Electronic test equipment

A question for the repairers and restorers of the forum. What are your thoughts on electronic test equipment. Is a DMM enough? Are individual meters better or all-in-ones? I.e. Capacitance/ esr meters or DMM. High tech Oscilloscope or entry level bench? Frequency counter?

As retro tech begins to fail more frequently, what is the staple range of equipment needed to get the job done?

 

Honestly, in years of doing this, I've rarely had to repair something where I wasn't able to just swap complete parts like motherboards/lasers/shells (high value consoles got direct replacements, but sometimes I would just swap a random PS1 laser assembly and use a salvaged longer power cable if it required it over using chinese garbage replacements as an example. If I actually have to replace something, it's typically an issue well documented online like a simple component replacements. All I've ever had was a basic setup and I used to buy broken lots off eBay and a local game store all the time a few years ago. My recommended equipment strictly for video game repair would be the following

1. Hoard systems at the cheapest/bundled price possible for frankenstein consoles, just be honest if you're selling something with sub-par equipment taken from a sub-par revision - unless it's eBay because you're already losing 13%+ in fees - be 100% honest to the bros on forums though
2. Soldering/SMT rework station - I use a 852d+ that I bought for $50 6 years ago and the hot air pump died recently, but it was completely worth the price. Pretty much all the gear you can see when you google "SMT soldering setup" like tweezers, vacuum, flux, wick,storage blah blah. There's an excellent soldering tutorial from the 1980s on Youtube that really explains how it works beyond some guy in his parents basement with a 2mp webcam, look up temperature ratings, be methodical and confident, but skeptical of your knowledge and skill because I doubt many if any of us are actually professionally trained.
3. Get familiar with datasheets and how to shop for parts, don't search "game gear capacitors" when you have to fix a GameGear because it's going to be marked up for the layman who doesn't know better. Instead find out the values of those capacitors and buy them from china or aliexpress with no markup (pennies compared to dollars)
4. Don't offer work to someone if you're not confident in yourself or have a way out like a replacement board if you mess his up.
5. Don't be a Drakon https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Drakon

 

Thank you for the sound advice. I've been doing this for a while now and I use prettty much the same principles. The problem now is the rarer consoles have become niche and prices have rocketed. Gathering broken consoles for parts has become just as expensive. Being able to repair rather than salvage would be advantageous in the long run.

My current setup has worked well so far. I use an Aoyue 469, various T-tips, decent flux and a DMM. I'm planning on getting an O-scope as soon as money will allow. My original question is to invite open discussion on whether people prefer to use top range individual test equipment or mid - low range multifunction tools and their efficacy.

 

DMM doesn't measure esr. You want a DMM and an esr tester if you want to check caps properly.

The DER DE-5000 fits into the latter.

General rule of thumb, buy the best you can justify/afford. Doesn't always mean most expensive though. Eevblog forum has usually reviewed something by time you have heard of it.

 

The line between untested and broken price-wise has been merged which really makes it awful nowadays, especially eBay. Another issue is more people getting into the "modding scene", failing and then pawning them off as "untested". I've read many stories about people buying lots of electronically destroyed consoles and it has happened to me before so be on the look out for warranty stickers removed/hidden screw holes revealed, screws missing, case modifications, "Could be a simple fix who knows?" and "has been opened". I would say if the owner of untested stuff had even opened them at all, it's a huge red flag it's either going to be a difficult fix or they screwed something up electronically already like potentiometer tuning for example.

I tried to answer your other question, like Bad_Ad84 was saying; you don't need to go all out to get things done. There's a chinese $10 LCR meter/tester that eevblog recommends on Youtube that should work fine in the beginning for example. No need to shell out hundreds on equipment, but also don't be afraid to invest in yourself overt time if it's going to help you work better.

 

I have been seeing this more and more over recent years on EBay. Retro consoles selling as 'untested'. There's usually always a way to get hold of a psu and do a power on test at least. I've been quite lucky so far, managed to pick up an NTSC 32X untested, no cables. Worked fine. Found more issues with common consoles like Xbox 360 and Ps3 where novices have tried to fix issues and killed the motherboard.

I agree with yours and Bad_ad's comments regarding equipment. I don't plan on buying top range but it is an investment and I would rather buy once than have to sell and buy up.

The Der EE 5000 looks like a good ESR meter. I'm also looking at the Siglent SDS range of O-scopes which should have a good balance of function to cost.

 

Depends what you're repairing and what repairs you're doing. I have a ton of equipment I've accumulated over over the past few decades but most of the repairs I need to do don't require more than a DMM. I guess next most used would be a logic analyzer and then a scope. Now these are both just boxes I plug into a tablet now. I can't be bothered to even drag the real scope out or waste space on the workbench. Good magnifying, holding and positioning tools are critical for me but only because I'm an old fart.