“As far as the oscilloscope tip is concerned, prevention should be the first and maintenance should be the supplement. However, damage to the probe tip is unavoidable, whether due to excessive probing or accidental “foot”, which is fortunately easy to replace. After a quick compensation check, the oscilloscope can resume normal operation.
“
Author: Art Pini
How many broken oscilloscope probes do you have in your lab? Of these probes, how many had broken or damaged probe needles? I bet that’s a huge percentage of that. Broken probe pins are the number one cause of oscilloscope probe failure. The reason is easy to understand. When probing, whether trying to break through the solder mask or maintaining contact with the printed circuit board (PC board) while handling the oscilloscope controls, there is a lot of pressure on the probe pins that we forget we actually applied How much pressure. A typical situation is this: The probe is suspended from the oscilloscope with the tip down on the floor and then accidentally stepped on. Pfft, the probe broke.
Fortunately, most oscilloscope probes with broken or bent tips can be easily repaired. Probe suppliers often provide replacement needles in probe kits. If multiple probe tips are required, probe tips for various probe models are also available through Digi-Key.
Commonly used probe needles are of two types, press fit needles or needles with a threaded base. Press-fit needles have a rigid body or are spring-loaded. Here are some common probes, the probe needles they use, and how to replace the probe needles.
First, a common third-party replacement probe, the CT2674A from Cal Test Electronics, is introduced. This is a switchable 1:1 or 10:1 passive probe with 100 MHz bandwidth (Figure 1).
Figure 1: CT2674A probe shown with accompanying accessories, including replacement threaded tips. (Image credit: Cal Test Electronics)
This tip has a threaded black plastic body and corresponds to Cal Test Electronics part number CT2711A-0 (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The black threaded replacement needle for the CT2674A probe is shown. Also available in grey. (Image credit: Cal Test Electronics)
Threaded body probe needles are the easiest type to replace; grab the needle body with your fingers and turn it counterclockwise to remove the right-threaded needle body, then remove the old needle from the probe. Screw the replacement needle clockwise into the probe (Figure 3).
Figure 3: The threaded base probe needle can be removed by turning the damaged needle body counterclockwise.
Rotate clockwise to insert and tighten the replacement needle. (Image credit: Art Pini)
Remember, these are plastic parts and should be hand tightened. Do not use pliers or other tools that may cause the plastic threads to come off.
Teledyne LeCroy’s PP007-WR-1 is a 500 MHz 10:1 passive probe that uses a push pin. As mentioned earlier, there are two types of probe needles. PP007-004 is a rigid body probe tip, while PP007-005 is a spring-loaded probe tip (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Example of rigid body and spring-loaded probe needle. (Image credit: Teledyne LeCroy)
Both probe needles have a diameter of 0.5 mm (0.0197 in) and can be inserted into the socket of the probe body.
A damaged probe tip can be removed by grasping the widest part of the needle with a pair of needle-nose pliers and pulling gently along the long axis of the needle until it comes out of the socket (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Pull the needle along the long axis of the PP007-WR-1 probe needle to remove it. (Image credit: Art Pini)
When inserting the replacement needle, use needle nose pliers to grasp the shoulder of the needle and gently push it into the probe socket until it bottoms out.
After the probe pin is replaced, you should check whether the probe is working properly and perform low frequency compensation according to the user manual of the probe or oscilloscope. In this way, all the work is done.
Summarize
As far as the oscilloscope tip is concerned, prevention should be the first and maintenance should be the supplement. However, damage to the probe tip is unavoidable, whether due to excessive probing or accidental “foot”, which is fortunately easy to replace. After a quick compensation check, the oscilloscope can resume normal operation.
“As far as the oscilloscope tip is concerned, prevention should be the first and maintenance should be the supplement. However, damage to the probe tip is unavoidable, whether due to excessive probing or accidental “foot”, which is fortunately easy to replace. After a quick compensation check, the oscilloscope can resume normal operation.
“
Author: Art Pini
How many broken oscilloscope probes do you have in your lab? Of these probes, how many had broken or damaged probe needles? I bet that’s a huge percentage of that. Broken probe pins are the number one cause of oscilloscope probe failure. The reason is easy to understand. When probing, whether trying to break through the solder mask or maintaining contact with the printed circuit board (PC board) while handling the oscilloscope controls, there is a lot of pressure on the probe pins that we forget we actually applied How much pressure. A typical situation is this: The probe is suspended from the oscilloscope with the tip down on the floor and then accidentally stepped on. Pfft, the probe broke.
Fortunately, most oscilloscope probes with broken or bent tips can be easily repaired. Probe suppliers often provide replacement needles in probe kits. If multiple probe tips are required, probe tips for various probe models are also available through Digi-Key.
Commonly used probe needles are of two types, press fit needles or needles with a threaded base. Press-fit needles have a rigid body or are spring-loaded. Here are some common probes, the probe needles they use, and how to replace the probe needles.
First, a common third-party replacement probe, the CT2674A from Cal Test Electronics, is introduced. This is a switchable 1:1 or 10:1 passive probe with 100 MHz bandwidth (Figure 1).
Figure 1: CT2674A probe shown with accompanying accessories, including replacement threaded tips. (Image credit: Cal Test Electronics)
This tip has a threaded black plastic body and corresponds to Cal Test Electronics part number CT2711A-0 (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The black threaded replacement needle for the CT2674A probe is shown. Also available in grey. (Image credit: Cal Test Electronics)
Threaded body probe needles are the easiest type to replace; grab the needle body with your fingers and turn it counterclockwise to remove the right-threaded needle body, then remove the old needle from the probe. Screw the replacement needle clockwise into the probe (Figure 3).
Figure 3: The threaded base probe needle can be removed by turning the damaged needle body counterclockwise.
Rotate clockwise to insert and tighten the replacement needle. (Image credit: Art Pini)
Remember, these are plastic parts and should be hand tightened. Do not use pliers or other tools that may cause the plastic threads to come off.
Teledyne LeCroy’s PP007-WR-1 is a 500 MHz 10:1 passive probe that uses a push pin. As mentioned earlier, there are two types of probe needles. PP007-004 is a rigid body probe tip, while PP007-005 is a spring-loaded probe tip (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Example of rigid body and spring-loaded probe needle. (Image credit: Teledyne LeCroy)
Both probe needles have a diameter of 0.5 mm (0.0197 in) and can be inserted into the socket of the probe body.
A damaged probe tip can be removed by grasping the widest part of the needle with a pair of needle-nose pliers and pulling gently along the long axis of the needle until it comes out of the socket (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Pull the needle along the long axis of the PP007-WR-1 probe needle to remove it. (Image credit: Art Pini)
When inserting the replacement needle, use needle nose pliers to grasp the shoulder of the needle and gently push it into the probe socket until it bottoms out.
After the probe pin is replaced, you should check whether the probe is working properly and perform low frequency compensation according to the user manual of the probe or oscilloscope. In this way, all the work is done.
Summarize
As far as the oscilloscope tip is concerned, prevention should be the first and maintenance should be the supplement. However, damage to the probe tip is unavoidable, whether due to excessive probing or accidental “foot”, which is fortunately easy to replace. After a quick compensation check, the oscilloscope can resume normal operation.
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