Sun test equipment

[SDJunkMan]

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I picked up a couple of cool pieces of Sun test equipment today. The old guy I got them from said that the scope worked fine, as well as the electrical tester. He wasn't sure about the others, said some of the leads were missing. I haven't tried powering them up yet since the cords look pretty brittle, so think I will open them up, clean them out, and replace any wiring that looks brittle.

Has anyone out there messed with these old machines? I need to figure out how to replace the glass on a couple of the meters, and I would like to find a source for cables and other parts.

 

[bucket]

The storage cabinets are still around, but the actual test equipment seems to be just about all gone.

I've got and old AC Delco test unit, but I don't remember what all features it has. It's been several years since I even looked at it.

 

[Snoots]

Replacing glass on the meters is gonna be $$$!

Try googling 'Simpson meters'.

If there are ANY capacitors in there, they are probably on their last leg. Replace them with ONLY exact type and value (usually electrolytics).

Same goes for wire. DON'T try to get by with a fresh wire that's of a smaller gauge.

BE VERY CAREFUL around the anode of the scope display. They can hold a charge like a woman can hold a grudge. If it don't kill you, you won't soon get over the pain.

5th Commandment of Electronic Technicians: Work not on energized equipment for thy friends will surely buy beers for thy widow and console her in other ways.

Great find and some very high quality equipment! I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

[SDJunkMan]

Replacing glass on the meters is gonna be $$$!

Try googling 'Simpson meters'.

If there are ANY capacitors in there, they are probably on their last leg. Replace them with ONLY exact type and value (usually electrolytics).

Same goes for wire. DON'T try to get by with a fresh wire that's of a smaller gauge.

BE VERY CAREFUL around the anode of the scope display. They can hold a charge like a woman can hold a grudge. If it don't kill you, you won't soon get over the pain.

5th Commandment of Electronic Technicians: Work not on energized equipment for thy friends will surely buy beers for thy widow and console her in other ways.

Great find and some very high quality equipment! I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I was hoping I could take the meters with the broken glass apart and have a local glass shop cut some new glass for them, just not sure how the bezels come off.

Didn't plan on getting too far into the scope, just replace the power cord. Good to know about the anode.

 

[Snoots]

You may be able to accomplish that but I would recommend that you do the work in a clean area and don't get anything magnetic near it.

 

[hatzie]

The oil filled capacitors can be mean critters too. Treat em with respect and be exceedingly careful of the scope. Not just because it can bite you. If you modify things inside it may not operate properly without doing a calibration.

I've cleaned up a couple pieces of antique test gear with broken meter faces. It looks like the glass hasn't been completely smashed out of yours. You may want to just clean it up on the outside and leave it as character.

I second the motion that you want the workspace to be clean and you really really want to clean up the outside of the meter you're going to do surgery on before you crack it open. You don't want to get any dirt into the movement. DO NOT clean the actual meter face and don't touch the needle. I bought a parts RCA 98C VTVM that the PO tried to clean inside of the meter movement. If I ever find one with a good meter and bad guts I'll do a transplant.

You may want to consult some of the antique tube radio and Ham guys about the meter glass.

 

[HotRodPC]

Those are some good old dinosaur pieces. Still good for our older non ECM trucks if it works. That's the type of equipment places like Econo Lube & Tune would use. Not sure if they did it nationwide. I remember in So Cali they as well as competitors would do a $39.95 tune up. In short what a $39.95 tune up consisted of was being hooked up to the Sun Tune Machine. Start it up, look over the gauges and the scope. If it needed 2 spark plugs and 1 plug wire, that's what you got and done. It might start running like **** 2 months later, another tune up and $39.95 and it get maybe 3 plug wires and 1 spark plug this time and a little timing adjustment.

 

[Snoots]

I've got an old Heathkit CO-1015 that I built about 35 years ago that still works well. While the new OBD scanners give you trouble codes, this will show you the condition of the voltage build-up and firing. It's a much better tool for viewing the health of the ignition circuit. A trouble code tells you a problem. This shows you where the problem is.
It's a cheep version of one of the SUN systems you have. Most techs today would have absolutely no idea what it is or how to use it. They treat the symptoms, not the problem.