Are these things I should consider bad

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by N2IXK

The waveform looks to be about 1.5 divisions peak to peak, so that could be either 7.5V or 75V, depending on whether or not the "5V/div" is taking the 10:1 probe into consideration.

75 vpp ripple on a 240V supply is a problem. 7.5V, not so much.

The doubled waveforms might be caused by improper triggering. Make sure you are triggering on whatever channel the probe is connected to, and if your scope has a TVH trigger mode, use it. Try rocking the trigger level back and forth around zero, and see if that makes the trace clearer.

I would start with the same value cap as you already have installed, and putting it right in parallel should be fine if it actually goes to ground. The attachment isn't showing up for me...

The probe was in the 10x mode. Also, the triggering is from a Leader LCG-396 Pattern Generator.

The cap is connected the following way. There's a lead from the flyback to a leg of a diode, the other leg of the diode connects to a leg of a 150 ohm 2W, the other leg of the resistor goes to the positive side of the cap and a lead that connects the 240V around the chassis and finally the cap goes to ground.

I'll have to find a local source for a 10uf 300V cap. The local Radio Shack doesn't have them in-store. Must be a place around here somewhere. Not looking forward to paying 7 bucks for shipping of a single cap.

[N2IXK]

Originally Posted by TinCanAlley

The probe was in the 10x mode.

But some scopes can automatically detect the probe setting, and adjust the vertical scale range to reflect the probe attenuation and prevent confusion. This requires both a scope and a probe that support this feature. Do yours?

If your scope is doing this, then the scale really is 5 volts/division. If your scope or your probe doesn't do this for you, then the scale is actually 50 volts/division. This makes all the difference in the world when trying to interpret the waveforms as ripple on a power supply rail.

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by N2IXK

But some scopes can automatically detect the probe setting, and adjust the vertical scale range to reflect the probe attenuation and prevent confusion. This requires both a scope and a probe that support this feature. Do yours?

If your scope is doing this, then the scale really is 5 volts/division. If your scope or your probe doesn't do this for you, then the scale is actually 50 volts/division. This makes all the difference in the world when trying to interpret the waveforms as ripple on a power supply rail.

I have a Tektronix 465M. No auto settings for the probe.

I've been thinking about the waveform. It's a 240V source, so the 5V/Div would be too low to show it and the 10x probe would make it 50V/Div and it would cover almost 5 divisions. What I got was way under that. I'm going to use the DMM to go all the way back to the boost diode and when I find the point it's 240V, I'm going to scope it. With a setting of 5V/Div and the probe in 10x, I should get a form that covers over 4 divisions, right?

[N2IXK]

Originally Posted by TinCanAlley

I have a Tektronix 465M. No auto settings for the probe.

I've been thinking about the waveform. It's a 240V source, so the 5V/Div would be too low to show it and the 10x probe would make it 50V/Div and it would cover almost 5 divisions. What I got was way under that. I'm going to use the DMM to go all the way back to the boost diode and when I find the point it's 240V, I'm going to scope it. With a setting of 5V/Div and the probe in 10x, I should get a form that covers over 4 divisions, right?

Where is your baseline set? Are you operating the scope AC or DC coupled?

Typically, for checking ripple on a power supply, you would operate AC coupled, so you only see the AC component of the signal, and ignore the DC. If you are running DC coupled, the baseline should rise a bit less than 5 divisions (250V) from zero, with ripple superimposed on it. You can do a quick sanity check with a DMM, by measuring the 240V supply twice, both in DCV range (should show ~240V), and in ACV (should show close to zero if no significant ripple is present).

From what you are telling us (5 V/div with a 10:1 probe and no auto priobe ranging), the scope is actually showing you 50V per division, or a waveform of ~75 Vpp. This is WAY too much noise on a supply rail, and would easily explain the jailbars.

You really need to learn how to use a scope effectively in order to get useful information from it. Take a couple hours and watch this GREAT YouTube training session:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZKMrzTGxLQ

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by N2IXK

Where is your baseline set? Are you operating the scope AC or DC coupled?

Typically, for checking ripple on a power supply, you would operate AC coupled, so you only see the AC component of the signal, and ignore the DC. If you are running DC coupled, the baseline should rise a bit less than 5 divisions (250V) from zero, with ripple superimposed on it. You can do a quick sanity check with a DMM, by measuring the 240V supply twice, both in DCV range (should show ~240V), and in ACV (should show close to zero if no significant ripple is present).

From what you are telling us (5 V/div with a 10:1 probe and no auto priobe ranging), the scope is actually showing you 50V per division, or a waveform of ~75 Vpp. This is WAY too much noise on a supply rail, and would easily explain the jailbars.

You really need to learn how to use a scope effectively in order to get useful information from it. Take a couple hours and watch this GREAT YouTube training session:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZKMrzTGxLQ

Gonna get some popcorn and watch that video.

Okay, just did a scope of the 240V line just after it comes off of the resistor into the main feed (where the capacitor is and the where the 240V gets distributed). I had the scope set to AC coupling, V/D set at .5, the T/D set to 20us and probe at 1x. The rippled waveform covered 1.75 divisions peak to peak. So that would make the AC less than a volt, correct?

[N2IXK]

.5 V/div and a 10:1 probe is 5 V/div. A signal 1.75 divisions high would be 1.75 x 5, or 8.75 Vpp.

[TinCanAlley]

Originally Posted by N2IXK

.5 V/div and a 10:1 probe is 5 V/div. A signal 1.75 divisions high would be 1.75 x 5, or 8.75 Vpp.

Sorry, forgot to mention it was in 1x setting on the probe.