Re: Woo hoo! My AFM strobe works now! (long)

On Jul 9, 9:52 pm, "John Wart, jr" <johnwar...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Strobe does make a big difference in AFM.

Many times, the trigger coil at T1 is the culprit. They like to break off
the PCB, not leaving enough lead to reattach them to the PCB.

"Ratsputin" <brett.w...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:fe3a878e-e1d4-4a0d-bce8-cfd290c0b6f9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



You know, it's funny how the smallest features can add so much to a
machine...

I picked up a basket case AFM a while ago.  The wife has started
calling it "the money pit".  I can't say I've ever encountered a
machine in quite this bad of shape.  Even the slingshot blade switches
were mangled!  (for those of you that have seen my other posts, this
is the one that takes 3-5 minutes per day to warm up before blanking
will release).

In any case, it wasn't until I tore the machine down that I discovered
that the machine even HAD a strobe light (that wasn't working,
obviously).  As part of my clean-up parts order, I went ahead and got
a new strobe tube and replaced it.  Of course, that didn't fix it, so
I spent a bit of time working on the board, testing voltages, shocking
myself once (BADLY--those damn legs on the caps are WAY too close to
the edge of the board), reading up on how flash controllers work,
discovering that I'm lucky that shock didn't KILL me (it sure hurt
like hell), etc.

I did find that of the two 100uF non-polarized caps, one of them was
sitting at 75uF, and the other was at 105uF or something.  Other than
that, I couldn't find anything wrong.  The other two caps were fine,
there was power going to the tube, and the trigger was firing, it just
wouldn't ignite.

I decided to go ahead and replace all four of the electrolytic caps
due to their age and some of the articles I read about the lifespan of
these caps when used in discharge applications like this.  While I was
at it and browsing Mouser, I figured, what the hell, I'm paying
shipping anyway, and went ahead and ordered pretty much all of the
major parts - all the caps, the optoisolator and the SCR.  I think the
total was $15 + shipping.

Well, I'm happy to say, everything arrived today, I swapped out all
the parts, and

I HAVE STROBE!!!  Woo hoo!

As an added bonus, AFM awarded me...  STROBE MULTIBALL!  First time
I've had it.  I swear it sensed that my strobe was working!

I'm just like a little kid that's gotten a pat on the back.  I swear
the Martians are even smiling at me now.  =)

Brett- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

ACK! I was afraid that that might be the problem. From what I've
read, they're custom-built for the application and can't be replaced.

I did some poking around and the usual culprits don't sell replacement
boards either. I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Brett
.

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