Re: TEK 1502 batteries

[Steve Sargent]

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Hi Dave,

Are you using a 1502B or 1502C? Have you tried powering it through the 115
vac input on the back of the unit?. Replacing the internal sealed batteries
is relatively straight forward, depending on the model.  

I believe my question last year? was in regards to the 750 mah lithium
battery soldered into the circuit board of the 1502 series of cable testers
to backup some configuration information? I almost exclusively use my cable
testers in the field, powered from a twelve vdc battery. My 1502's are
turned on and off by CR10's(X) etc))to minimize power consumption.

You generally don't know that this lithium battery exists, until it fails.
If your powering the 1502 on and off with a datalogger in the field, and
the battery dies(usually after about five years depending on use) the 1502
will become "stuck" indicating an error message and not allowing the CR10
to drive the 1502. This can be a real bummer. I usually replace mine every
couple of years, because I can't afford to miss a few days of data until I
discover it has failed. Replacing this battery is tedious at best, though
after you replaced a few, is pretty easy. I've heard that the battery can
be removed and replaced by a suitable voltage regulator or reference around
3 to 3.6 vdc. I plan on trying this out within a year or so, preferably
during the off season :)

Apparently Tektronix would be happy to replace this battery for the user,
but I believe they require about $1000 up front before they will even
except the 1502 from the delivery driver. This is their minimum service fee
and would include replacing the battery and checking the calibration of the
unit.

I'm still very interested in hearing of others that have successfully
replaced this lithium battery with a regulator or such.

Let me know if this helps any,

Regards,

Steve Sargent

http://www.slsargent.com/ 



At 09:27 AM 03/06/2001 GMT, you wrote:
>
>
><smaller>Steve, saw your post on the tdr and wondered if you had any luck
>with the batteries on your tdr. I recently acquired a 1502 and can't get
>it to power up.  Are the batteries required to power it?  My batteries
>are super dead.  Any help you could give would be appreciated.  Thanks
>
></smaller>  
>
><smaller>Dave Cox
>
></smaller>
>