Anyone seen Beckman Engine Analyzers before?

[Keyblazer]

I bought these a few years back, and have been unable to find out much info...
I am hoping someone here knows more!

Beckman Ignition System Tester IST1560
Seems to work good, but I have no idea how to use it properly!

I have the manual too...

Also I have..
Beckman exhaust Analyzer 590 CO/HC tester.

And manual..

Intersted to know how the CO/HC tester works... or some instruction on how to use it?

 

[AgentZ]

not seen one of those, but gotta love the hair and tie on the technician in the manual!

 

[Steve from Socal]

Beckman AKA Tektronics.

I have never seen one in person but, it look good.

Steve

 

[TheGrooveking]

Beckman made some of the best meters in their day, I am still using my HD110 I bought in 1980 and this meter has been through hell and back more than a few times. Beckman became Wavetek, and then I think they changed even again to some other name.

TheGrooveking

 

[mslisaj]

What a great post. Yes I have seen, used and still own the Beckman system. Back in the late 70's in California we had our shop and the Beckman 590 Exhaust Gas Analyzer was approved for the Smog Check Program then. We had one in our shop along with a HUGE Sun 1020 scope. We needed the room and to update our ignition analyzer so we got the Beckman scope set up. It is different from the one that you have pictured here as it is the exact same dimensions as the 590. If fact Beckman made a wedge bracket that would mount the scope and exhaust gas analyzer on top of each other. The scope was put on the cart on the bottom and the exhaust gas analyzer was mounted on the top. I would guess that the Ignition Analyzer pictured here is the newer model after mine but all the functions are exactly the same. These were start of the art machines. Made a lot of money with mine. The only problem was the exhaust gas analyzer drew in a lot of moisture from the exhaust. This would cause condensation problems in the two sampling tubes in the machine but they were easily serviced and cleaned. Then if you let the machine sit for a week the little pump inside that drew in and pumped out the exhaust gases would rust and stick the pistons in the bore. Again you just took the cover off the machine and turned the little cooling fan by hand and that got the pump running again. But I still have both of these units and they both work as good as the day I bought them NEW in the 70's. I'm lucky to still have, and have friends that have "old school" cars that we can hook this equipment up to and still test. But Beckman was great stuff.

When they went out of the automotive test machine business I was able to buy a spare set of circuit boards and leads for both machines.

Great pictures and thanks for taking your time to post it all up so we can see them. You certainly have some great machines that have served me well too. If I can answer any specific questions about either machine please feel free to ask.



Lisa

 

[Keyblazer]

Yep, we all had a giggle at the tech and that hair!

Lisa, thanks for the input!
Electrics are my weak spot... give me a tool or an engine any day!
In fact I have 2 Exhaust Analyzers... the 590 and another smaller one that only does CO(I will post pics soon), and I can get neither to work. Both pumps can be heard running, and you can feel suction at the exhaust probe.

I took the cover off the smaller one and noticed that the clear tubing inside looks mushy/sticky, so i plan to replace it all and clean the IR chamber too if I can get some advice on that?
Both of the units maybe later than yours as the both have a water seperator on the back on the intake line.
I only have the service manual for the 590... so I am looking for a copy of the users manual.
I have the Glossy sales pamplet for the 1560, and the repair manual, but no users manual.
My 1560 does not have the cable beam thingy shown in the sales pamplet, and its funny you say about mounting the 2 together, as I was thinking about doing that to minimise the footprint!
If you have any other paperwork or manuals I would love to get a copy!

I do have the sales price for the 1560... it was $4,945 in 1983!

If I admitted I paid about $30 for all 3 maybe 5 years ago should I feel good?

 

[mslisaj]

Keyblazer, you did well on the price. You got some real goodies for that. I'd pay that for the parts alone and that ignition analyzer looks like new.

We have the same 590's. They have the water separator on the back and the factory fix was for every 30 minutes of use you let the probe breath "air" for 30 minutes to dry out the machine. With the cover off the 590 you'll see two gray tubes. You loosen those "turnbuckles that hold them in and remove each one. Run a tissue thru each and clean them out really well. Likewise on the infrared transmitter and receiver you will clean them off too. They are spectrum analyzers and display in HC and CO. They really work well when they work. The electronics were very solid so you shouldn't have a problem there at all. Replace that piece of suction tube that you see inside and the vent/drain line. You have to plug the machine into an older car too. That is the problem with the instrument is that it's not sensitive enough for the newer cars. This is why I had to upgrade for my smog checks to the Hamilton Test machine at $10K. It was more sensitive, but the 590 should work well. Also when you have the cover off blow off the circuit board with air to remove the dust. That can be an issue also. When I get a chance I'll post a picture of my machines. These things were rare but they were super good equipment. I got great factory service too when the automotive division was active. I have all the manuals too. But I'm on vacation now and not near my shop to do this quickly but we'll keep in touch and We'll figure out some why to get the information to you.

Keep in touch..................

Lisa

 

[Keyblazer]

Awesome!
Have fun on Vacation, and in the meantime I will post some more pics!
As you can see from my signiture, i have a selection of oldies but goodies to "test"!

 

[Keyblazer]

As I promised, here is the other smaller Beckman CO Analyzer.

Model #598

 

[mslisaj]

Your Beckman units look so pristine. Did you get them from a Beckman salesman? Your units look brand new. Anyway they all have the same water separator on the back it seems too. Hope you're having some luck cleaning them and getting them to work. I love my Beckman gear and I'm lucky to say they all still work. Apparently you and are are the only ones with experience with these. Love to see this thread come alive but if I can help you get your's going I will...........

When I get home I'll get a picture of my two machine together and post them too. Great stuff............

Lisa

 

[Keyblazer]

Well, if nothing else Lisa, we are alerting the other Garage Heads about what great stuff Beckman made in their time!

My story with these is a little vague, as it was maybe 7 years back now...
They were on Ebay, but poorly described, and shipping was overquoted, due to weight.. They were Local to me, and no reserve, so I bid, as much for fun as anything.
Did NOT expect to win them...
I seem to remember I bid like $100 for the Ignition unit, and $50 for the CO/NO unit and $25 for the smaller CO unit... I want to say that I got the ignition for $16, and the other 2 for $6, and $4...

When I went to get them, it was a Mechanic shop, that had been taken over and they were just clearing it out...
I barely got them in my Jeep, but was determined, and got out of there ASAP with a bungy cord holding the tailgate shut...
I remember that they had a 1988 Mercedes 300TE, with like 50k miles on with front end damage that I bid on too, and won.. for $120, but my bid was knocked off cos they had set up the Auction to not allow people to win if they had bid on 3 items in the last week...
I was sick...

 

[mslisaj]

Definitely a steal for sure. Hope with a little care you can get them working. We used to do a lot of Mopar Sixpack work and to get those Holley's balanced took a lot of infra-red time. Great stuff................

Lisa

 

[MBfreak]

The Beckman Company made spm of the best chemical analyzers maoney could buy. Like the pH meter that was an industry standard.
The Beckman stuff above looks a lot to have been designed to widen their market and compete with the SUN range.
Can any of the owners provide a photo of the CO/HC meter internal, my guess is that it is mre a less the same as the SUN stuff, which was covered by a patent.

Best regards

Ola

 

[Keyblazer]

Yes, Beckman has a great reputation... I spent a long time looking for info on what I have and the Patent info was about all I found.

How is life in Sweden... I love Sweden and had many good times there when I worked at Saab!
I will take some pics when i do the service, but it might be a couple of months..
I do have the service manual that has exploded diagrams if that would be of interest?

 

[George in Rancho Cordova]

Back in the day, John Blanke was to go-to guy at Beckman. I believe he assigned some patents to Beckman.

Blanke Industries is run by the same guy & his son. You might be able to get some info through them.
blankeindustries.com

 

[MBfreak]

I have the complete shop manual for a SUN 2110 including the CO/HC tester part.
Feel free to email if you need the schematic of the SUN CO/Hc part at
herbie.kri at hotmail.com.
Glad you left SAAB. They have been sliding into oblivion for the last 15 years, and was propped up by GM money for 10 years. Just today they managed to get some kind of loan to pay the employees another 2 weeks wages
Assembly line has been closed since April, they can not pay their suppliers and offer them 10 cents on the dollar and hope they will give away more parts.

Ola

 

[mikeceli]

I see a button for "Rotary" engine, next to 4 6 8 (cylinders)!

 

[Keyblazer]

WOW!
Are you serious!
Must be worth $50 now!

so, after reading that I went and looked at the sales leaflet... and YES, you are correct... Item 16 says 2 cylinder Rotary engines!

 

[JohnBlanke]

Interesting thread. That tech with the funny hair and tie was me in the 70's. I did not recognize me, but I recognized the tie.

I was the go to guy then and we sold a lot of these. We also sold thousands of guts of the infrared analyzers to Sun Electric.

Beckman was and still is a maker of top tier analyzers. They left the automotive field when I left and took the major players with me to Sun Electric.

Our company now is Blanke Industries, Inc. We are the leading supplier of CO analyzers in the fork lift market. We sell equipment that will test a lift truck and print out how much fuel is being wasted per year. Test takes a bit over a minute.

We also make a motorcycle tester that will log the CO from a road test and print it out later. All carburetor circuits and fuel injector engine maps can be analyzed and diagnosed. See us on the web at www.blankeindustries.com.

My email is [email protected].

 

[Keyblazer]

Hi John!
LOL, what a good looking guy I was thinking!
After George posted your info, I looked on your site and was impressed with what you are doing now... and how small your testers are!

As I said before, I spent many hours looking for info on these units and came up with nothing more that some patent info, and a few notable mentions for the CO/NC Tester in other states emission testing standards.
I live in CA, and called Beckman, hoping to find someone who knew something and after an hour of going from Customer Service, to sales... I gave up in the end... nobody knew anything!

I want to keep these and get them working to help me tune my cars a little better!

I really need the User manuals for what I have and it sounds like Lisa has them, but if you have any more info, I would LOVE to hear or see it!

 

[Keyblazer]

Can anyone give or direct me to any info on using the Ignition tester or the Exhaust analyzers?
I assume that the Sun testers are similar, so info on "How to use and read" them would be great....

 

[Keyblazer]

Just pulled the HC/CO unit from my storage, and will pull the cover off and inspect/clean the insides!

 

[Keyblazer]

So, here we go on the Beckman 590 Exhaust Analyzer...

I have not tried this unit for maybe 3 years.
I plugged it in, switched on and heard nothing.. before I could hear the pump running.
Unplugged it, and pulled off the cover..

Pics of insides:

All the pipes look intact, although, they are hard/slimey feeling.
The twin diaphram air pump is righthand side of second pic, with the fan blade... I worked the fan back and forth by hand, and it felt stiff... a few turns and it loosened up...

Plugging the unit back in, and switching on, I was greeted with a working pump!
I can feel the suction at the probe now, although someone had added a extra inline fuel filter to the probe lin, which I removed.
My reading for last night was the calibration sequence... which I will try today!

 

[Keyblazer]

So, happy and double sad....

Took all the sample tubes apart, and they were pretty clean.
Then I spent some time on the Calibration...
Got the CO done pretty well.
But the HC, no matter what I did, it would not calibrate.
Then things went really wrong...
I was struggling. so I decided to adjust the actual needle setting... It didnt move at all when I turned the screw on the needle pivot.. so I pulled off the face plate... sure enough the adjuster screw was broken off.
Then things went really really bad.. I noticed a dirty dust trail behind the needle...
I gently moved the needle aside to wipe it, and the NEEDLE BROKE OFF!
Now what do I do?

 

[mslisaj]

Just wanted to share pictures of my Beckman Equipment. This all still works and has given me many years of wonderful service.

Lisa

 

[Keyblazer]

Thanks Lisa!

I wanted to post an update and a cry for help....
As I said in my previous post... my HC gauge needle broke!
I hoped that I could canibalize my other CO meter, but I cant... the gauge is smaller..
I have spent hours digging about, looking for how to fix it or find a replacemnet meter.
It seems these needles are very finely balanced, so repairing or replacing is difficult..
Here are some picture of what I have if anyone can chime in or offer ideas or advice?
I cant find a manufacturer or part #... Goodness, I dont even know what the "Official" part name is...
Analog meter?

Broken Needle...

Should be about 5 1/5" long like the CO needle.

 

[Keyblazer]

I am still looking for a replacement part.
My research tells me its called a "Panel Meter", and most probably a Jewell, or Modutec unit, but no marking or clues on the original.

Anyone know anything about where to get one?

 

[SGKent]

JUST A GUESS - but the lower left on front face - FS 1MADC probably means Full Scale = 1 milli-amp DC. You might just for the heck of it try to measure the current through it when it is running and see what you get. My guess is it will be around 1/2 milliamp. Start on the 10 amp scale in series and slowly move down. You may be able to find a meter that has a different face on it and swap faces. Google "FS 1MADC" and start looking at surplus meters for one that might work.

As to using the ignition unit - most of the skill will be in learning the wave forms and what they mean. Using one I had a guy tell me once that two cylinders on my CJ7 (gone now) was low while we were looking for a miss which was driving me nuts trying to find. The heads were rebuilt only about 3,000 miles before so I doubted him but he showed me how the firing voltage was lower on two non-adjacent cylinders than the other cylinders. I pulled the head and behold the valve guides had too much play and the valves were rocking and not sealing except at low RPM like cranking on a compression test. The shop gave me my money back and I bought a good low mileage head which solved the problem.

 

[MBfreak]

The repair of the original instrument can be done by a competent instrument technician. However, the are hard to find.
I guess that the pointer is glass, which was the material of choice for HiQ stuff back then.Today, that will be hard to find.

As pointed out the 1mafsd means that it is a moving coil instrument which requires a current of 1 mA for full deflection. You also need to know the resistance of the instrument. Sometimes you will find this written by hand on the backside of the insrument scale. Likely in the range of 20 to 100 Ohms. If not written somewhere, use a good quality DVM to measure the resistance.

Then, proceed to locate an instrument which has the same dimensions( there are many manufacturers, but they are pretty well standardized.) With luck you will find one , which is also rated a 1 mA FSD , and that has the same or lower resistance. If so, just add a resistor in series with the new instrument to match the old . Take pains to VERY gently move the scale from the old to the new and you are all set.
However , an instrument with a lower current span such as 500µA FSD or 50µA FSD will also work. If you find one with a lower current rating that matches your old size and style, get it. Then it is just a matter of converting it to read 1 mA FSD and have the same total resistance. The latter is achieved by a few resistos.

If you need help , PM me the reistance of the old 1 mA FSD instrument and the current rating ( MUST BE LOWER than the old) and resistance of the new and I will calculate the needed resistors, stick the in an evelope and send to you.
No probs.

As you may understand I have a mile-wide soft spot for SUN, BECKMAN stuff.

I scrapped a SUN MCM 2100 some months ago, that I had overhauled. It then collected dust for 12 months. At last I tried to sell it, got some exceedingly stupid answers on an ad here in Sweden. So I took it to the boneyard and watched the huge machine that thrives on electronics swallow it with just two tiny burps when the two CRT´s imploded.
Bad day, I still feel guilty!

Ola

 

[Keyblazer]

Awesome Info!
Based on the corrosion that weakened the needle, I am pretty sure its made of aluminum.

I am an electronics dumbo, so I need the help.
Stuck working on a project and so put the 590 into storage again, but next week I will pull it out again.
I did a seach on the 1madc and found lots of meters, but nothing that has a needle leangth like mine....


FYI, I just spoke to a great Guy who has a working Beckman 590 for sale.
I would have loved to buy it, but the shipping is just not gonna fly, with the worry of the unit arriving damaged...
I suggested he join Garageforum and post it both here and in the classifieds.

 

[Keyblazer]

Its been a while...

No luck yet finding the correct replacement Panel Gauge for the HC tester...

If anyone knows where I can get a 8" x 6.5" Analog Panel Guage, Fullscale sweep, with 1 MA DC, please let me know!
No manufacturer name on it, but based on the design it looks like a Modutec.


I did however find the user manual, and here are some pics of the contents...

 

[Keyblazer]

Also had the 1560 Ignition Analyzer working...
Just need to understand better how to read the results!


Video of it reading my Mercedes ignition system!

 

[Keyblazer]

Wow...
Skimming CL and I found another IST1560 for sale in Hollywood...

But wait...
Why is this guy using the pictures I posted of MY unit and MY paperwork in his CL ad????

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/tls/3603993054.html

 

[Keyblazer]

Update...
I bought the unit off him...
I plan to use it for spares, and maybe I can use the Panel Meters to fix my HC/CO Tester!

 

[mellamoesrico]

Back at my office I have a catalog from MCM Electronics (or maybe its a flier from Mouser Electronics) that has a pretty fair selection of analog and solid state component parts for reasonable prices. A lot of little stuff that has been pulled from old equipment, cleaned, and checked for proper operation. Those analog meters were very common back in the day. Should be fairly easy to find a replacement.

 

[Keyblazer]

Here is the other unit I bought...
Not as nice shape as my original one, but appears to work...
I plan to try the gauges from this one in my HC/CO tester.

 

[Keyblazer]

Finally found another HC/CO Analyzer to cannibalize!

Hopeing I can get mine working again!