What can and can't the Huntron do?

[admin]

A ProTrack with built in ESR meter would be a good combination to sort problems that a Huntron alone can not do.
With perhaps an oscilloscope and bench P.S.U.!!!!!

It would probably be easier to integrate a software controlled ESR meter (or LCR meter that has ESR as well) into Huntron Workstation using the Workstation SDK.

[jvthorsley]

SigAssist in Preferences in Workstation 3.5.4 gives you capacitance & resistance readings. Do you think you could give an ESR reading from analysis of the signatures on this? Or does Workstsation 4 already do this sort of calculation.
Most ESR meters work at 100KHz, but the ProTrack only goes up to 5KHz. Capacitor manufacturers typically quote the ESR of their products at 100KHz.

[admin]

SigAssist can only get so close to an approximate measurement. The range settings have to provide a fairly equal amount of horizontal and vertical (voltage and current) data to trigger a calculation. There would be the same limitations on trying to calculate an ESR reading.

[jvthorsley]

Possible development here for new Huntron impedance signature analyzer with inteligent ESR reading!

[jvthorsley]

But as said before on this forum one of the best ideas for fault finding would be for Huntron to design in the equipment  the " Beep Mode " as designed on the Polar T6000.
The T6000 incorporates the facility to sound an audible warning when the deviation between two signatures under comparison exceeds a specified value. This feature enables the operator to probe the devices under test without looking away from the circuit boards being compared.
That is if the specified deviation / tolerance is exceeded the T6000 beeps a warning to the operator.
But I don't suppose our Huntron Guru Curtis will go for this idea.
And is cheaper and quicker than an automated prober for small quantities of circuit boards.
Polar is a company in the U.K. And the T6000 was produced in the early 90's.[img][img]

[admin]

This would only be useful when probing manually and you still need to look at the display when it beeps. As I am sure you know, signatures can be different but not caused by a true fault so you would probably hear many beeps before getting to something meaningful (and maybe why Polar did not carry the beep feature on to later products).
Most of the users of our current "manual" Tracker 2800 have opted to use them with software. The software prompts them to move to each pin and the test results are displayed on screen when complete. Much more efficient.

[jvthorsley]

Cannot agree. Only this week I opted to use the Polar T6000 rather than my Pro Track because I needed a fast turnaround. There was not enough time to write the program for this Fork Truck circuit board and as the customer had lent me a known good board, I was able to set the tolerance I wanted and test all the IC's on the board without looking at the display and find two faulty IC's on the board that now works. The faulty IC's had pins with tolerances at and over 18%. I consider the " Beep Mode " wins every time with this sort of situation where there are only a small quantity of boards that does not justify the time spent to write a program.
I think you will find that Polar no longer push impedance signature analysers as a method of fault finding circuit boards. The modern controller circuit board uses just a few IC's that do not lend themselves to this type of fault finding, whereas its predecessor that had several TTL IC's, transistors, and diodes etc and was relatively easy to fault find with Impedance signature analysers. You at Huntron are the main dealers in this type of equipment now.
When I know that I will have a number of the same type of board to test, I do then take the time to use your Workstation software to write a very effective program.
And fortunately for me I do get asked to repair a wide range of equipment with lots of different components.
An example of a circuit that does not lend itself to this method of testing is the modern car ECU, whereas I was asked to test a 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Bosch Motronic ECU that had a mixture of IC's, transistors, and diodes and was able to confirm using my Pro Track and also a signal generator to simulate the cars distributor points that the fault was in the cars wiring not the ECU. No not all circuit boards justify the time spent to write a program and " Beep Mode " is very useful here as you don't have to look  at every pin you probe. Also lacquer coated IC's have to be manually probed with sharp tip probes. But I don't suppose you are convinced.

[admin]

...But I don't suppose you are convinced.

Not yet but your are gaining ground. 

[CoraDias]

Hi...i am a new user here. As per my knowledge it is possible that an electrical failure can occur deep inside a more complex IC and therefore be masked at the pin level where you have test access.There is not a list of what can and cannot be tested because a Tracker is a general purpose tester. It is used by people on the majority of existing electronic components.

smt circuit board assembly

[admin]

Welcome to the Huntron Users Support Forum, CoraDias!

I agree that more complex ICs can fail in a way that you will not see the effect of that failure at the pins. It would like trying to troubleshoot a complex circuit board from the connectors only. The good news (if you want to call it "good") is that core failures of complex ICs are fairly rare since these problems are mostly caused by process issues during manufacture. These ICs will almost always fail the first time they are powered up.

[MichaelHeit AD7VV]

Curtis,

I downloaded the self training manual you linked in a previous message; this manual will not apply to our 2800 we have, but it is an introductory form of needed knowledge. I am planning to purchase the self directed training course listed on the Huntron website, will this course fill our needs for the 2800 we have now?

For now I will print out the manual and study it pending the purchase of the course. I wish the company would sponsor my attending the classes in WA state; it would be great to attend and learn from the masters ...

Thank you very much for your time and assistance.

Mike

[admin]

The ASA Training Course is great for those who have never used a Tracker before as it covers the basics of signature analysis.