08-14, Gunner Gunner wrote:
On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:35:19 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:


I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?
Most cheap UPS's are not on-line, meaning they only cut in the inverter
when the power completely fails. They have little filtering or
surge suppression when the average voltage is normal. A surge
suppressor might be a better choice, but most of those are
really poor, too.

Jon

So get a good UPS..Crom knows they are all over the place in surplus
outlets

Given the nasty power you must have with the spot welder, I
would suggest either a really good UPS (like the Best Power Systems (now
only available used), which both keep the power going full time, and
are based on a constant voltage transformer to absorb surges -- or at
least use a Sola constant voltage transformer to control the surges. (I
wonder whether they are still made?

Good Luck,
DoN.

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On 8/14/2012 9:28 PM, DoN. Nichols wrote:
On 2012-08-14, Gunner Gunner wrote:
On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:35:19 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:


I also should have asked about filtering the power to the unit. We are
at the end of the line and get a lot of crap in our power and we run a
big spot welder that noticeably dims the lights on cycle. How about a
UPS on the DRO?
Most cheap UPS's are not on-line, meaning they only cut in the inverter
when the power completely fails. They have little filtering or
surge suppression when the average voltage is normal. A surge
suppressor might be a better choice, but most of those are
really poor, too.

Jon

So get a good UPS..Crom knows they are all over the place in surplus
outlets

Given the nasty power you must have with the spot welder, I
would suggest either a really good UPS (like the Best Power Systems (now
only available used), which both keep the power going full time, and
are based on a constant voltage transformer to absorb surges -- or at
least use a Sola constant voltage transformer to control the surges. (I
wonder whether they are still made?

Good Luck,
DoN.


Exactly what I have for the power to the offices' computers! I've had a
few failures in there over the years but probably not due to dirty
power, just attrition.

On 8/14/2012 9:24 PM, DoN. Nichols wrote:
On 2012-08-14, Tom Gardner Mars@Tacks wrote:
On 8/14/2012 1:12 AM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On 14 Aug 2012 04:20:04 GMT, the renowned Winston
wrote:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:36:32 -0400, Tom Gardner wrote:

My "UNIQ" 2-axis DRO display has failed. The vendor says the power
supply is bad and can't get a replacement. They have offered a direct
replacement "UNIQ" for $295 or a "JENIX" display for $200.

I have asked them to return the unit. Does anyone know anything about
these? Would the PS be fairly easy to repair? I'll know more when I
get it back and apart.

http://www.penntoolco.com/catalog/pr...ategoryID=6219

[ ... ]

80mA (400mW) doesn't sound like nearly enough. Maybe that's the power
_output_ for the scales.

The "Sino" lathe DRO I have contains a small more-or-less open-frame
5VDC switching supply, just 5V out. about 140 x 60 x 40mm. I would
expect yours is quite similar. Similar 25VA units are around $20 qty
1.

[ ... ]

Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any
reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

Depends on the PS (and particularly the age of the PS). Some of
the older ones required a minimum load on the 5V to be able to also
deliver a regulated load on the other voltages -- especially the +12V to
spin up the disk drives). If you have one of those, you may need to add
a power resistor as a dummy load to assure good regulation.

Other than that there is the fact that will almost certainly not
fit inside the housing -- but if you replace the AC connector with a
multi-pin one which is right for the voltages you need, you should be
fine. The typical older power supply for a PC provides +5V, +12V (lots
of current for those two), and -12V (just to complete the RS-232
voltages back then. Newer ones also produce something like +3 VDC to
power the CPU chip, and often have a pair of pins which you have to
connect together to turn on the power supply -- if the computer has a
front panel button for power on/power off, instead of a bigger switch in
the back or on the side.

So -- first determine what voltages you really need. +5 is
almost a given, +12 maybe for some circuits. Maybe a weird voltage to
power the plasma display (I think it looks like it has a plasma disply,
based on the one which I found elsewhere last night)-- unless it is using
a DC-DC converter to develop that from 5V or 12V. If it is, that could
be what really failed -- if the LEDs light, but the digits don't.

Good Luck,
DoN.


Form follows function!

On Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:01:12 AM UTC-7, Tom Gardner wrote:

Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any

reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

Yes, several reasons.
Firstly, a computer PS gives an order of magnitude more power than you
need or want (think: replacing fuse with a penny).
Second, it has a fan. Airflow will pull gunk into the power supply.
Third, it's not likely to fit inside (and will be a mechanical problem to
mount nearby, and regulation suffers if it isn't close by its load).

Best would be to disassemble the unit and inspect the power supply it
has. Repair cracks, replace scorched and damaged components, check
fuses. It's likely the PS was ordered special, with some spares. The
DRO manufacturer didn't repair dead ones, just swapped in a spare.
And when the spares were gone, suggested 'buy a whole unit' because
that's profitable for them. No one ever TRIED to fix a power supply.

Any good electronics tech can troubleshoot and repair what you have, or
any careful technician can determine the exact power requirement for the
unit (reverse-engineer the power unit) and find an off-the-shelf replacement.

On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:24:56 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd
wrote:


On Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:01:12 AM UTC-7, Tom Gardner wrote:

Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any

reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

Yes, several reasons.
Firstly, a computer PS gives an order of magnitude more power than you
need or want (think: replacing fuse with a penny).

You obviously do not understand electricity - the device will only
take the current it requires - regardless how "stiff" the supply is.
Second, it has a fan. Airflow will pull gunk into the power supply.
Third, it's not likely to fit inside (and will be a mechanical problem to
mount nearby, and regulation suffers if it isn't close by its load).

Not hard to prevent dirt from getting in and damaging the PS, and the
regulation is not affected by distance AT ALL if the wire is heavy
enough.

Best would be to disassemble the unit and inspect the power supply it
has. Repair cracks, replace scorched and damaged components, check
fuses. It's likely the PS was ordered special, with some spares. The
DRO manufacturer didn't repair dead ones, just swapped in a spare.
And when the spares were gone, suggested 'buy a whole unit' because
that's profitable for them. No one ever TRIED to fix a power supply.

Any good electronics tech can troubleshoot and repair what you have, or
any careful technician can determine the exact power requirement for the
unit (reverse-engineer the power unit) and find an off-the-shelf replacement.

Or just do as suggested and use an external supply - oversize is NOT a
problem - undersize is.

On Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:38:04 PM UTC-7, Clare wrote:
On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:24:56 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd

wrote:


On Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:01:12 AM UTC-7, Tom Gardner wrote:

Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any

reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?



Yes, several reasons.

Firstly, a computer PS gives an order of magnitude more power than you

need or want (think: replacing fuse with a penny).



You obviously do not understand electricity - the device will only

take the current it requires - regardless how "stiff" the supply is.

Not relevant. This is about blowing-the-fuse FAULT conditions.
A small power supply will not (in case of an internal short circuit)
melt the case of the DRO. A surplus computer power supply might.

On 2012-08-17, wrote:
On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:24:56 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd
wrote:


On Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:01:12 AM UTC-7, Tom Gardner wrote:

Imagine if it only needs 5v, I have plenty of old computer PS's, any

reason I couldn't cob something external using one of those?

Yes, several reasons.
Firstly, a computer PS gives an order of magnitude more power than you
need or want (think: replacing fuse with a penny).

You obviously do not understand electricity - the device will only
take the current it requires - regardless how "stiff" the supply is.

Agreed. Unless the power supply is designed to limit fault
currents, which is typically only found in lab power supplies with
adjustable current limit.

Second, it has a fan. Airflow will pull gunk into the power supply.
Third, it's not likely to fit inside (and will be a mechanical problem to
mount nearby, and regulation suffers if it isn't close by its load).

Not hard to prevent dirt from getting in and damaging the PS,

Proper filters on the air intake -- and also regular cleaning of
the filters as dust and debris can build up and prevent airflow, leading
to death by overheating.

You want the filtering to be good, because there is enough in
the way of fine particulate metals in a shop's atmosphere, and that can
build up a conductive path leading to failure.

and the
regulation is not affected by distance AT ALL if the wire is heavy
enough.

Or -- if remote voltage sense is used. A feature not common in
computer power supplies, but available in serious modular power supplies
where there may be requirements for mounting the power supply some
distance from the load.

However -- another possible problem with remote wires is that
you need to add a couple of capacitors right at the load to compensate
for the inductance in longer leads. Ideally, a large electrolytic
capacitor to handle surges in current at low frequencies, and a small
ceramic capacitor in parallel with it to handle high frequency loads
(e.g. the switching spikes from logic circuits). Shorter lines will
likely only need the high-frequency cap.

Best would be to disassemble the unit and inspect the power supply it
has. Repair cracks, replace scorched and damaged components, check
fuses. It's likely the PS was ordered special, with some spares. The
DRO manufacturer didn't repair dead ones, just swapped in a spare.
And when the spares were gone, suggested 'buy a whole unit' because
that's profitable for them. No one ever TRIED to fix a power supply.

Any good electronics tech can troubleshoot and repair what you have, or
any careful technician can determine the exact power requirement for the
unit (reverse-engineer the power unit) and find an off-the-shelf replacement.

Or just do as suggested and use an external supply - oversize is NOT a
problem - undersize is.

Indeed so. As for troubleshooting switching power supplies --
the problem is that many of the manufacturers treat the schematics as
proprietary information, and a typical multi-voltage switching power
supply tends to be sufficiently complex so troubleshooting without
schematics is quite difficult. Much cheaper to find a replacement in
most cases.

Oh yes -- the manufacturer of the device is almost certainly
*not* the manufacturer of the switching power supply used in the device.
As an example, the Sun Fire V120 (a 1U high server machine made by Sun
Microsystems) uses a power supply made by Delta Electronics Inc. And to
add to the fun, while Delta has been a company in the US for a long
time, this one was made by a branch in Thailand. (It looks similar to
others with the same basic part number -- until you get to the "-03"
suffix, which represents an extra cable and connector for control,
remote sense, and for running a tiny computer buried in the main one for
LOM (Lights Out Management) -- allowing rebooting, power-off/on, and
other things from a remote connection.

I would *love* to have a schematic for these. I've got three
failed out of seven at the moment. (Almost certainly pirated
electrolytic formula failures. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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"DoN. Nichols" writes:

Any good electronics tech can troubleshoot and repair what you have, or

Indeed so. As for troubleshooting switching power supplies --
the problem is that many of the manufacturers treat the schematics as
proprietary information, and a typical multi-voltage switching power
supply tends to be sufficiently complex so troubleshooting without
schematics is quite difficult. Much cheaper to find a replacement in
most cases.

What DoN said. Switchers are NOT easy to fix. You can't measure voltages
and look for the ones askew; they all are if it's bad. (Chicken & egg)
You can't blindly replace parts; the caps must have good ESR values,
chances are the semicomnductors have house numbers, etc.

None of this matters if you are working at Delta with 100 Model 567's
a week going by; THEN you know what is going on. But Reddy Milliwatt
is just guessing.

Replace it.



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