Hey guys, I've got a spare 2120 that I use every so often and it's recently developed a hiccup that I can't understand. First off, it's not under a service contract since it is only a spare and I'm the only analyst at my plant. What's happenning is when you press the on/off button, sometimes it will come on and sometimes the screen will just flicker. I've tried various scenarios to see what may be wrong and I think I've narrowed it down to the battery or possibly the battery contacts but I'm not sure. If I remove the battery and reinsert it a few times sometimes it will power up correctly. I have found that with the battery removed, if I press the on button while inserting the battery, it seems to power up just fine. Battery is showing a full charge, but I can't think of anything else it may be and I'm not overly use to a 2120....I cut my teeth on a 2130. Has anyone seen this type of behavior before?

I had that happen to me once, about six months ago. I cleared and reloaded the firmware and didn't have anymore problems. Give it a try.

Billy,

My 2120 ON switch is always a little sensitive. A quick press often doesn't wake it up, so I must press a little longer. I think the reload of firmware is a good idea.

Obviously your problem isn't funny!

Walt

Don't have the firmware handy for this analyzer....does anyone know if the firmware listed on CSi's website will suffice? It's listed as 4100 Downloadable Programs for the 2120 (click here to see).

Billy,

The best I can tell is that link you gave won't help at all. It appears to allow the 2120 to communicate with a RF analyzer. See this link:
http://www.compsys.com/corpinfo/pressrel.nsf/ecb958b9fd...0626bbb?OpenDocument

This is not firmware. It is downloadable software.

Walt

Firmware for CSI products is "serialized" and must match the serial number of your analyzer.... and I have never heard of a 'work-around' for this.

If the things are done the same way as in the 2100-2110 and there is a fair chance it is the battery test only check the upper part of the battery as it´s connected as 2 batterys with a center tap that is ground so you get +-12VDC basically, so check the battery with a voltmeter but not to long or have it on a charger or you may loose the firmware in the box and it will be stupid as a door stop, at least the old boxes did that, frequently.
So your lower half of the battery may be bad.... Olov

Almost certainly a battery problem.
My old 2110 had the same symptons. I "dissassembled the battery pack and found one dead cell. I also found a huge amount of corrosion on most of the cells.
Unfortunately these battery packs are NiCad and so also suffer from memory problems.
You MUST periodically totally discharge the pack, leave it on for days, and only then recharge. They do NOT like being put on charge every time you come in from a route measurement.

Thanks for the info guys.....not good to hear that the firmware is serialized. If it really ends up being this, then I will obviously have no choice but to send it to CSi for calibration. I'm hoping it is the battery though since it seems to react to removing and reinserting it. I'll give discharging a try and see what happens.

If it´s NiCd you can revive the memory by discharge and charge at least 3 cycles. I am not sure that the 2120 have NiMh cells because I remember laughing when I found the battery cycle facility in the software and then having a battery that don´t need that. We used to replace the packs in the 2100, 2110 with NiMh and that worked fine, have not needed to fiddle so much with the 2120 knock on wood guess it´s only a matter of time. Last battery chatt about the 444 strobe made me use mine and it behaved just as in that discussion so it will now need the third or 4th battery transplant. Do you think the gadgets listen in on the conversation and misbehave accordingly? Just kidding :-). Sorry but the 2120 software is positively certain serialised. That started with 2115 if I remember correct. I think you used to be able to get the software for a minor fee.... Olov

Billy,

There should be a battery discharge function in the menu.

Danny

Hey Billy,
Give it a good shake. Its probably full of those little plastic pellets you make.

David
SKF Reliability Systems

Billy,

Mine act like Walt's-you have to press and hold the on button for about a second.

Anyway to discharge the battery hit utility button, select (6) Special Functions, (4) Discharge battery. It will warn you about data loss the discharge fully. You will need to recharge for at least 12 hours or more after discharging.

I don't know if that will help or not, but that is recommended periodically I think.

Good Luck,

Danny

This problem has nothing to do with the battery. Re-loading the firmware is one of the things you can do. If this not solved the problem, the digital MPU can be bad.