IC Tester

hatrick

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I buy a fair amount of TTL chips from a local surplus electronics place. Some are pulls, and some have been stored for years in unknown conditions. They are cheap and convenient when I need something now, so I take my chances with them. When I work on something, there is always that thought that I may be replacing a bad chip with another bad chip, therefore wasting time chasing issues that don't exist. For this reason, I've always wanted an IC tester, but didn't want to lay out the cash for one, considering how many TTL chips you can buy for the cost of one.
I was browsing Ebay a couple weeks ago and came upon a strange looking Chinese device that claimed to be able to test 74xx chips plus some others for $39.99 & free shipping.
I was skeptical to say the least, but figured I've wasted money on stupider things, so I hit the "buy it now" button and waited.
It came from China in about a week, and I was fully expecting to point and laugh at myself when I realized I had gotten duped.
I ran down to the garage and put a 74ls138 chip in the socket and pushed the button. I'll be damned, the 7 segment LED flashed "7 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 8"
I tried a few more chips and it identified them as well. I then lifted a leg on a chip to see if it would report it as bad, and sure enough, it flashed "e - r - r" as it should for a bad chip.
I'm not sure how extensive of a "test" this thing is doing, but at the very least it would tell me if there is something catastrophically wrong inside a chip.
Interesting little device.
6D83F0F6-086E-4050-A755-C14FDCC206BF-2160-000002AF01ADD295.jpg


Here's a link to a quick video I took with a 74ls138 chip in the tester.

http://s1074.beta.photobucket.com/u...F-2E5395104D59-2160-000002AEE4C6E30F.mp4.html
 
Would like to see you test some known bad and some more good ones....

Interesting for sure...

Agreed. I didn't have any known bad chips handy. I did "test" one IC that came back properly identified, then bent one leg up to simulate a fault in the chip and it did report "err" as it should for a bad chip. Not a true test of a "bad" chip, but as close as I could get for now.

I tested about 10 different 74xx series and a cd4066 and it identified them all properly.
 
Agreed. I didn't have any known bad chips handy. I did "test" one IC that came back properly identified, then bent one leg up to simulate a fault in the chip and it did report "err" as it should for a bad chip. Not a true test of a "bad" chip, but as close as I could get for now.

I tested about 10 different 74xx series and a cd4066 and it identified them all properly.

I really like things like this... but I have yet to find one that works how I'd really need it to work... in circuit.

I had a power surge a few days ago ( I know I did because the bridge on my 4600 on CrazyKong is fried again... no iso...) and now my Breakout machine comes up with an inverted screen and won't start a game.

Would make my life so much easier if they had one I could just clip onto the chips I think are at fault, in circuit, and let it work it's magic. ... as it is now I'm in the middle of probing my way through the entire picture rotation section of the board. le sigh.

Still though, great little tester for when you order new chips. Good to know that what you're putting into the socket is (reasonably) good before you power the machine back on.
 
get one of theses.

http://www.alliancetesteq.com/equipment/agilent-hp-10529a

or

http://www.oklahomaselltoday.com/Ne...cision-b-k-ttl-ic-tester-logic-monitor-b-k.do

or

http://lawnmowerman.rotheblog.com/bugtrap.html


i have all 3 of the one's above and they work great.

i prefer the BK but you may like any of them.

you could go this route but it is very pricy but it will test allot of ic's

http://www.amazon.com/BK-Precision-575A-Digital-Tester/dp/B005J6LQEY

i also ordered the one you got off ebay. it has not arrived yet so i am waiting to see if it is what they claim it to be.

Peace
Buffett
 
will be interesting to see if this little device can do more than just identify the ic,most expensive ic testers have a logic routine they use to test the ic after identifying it, makes you wonder if they can fit all that in such a little device and for such a cheap price.
 
Well, they are pretty honest about it on e-bay:

Can test chip logic function,but don't test static current and working frequency, so this product only as a general electric appliance maintenance and electronic produce, is not suitable for use in scientific research. But it is enough to meet the needs of the most cases.

They also linked another video there:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjUzMjI5Nzc2.html
 
Well, they are pretty honest about it on e-bay:

Can test chip logic function,but don't test static current and working frequency, so this product only as a general electric appliance maintenance and electronic produce, is not suitable for use in scientific research. But it is enough to meet the needs of the most cases.

They also linked another video there:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjUzMjI5Nzc2.html

I'm no electronics expert, so I don't know if that means this tool is good enough to determine if a chip is suitable for use or not. At the very least, it will tell you if there is some sort of physical disconnect inside the chip casing that would keep it from functioning properly.
 
the BK Chip tester can be had for a lot cheaper, B&K Just rebadges the ASI ? (not sure), i posted about it before around here somewhere. now the 550 hmm.. that looks interesting, i have the HP one, but get upset that it doesn't work with larger dip packages, that one also looks easier to use.
 
the BK Chip tester can be had for a lot cheaper, B&K Just rebadges the ASI ? (not sure), i posted about it before around here somewhere. now the 550 hmm.. that looks interesting, i have the HP one, but get upset that it doesn't work with larger dip packages, that one also looks easier to use.

ok, its called an ABI Chipmaster is the manufacture of the BK 575A.

Looks like that B&K 550 is rare item, none on ebay. , i got the HP unit, like it alot, i also got two boxes of the the finger boards, someday i will actually put mount ic chips on them, instead of using the universal card.
 
the BK Chip tester can be had for a lot cheaper, B&K Just rebadges the ASI ? (not sure), i posted about it before around here somewhere. now the 550 hmm.. that looks interesting, i have the HP one, but get upset that it doesn't work with larger dip packages, that one also looks easier to use.

Douglas is working on reference cards that will support 20 pin chips on the HP comparitor.
 
Oh well. The original poster's tester looked pretty cool, but they are sold out. The vender pulled the eBay listing. :(

ken
 
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