[ARC5] Mystery Component

[Chris Bowne]

I just had the exact same thing happen while I was down in my basement shack a few weeks ago. Heard the sharp crack, and then smelled the pungent "magic smoke" coming from somewhere.  I quickly powered everything down and sniffed out the source - my big ole Tek 535A "portable" lab scope  (must be portable it's got two handles on it!).  I let it sit a few days and watched and smelled while I powered it up. 
Came up normally no muss no fuss no magic smoke. Whatever fried must have failed open and was not critical for operation, everything appears to be working normally.  
Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 30, 2015, at 18:21, "Robert  Eleazer" <releazer at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> I was using my HP6291A variable power supply the other day when it suddenly gave out a sharp sound, "Crack!" and emitted a small but nonetheless alarming amount of smoke, accompanied by a very unpleasant odor.  I shut it off and unplugged it.
> 
> Examination reveals that there's the remains of a component that was soldered across the leads to the neon pilot light on the front panel.  On one side I can see "6 pf" and on the other side "Fo = 4,9 MHZ"
> 
> When I clipped one of the wires going to the mystery component and then powered up the 6291A, the unit seemed to function normally. 
> 
> I assume that the exploded component is some kind of a suppressing filter across the neon tube and possibly also is designed to aid in filtering noise from the AC line.  I have not been able to find the component listed in the service manual.  I'm not aware that it is a normal practice to put a filter across neon pilot lights, but maybe it is.
> 
> Any advice?
> 
> Thanks, 
> 
> Wayne
> WB5WSV   
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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