Hewlett-Packard HP-E3641A power supply onboarding

Inside the Hewlett-Packard HP-E3641A

As with any auction score it's worth getting in and checking that things are roughly OK before putting the device in your rack and forgetting about it. I got this unit basically for free (yes there's a trick, yes it's legal!) but it's not a reason to neglect it, especially since it's in such great cosmetic shape. Let's see if the innards are also up to scratch. The insides are actually very clean, almost no dust, indicating this unit was not used a lot. Nice. Getting in required removing the bumpers though, and inevitably the rear bezel was cracked, probably the most common (little) problem in Hewlett-Packard equipment of that era. Nothing that a little epoxy can fix; see my HP-E3644A page for pics of the epoxyfication (!) of the rear bezel.

The cracked rear bezel is the only minor issue with this unit. Neat!

Another classic problem of HP gear from the 90s and naughties is the presence of the evil Rifa capacitors on the mains voltage filter. This unit is no exception:

RIFA Inside (tm)

I could not find replacements with the right pitch on Digikey so the Rifas will remain in for now. They're in good condition but will require monitoring. Again not much dust, maybe a few pet hairs actually but that's it. The bottom of the main board is also clean:

A clean bottom side for the main board.

On the top side, a large section is not populated. This is expected since this model is part of a larger series, from HP-E3641A to HP-E3646A. Different voltages and current capabilities require some sections to be populated or not.

An unpopulated section of the main board.

Everything is functionally fine with this unit but there is little thing that bothers me: the front terminals rattle a little bit because the main bord on which they're mounted is also moving a little. HP seems to have ditched screws and used a hook-n-slide construction that will never give as much sturdiness. Boo. Especially with board-mounted connectors! There's almost 1mm of play there, not something I like to see, hear or feel :( The temporary fix for now is to squeeze a piece or rubber sheet but I'll have to find something better in the future. Any ideas?

A piece of rubber temporarily solves the wobbly front connector issue.