What to do when finding an old oscilloscope?
You found an old metal case with some kind of screen. It has not been used for decades. On the front it says "oscilloscope" or "oscillograph" or something similar. It looks like some of the oscilloscopes shown in the collection of this site...
Don't plug it in !
Why ?
All oscilloscopes contain parts, which have a limited life expectency. Especially capacitors (condensors) are prone to be bad after a couple decades. Other parts like transformers and just simply some of the cable may be deteriorated.
Obviously bad insulation of wires can create shorts. Bad capacitors can create shorts, overheat and explode.
The risk of destroying the scope and jeopardizing your health is not worth taking the chance of just seeing a green trace on the CRT. Even if a trace appears, the scope is highly unlikely to work properly. No one will use a vintage scope as a serious test equipment. So, don't plug it in, it does not benefit anyone.
What you can do, though is to look for anything related to the scope. There might be probes, manuals, other equipment, which belonged to the scope. Pulling the housing and taking pictures of the chassis is much more informative than knowing if it "works".
Thanks for listening!
Obviously bad insulation of wires can create shorts. Bad capacitors can create shorts, overheat and explode.
The risk of destroying the scope and jeopardizing your health is not worth taking the chance of just seeing a green trace on the CRT. Even if a trace appears, the scope is highly unlikely to work properly. No one will use a vintage scope as a serious test equipment. So, don't plug it in, it does not benefit anyone.
What you can do, though is to look for anything related to the scope. There might be probes, manuals, other equipment, which belonged to the scope. Pulling the housing and taking pictures of the chassis is much more informative than knowing if it "works".
Thanks for listening!