Visual Inspection; Look For Obvious Defects And Damage First; What Causes Connector Wear; Inspect The Mating Plane Surfaces - Agilent Technologies 85032F User's And Service Manual

Visual Inspection

Visual inspection and, if necessary, cleaning should be done every time a connection is
made. Metal particles from the connector threads may fall into the connector when it is
disconnected. One connection made with a dirty or damaged connector can damage both
connectors beyond repair.
Magnification is helpful when inspecting connectors, but it is not required and may
actually be misleading. Defects and damage that cannot be seen without magnification
generally have no effect on electrical or mechanical performance. Magnification is of great
use in analyzing the nature and cause of damage and in cleaning connectors, but it is not
required for inspection.
CAUTION Devices with damaged connectors should immediately be discarded or clearly
marked and set aside for repair. A damaged device will in turn damage any
good connector to which it is attached. Try to determine the cause of damage
before connecting a new, undamaged connector in the same configuration.
In some cases, magnification is necessary to see damage on a connector. Not all defects that
are visible only under magnification will affect the electrical performance of the connector.
Use the following guidelines when evaluating the integrity of a connector.

Look for Obvious Defects and Damage First

Examine the connectors first for obvious defects and damage: badly worn plating on the
connector interface, deformed threads, or bent, broken, or misaligned center conductors.
Connector nuts should move smoothly and be free of burrs, loose metal particles, and
rough spots.

What Causes Connector Wear?

Connector wear is caused by connecting and disconnecting the devices. The more use the
device gets, the faster it wears and degrades. The wear is greatly accelerated when
connectors are not kept clean, or are not properly connected.
Connector wear eventually degrades performance of the device. Calibration devices should
have a long life if their use is on the order of a few times per week.
The test port connectors on the network analyzer test set may have many connections each
day, and are therefore more subject to wear. It is recommended that an adapter be used as
a test port saver to minimize the wear on the test set's connectors. Replace devices with
worn connectors.

Inspect the Mating Plane Surfaces

Even contact between the connectors at all points on their mating plane surfaces is
required for a good connection. See Figure 2-1 on page 2-4. Look especially for deep
scratches or dents, and for dirt and metal particles on the connector mating plane surfaces.
85032F
Use, Maintenance, and Care of the Devices
Visual Inspection
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