On many many occasions I have found DC Power Strips to be the fault of
many issues. Poor voltage regulation due to added resistance in the
path is the primary one. Yes, every connection and contact adds
resistance. For this reason, I've always practiced and written, one
must connect the radio power leads direct to the power supply
terminals. DC Power Strips are good for low current applications but
certainly NOT for the dynamic current demands of a radio. This is
regardless of the DC power strip current rating. And if the DC Power
Strip has individual fuses or switches, this makes it much worse. Just
more contact connections to add resistance to the current path.
73
Bob, K4TAX
On 9/1/2024 12:20 PM, elecraft-requ...@mailman.qth.net wrote:
Message: 6
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2024 12:24:48 +0100
From: G4GNX<g4...@g4gnx.com>
To: Elecraft Reflector<elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 shuts down
Message-ID:<2cc39ed5-2461-4c6a-8bd9-ebc34bbfa...@g4gnx.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
My K3S did this a couple of months ago - 40m SSB - 100W. I restarted it and it
continued for nearly another month before switching off again. It did it a
couple of times more over a week or so, before finally turning off and refusing
to turn on again.
On investigation, I realised that I had ?temporarily? connected the K3S power
cable to a distribution box, using PowerPoles - bad move. When tracing the
cable routing, I pressed against one of the PowerPoles and the radio came back
on again. I found it impossible to pull the PowerPoles apart, which was due to
the plastic covers being badly distorted by heat. I eventually got round to
pulling the PowerPoles apart by force and unfortunately the + connector flew in
the air and I haven?t found it yet. ?
However, the contact in the dis-box looks suspiciously like it?s gotten hot and
coupled with the other ?evidence? I conclude that the contacts deformed under
heat caused by high current spikes (SSB).
Also, my IC-9700 (although connected to a different PSU - via PowerPoles) did
the same thing, but unlike the K3S, it just rebooted itself.
I have completely rewired all of the high power cables in my shack directly
back to the PSU (Sharman Multicom - 60A) and I?ve had no more problems.
In your case, you?re running 100W for longer periods and that is one possible
cause of a premature breakdown. You could save yourself a lot of trouble, by
examining all of the power connections, including the PowerPoles on the K3
itself.
73,
Alan - G4GNX
South Coast UK
Elecraft K4D / KPA500 / KAT500 / IC-9700
--
Daddy said there would be days like this!
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