My Fluke LinkRunner has a fault...

[chazzy2501]

The trusty linkrunner I acquired from the old boss many years ago now shows intermittent cable faults that don't exist. 

 

The new ones are sooo expensive!  I have an even older one that still works perfect but she's hefty and can't just sit in the tool box. 

 

So is there a non-fluke tester that is worth anything? 

 

The current one is the size of a walkie talkie, can do dhcp, ping and show cable lengths for every pin. (super duper handy), send a tone with an 3rd party sniffer and it can check cables. (1" mono lcd job, not touch screen) 

 

Also it uses AA batteries can be left for months and just work!

[synaesthesia]

Sure it's not just the RJ45 port going flakey with age?

If you're handy with an iron, replacing it shouldn't be too much of a faff.

[chazzy2501]

1 minute ago, synaesthesia said:

Sure it's not just the RJ45 port going flakey with age?

If you're handy with an iron, replacing it shouldn't be too much of a faff.

This is probably the exact fault but no, I'm a soldering hack and my eyes suck and the tools are subpar.

[Chris_Cook]

I'd maybe try some de-oxit, contact cleaner or IPA to clean the sockets. Otherwise, if you can find a local TV/Electronics repair person, or amature radio operator, the might be able to resolder the connector. If its just a dry joint, it shouldn't be too difficult to re-solder it with a decent soldering iron.

[Andrew_C]

Have you got a science technician...?

[dmj]

3 hours ago, Chris_Cook said:

 

If its just a dry joint, it shouldn't be too difficult to re-solder it with a decent soldering iron.

If its just a dry joint, I found that reflowing them in an oven can work quite well. I recall we has some HP boards that suffered from dry joint issues. We'd strip anything melty off the board, add some flux then commandeer a cooker from food tech, whack it up to max and leave it in there 20min. Worked a charm. YMMV.

[southhamster]

A company providing electronic test gear calibration services might be able to help with repairs, at least with Fluke it's expensive enough to make it worthwhile!

[Davit2005]

Most devices these days have surface mount components a normal soldering iron is not really suitable.

 

Jus to show you some of the techniques I watched this the other day on YouTube, funny enough featuring a Unifi PoE Switch with faulty ports.

 

Of course the usual warnings when repairing electrical equipment should be observed, if playing with live equipment make sure you follow precautions if unsure leave it to a professional 🙂 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGkLkHcSZ3U

Edited 11 hours ago by Davit2005