Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

**CapLeaker** · 05-14-2022, 10:12 AM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

I caught a lucky break today and got home early and had to try that new display out. I've got this display drop in replacement from "atomicfrenzy" on EBay for the Agilent U1253A and the early model U1253B. So remember to verify the old display that it has the same old style SSD1303 display. Atomicfrenzy's replacement is perfect and fits correctly. No clearance issues or anything like that.

The artifact issue due to the old 132x64 to the new 128x64 is not existent and properly dealt with on this fully assembled version.

I had chosen a white display not the yellow.
Be careful what you order. Atomicfrenzy also has a kit, which does not address the column shift issue and is cheaper. You may contact the seller and I am sure he will get you the right display.
He will put a new listing up for this drop in display later on today. Thanks again buddy for making this happen!

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**eccerr0r** · 12-19-2021, 10:30 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

ouch. Sometimes I'm glad all my equipment is ancient...

**redwire** · 12-19-2021, 11:58 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

I believe the Agilent original OLED display is long obsolete, it has SSD1303 controller IC. Newer OLED displays have a different controller IC.
Some small differences from the original Agilent one, like the entire screen is mirrored if you use one of the newer OLEDs

so people have made adapter boards, sell kits etc:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224663271858
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKGLjt6IR0
https://www.seeedstudio.com/Agilent-...1309-g-1287116
https://kitsune-denshi.net/projects

isplay-if

**stj** · 12-20-2021, 07:37 AM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

there is a thread on eevblog where a guy puts a modern display from aliexpress in one.
i think it involves an adapter board.

**eccerr0r** · 12-20-2021, 11:36 AM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

how long does one expect these OLEDs last? Will they burn out in another 6 years?

I'm kind of surprised, thought burn-in was the main problem with OLED, was there another failure mode?

**stj** · 12-20-2021, 11:52 AM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

life is proportionate to brightness i suspect.
a friend has the really good uni-trend 171 and that has a brightness setting in the config.

it would be interesting if it was something else, like losing the bias voltage.

**CapLeaker** · 12-20-2021, 12:26 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

My DMM is from 2014 and never left the bench here at home. It never got direct sunlight to the display either and the OLED was set to minimum brightness for 5 years. The last year I had to notch it up a bit and now it is so dark, I only can see anything if the room is pitch black. brightness settings have no effect of making the display brighter.

I called Keysight today to see what they got to say. They are very well aware of this issue. They also knew about the new SSD1309 display having a mirror effect on the older meters that use the SSD1303.

Here is my grumble: Remember the U1253A (discontinued) had the SSD1303 OLED display. Well my 2014 U1253B has the exact same SSD1303 display the original A version had. Really? Agilent / Keysight new this for a very long time and never got around to come up with a field replaceable solution to this?

I also got to the http://kitsune-denshi.net/projects

isplay-if website and this is the only one that has an acceptable fix as he addressed that 4 row pixel shift problem going from a SSD1303 132x64 OLED display to a SSD1309 128x64 one. If I could get my hands on one, I'd buy a few and send some to Keysight. :p Why couldn't Keysight figure this one out?

Back to my rant: So Keysight is fixing this right now by RMA your meter, you send in your meter (shipping) and purchase a new meter for the full price of CAD$630 and shipping again to get it to you. Well, I am faster and cheaper just to buy a new one from a Keysight dealer.
I may be dumb alright, but not that dumb. However I can't afford purchasing every 5 years a new DMM, because the display goes bad and the manufacturer not having parts available.

Taking into comparison a 20 year old Fluke 179 that I purchased new in 2001-2002 and lives in a tool box. I still can get every single part for that clunker. What gives?

My advise: If it's got an OLED, stay away from it if you want to keep it.

**stj** · 12-20-2021, 01:41 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

keysite are fucks, these displays are SPI and they can fix it in software in seconds.
i have to wonder if the firmware is read-protected or if there are any downloads to update the meter.

as for your fluke comment,
the guy with the UT-171 also has a fucked display fluke-87
try getting replacement zebrastrip for those meters!!

**redwire** · 12-20-2021, 01:41 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

All you get for support is to RMA it and send $630 for something new?! Ouch muh butthole. Many used ones for sale still pricey. I'd get a replacement display kit from Germany or eBay etc.

What happens in big corporations is they have a multimeter build project, dollars and staff assigned and then go to work. AFTERWARDS, everything is closed up, staff on new projects and budget is done.
So Keysight gives zero fox about customers down the road with this Waterfall model of product development.
Thing is Keysight just has to change a few bytes in the firmware to make a SSD1306 or 1309 display work. It's just the display controller init code.
Dim display can also be caused by the boost-converter problem, I think it's ~13VDC the OLED needs, but small chance this is the prob.

I believe Agilent/Keysight used Raytech OLED displays, who simply stops making them, minimum orders of at least $20,000. Then Solomon do a small change/upgrade of the OLED controller IC losing backwards-compatibility. I think it's intentional. SSD 1303,5,6,7,8,9 come on already.

You could add a small MCU to translate the pixel shift, or the mux that guy used. I think you need a new display and translator board. One guy put in a super bright green OLED that looked neat.

They say OLED's age even if just sitting there, they have organics in them after all. Even if powered off they age. LG got embarrassed with their huge public OLED billboards fading out in Seoul I think it's why TV's have abandoned them. Funny that a vacuum fluorescent display outlasts them.

**eccerr0r** · 12-20-2021, 01:48 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

Talk about planned obsolescence. I should stick to my inorganic LED HP3466A and LCD DMMs even if they're completely outdated now...

**stj** · 12-20-2021, 02:58 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

there is a french company, maybe metex that has a nice meter with a colour lcd - all the advantages of oled without the issues of pixel-burn or display life

**CapLeaker** · 12-20-2021, 04:14 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

So the $630 quote I haven’t gotten yet on paper. However I did get this afternoon a quote for a U1252B which has the LCD display. It came in at $599 minus $59.90 rebate, clocking in at $539.10.

I would go for the OLED replacement on my U1253B, but I don’t like the problem with the pixels that shift. That would bug the heck out of me. Cording to Keysight the older OLED units need to be sent back to the factory to be re flashed and he also said it can’t be done in the field. It sounds a bunch of bologna to me, since proper mods on the display board take care of it like the other guy did. With the proper display and board, it should be as easy as swapping it out. End of story.
I rather think they don’t want to fix the problem, just swap some of the affected units out that are under warranty and the rest of the folks are screwed. Well, that makes me loose their trust.

**eccerr0r** · 12-20-2021, 04:57 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

Well the problem is the display wore out, they're not obliged to repair the unit after warranty expires... The "fix" would be simpler if done in software of course but since software is "hard" to "fix," people opted to "fix" it by hardware and hence these weird addon boards.

**CapLeaker** · 12-20-2021, 06:43 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

Actually there are ready made drop ins to be bought. I found the seller for the kitsuni-denshi unit. Comes with the LCD and board as a drop in replacement, ready to go. However, it’s NOT cheap!

**stj** · 12-20-2021, 07:05 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

are there any pcb pics online?
not the conversion, the meter.
i'm wondering what cpu's and memories they use.

**CapLeaker** · 12-20-2021, 07:54 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

Yes, there are a few. One I found on ebay and another I found on AliExpress. On ebay is that katsuni-denshi unit for like $150 and on Ali is another outfit that sells them for $230.

I can PM you the listings if you want.

**CapLeaker** · 12-20-2021, 08:02 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

You want pics from the boards inside the meter?

**stj** · 12-20-2021, 09:07 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

yes

**redwire** · 12-20-2021, 11:08 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

Agilent U1253A uses NEC uPD78F0547 8-bit MCU Last time I worked for a company designing in NEC processors, it was the $10,000+ in-circuit emulator the engineers liked. It's likely out of code space or the compiler obsolete. Only one byte to change. Sigh.

I looks like this ali display 2.42" OLED with SSD1305Z 128x64 used with the adapter board at seeed Agilent U1253B Display adapter for SSD1309, green pcb. Not sure what the new controller is.

Same OLED problem as the Nivona Coffee Machines; NIVONA SSD1305 ADAPTER V1r2 gerber files on elektroda.

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**CapLeaker** · 12-21-2021, 07:38 PM

Re: Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

I contacted the eBay seller and ordered a replacement display, just like the one in the kitsune-denshi link. It’s got a winbond ic. Seller shipped today, but I am guessing that I probably won’t see it until the new year. He didn’t try that display on a U1253B yet, so I guess mine is the first one.
stj want’s some DMM porn… so I’ll be sure to take plenty pics.

I just don’t like the looks of the seeedstudio version of the display. The original display is 132x64. The new displays are 128x64. So besides having the mirror image problem, there is the 4 missing columns that need to be dealt with. If my meter would have these artifacts that creep from the end of the right screen over to the beginning to the left side, my OCD would drive me nuts.

As for the offers from Agilent… the came in just like I said in post #12.

Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

Agilent U1253B OLED display failed

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