John Lowe
Australia
Bio: An electrical engineer who has worked for many years in the IT industry as a consultant and troubleshooter. Enjoys astronomy, badminton, electronics and pretty much anything that I put my mind to. In 2019 I decided that I would do some formal training in Cyber Security, something that I had been interested in, since my University days. I am now qualified for CCNA CyberOps Associate & CompTIA Security+, CySA+, CSAP, PenTest+, CNSP, CNVP certifications. Recently in January 2021, passed my EC Council's Certified Ethical Hacker exam so adding another certification to my portfolio.
R.IT 
Thanks for your blog, I almost had to replace my Panasonic hdd recorder DMR EH67, but after replacing the capacitor (only 2 $) it works fine again. Thanks again.
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HI John
I am trying to fix my Exthree stringing machine. I am at the stage where I think i=I need to replace the power supply. Anyway you can steer me in the right direction?
Thanks
Nicol
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Nicol, it will depend on whether the power pack is external or internal. External is the easiest to replace since the output voltage and current should be marked on the power adapter. You would just need to get an equivalent power adapter and with the same plug that goes into the stringing machine. You just need to ensure that the pin is the correct polarity – and is usually the positive voltage. In worst case, getting a power adapter – can swap your existing cable to it. Internal power supplies can be quite complex and can be difficult to replace, unless it is one of the fairly standard modular versions that have clearly marked output voltages. Internal power supplies can usually be repaired without too much trouble by electronic repair shops. I am in the process of replacing a power supply that uses a transformer with non-standard windings, so have to be creative to get it to work with different transformers.
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Thanks for your help. I will send you some pictures. The one that is broken have 6 pin 5V outlet. It looks a bit like these but not the same https://static6.arrow.com/aropdfconversion/arrowimages/1aa4862939f09ff73e2fb2b23c6d847fabe32c4f/rpd-75.jpg
How can I send you a link
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Nicol, you can just send the link – I see the jpg, looks like a modular power supply. The board itself should have a part number either printed on the board itself, or markings on a label stuck to the board, or somewhere. Google that part number and you could find it.
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Can I please make a suggestion? Some of us (like our aging equipment) aren’t getting any younger, and reading grey text on a white background is unnecessarily difficult – lack of contrast. What is wrong with black text? How (or for whom) does grey improve matters? Thanks for an inspirational site.
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Martin, certainly – never actually thought about this. I will see about that.
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Thanks
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Martin, I had a look at this in the editor – the font colour is currently black since when I changed one word to black, it didn’t change its appearance, at least to my eyes. I will look further into this, since I may make future articles in slightly larger font – that should make it easier to read.
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Thanks – I have snipped a couple of screen snips to show what I see: definitely grey, but Windows font smoothing confuses the issue – now to find a way to show you the snips…BTW, the colour in this reply window is darker – black, even!
Posted after logging out of Google (that wouldn’t let me post the replY) and becoming anonymous (fill in email fields by hand)
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You can see 3 snips here:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Akp0_Wqmo__3gilr-PFNUViRw7Mo?e=DuMMfL
RIT text colour shows the first result – Windows font smoothing messes up the colours, so I turned it off for the other one. The ‘explorer’ one is just to show what black looks like on my PC.
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Thanks Martin. I will see if there is something to do with the themes that affect the text colour – and let you know.
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dear john i have a babolat 2502 stringing machine and i have a faulty load cell..
is there a way that you can help me,advice what to do?
i cannot find a replacement part.
can i use any other load cell with modification?
best regards
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqdBRLDKsz76gwaee7q717Hc6Fa3?e=c11hBQ
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Hi,
It is possible to replace the load cell, but as you mentioned, it is difficult to find the right part. The load cells will normally have some markings on it. Usually they are made in China – so check Aliexpress. On the other hand, I have repaired load cells where the wires have come off the strain gauge. Here is the link https://j0hn88.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/repair-it-eagnas-plus-8000-electronic-tension-head/
The load cell is different though, not the usual large one, but you should be able to see some contacts – you might get lucky.
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I just had a quick look on Aliexpress – something like this is likely to be what you have – this is for a 40kg https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33004421049.html but you get the idea, ok? It may be safer to go for a lower rated one – check the dimensions of the load cell you currently have – measure the resistance of the existing wires, can help to narrow down your choice.
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dear the strian gauge is completely damaged so there isnt much to look.
all i know is a full bridge wheatstone circuit.
i cant find a load cell with that dimension
Click to access FT-CR50-FE-0616P.pdf
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Apostolos, ok – if it is full bridge, then we need to know the output resistance of your load cell. Then if it is a 50kg cell, having one of similar dimensions that allows mounting of the string gripper should suffice. Unfortunately, there may be some machining needed, i.e. the mounting holes may be the wrong size, so might need to be enlarged and tapped. I have a broken machine here with me that I think uses the large load cell, I will see if I can determine what values that has.
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dear john the output resistance is 350 +- 50Ω
in the pdf file that i send you ita has the details.
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I saw this in the pdf, so wasn’t sure whether or not the pdf was for the actual load cell that you have, albeit the 40kg one. It is good to check anyway, if it is possible to measure. The pdf shows that the input/output resistance is 350 ohms, but most of the 40kg load cells I can find seem to have an input resistance of 400 ohms and output resistance of 350 ohms, so not certain that these would be suitable
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dear john it says 350 ohms +- 50 ohms so i beliece 400 ohms should be ok.
in case i find a load cell do i have to solder it directly on the mini board as the previous was or can i just solder the wires of the new load cell on the wires that are now allready soldered on the mini board from the faulty load cell.
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apostolos, the load cell will usually come with a cable. This cable should be connected to the board replacing the existing cable ideally. Worst case if you don’t have the right connectors is to use the existing cable – and if you are lucky, the colour code of the wires might even be the same, but still need to check. The input is where the wheatstone bridge is driven, then the output is where it is read from.
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Hi John,
Several years ago you made a post about data recovery using Arcserver 2000. I’m desperately looking for a copy of this software and can’t find anything. Would it be possible for you to send me a dump of your disc? Would really make a difference for a data recovery project I’m working on. Thanks!
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Hi, at the time, the server had ARCserve 6.61 and this was what I was using.
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Hi John,
i own an eagnas 8000plus. It worked just fine until it got stuck while stringing. Since then, everytime i push the Lever to have the machine start the pulling, the screen freezes and the machine does not react anymore. If you know anything about it I would appreciate it.
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Jose, when the button is pressed to start the pulling, it should send power to the motor. It could be that there is a problem in the power supply section to the microprocessor, which is causing this situation. I would suggest that you check for ripple or noise on the +5V power line.
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