I have a very early KPA500, serial in low 200's. I have a quiet outside shack and I've heard the Clicks since day 1. I've always thought these were part of the amps normal operating noise environment. If fact, I tend to notice more if I don't hear the clicks. The description given - The passage of hot water through cold piping in the heating system at first switch-on in early mornings is spot on ..... A soothing click click click... The click is an old friend ! and let's me know that's all's running well.
Ken.. G0ORH - K2, K3, P3, KAT500, KPA500 Sent from my iPad > On 26 Jan 2014, at 23:25, Stewart <stew...@twinwood.me> wrote: > > Heard it today for the first time. I find it quite soothing, but would like > to > know more about it... > > :-) > > 73 > Stewart G3RXQ >> On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 18:16:52 -0500, Sebastian, W4AS wrote: >> I have noticed the same clicks with mine. I run mostly meteor scatter on 6 > meters, which is somewhat similar to RTTY - long transmit times with a high > average output power. >> >> After emailing Elecraft support on May 6th of last year concerning a failure > of my KAT500 tuner (which apparently had nothing to do with the amp's noise), > I > was told this was due to rapid expansion and contraction of the heat sink, > and > even though it sounded like a relay, it was not necessarily coming from a > relay. > What I found strange was that this noise didn't occur until the amp was > several > months old. I was offered the option to ship back the KPA500 in order to > track > down the noise, and I did so. >> >> After a few days, I received a telephone call from Elecraft with their > analysis of the noise. It was their belief that indeed the noise was coming > from rapid expansion/contraction of a metal piece in the amp; specifically > what > is known as the Z-bracket. At the time I was told that a few other customers > had experienced the same issue, although none were in the US and mine was the > first they had the opportunity to look at. The Z-bracket was replaced with > one > of a different metal composition, and I was told that several tests were run > on > the amp and there were no other issues. I received the amp back and did not > experience the clicking noise at first. >> >> A few weeks later, using the amp in the same manner I had before, the >> clicking > noise came back. Once again I contacted Elecraft support. Their response > was > the same, the rapid expansion and contraction of the Z-bracket was what I was > hearing, and there were now several KPA500s which exhibited the same clicking > noise, but their conclusion was there was no damage caused by this. In > addition, there were no faults in the fault log. >> >> I wonder how many others have experienced the same clicking noise, and if the > issue has been solved. While I accept their analysis, I still find it > strange > that if the amp is on, yet I haven't transmitted for several minutes, I will > still hear an occasional click. >> >> >> 73 de Sebastian, W4AS >> >> >>> On Jan 26, 2014, at 3:03 PM, Steve AI9T <st...@ai9t.com> wrote: >>> >>> During a couple recent RTTY contest I have noticed that my KPA500 is making >>> a > noise. It kind of sounds like a relay clicking in and out. When I first > noticed > it I thought it was a fan relay or something to do with the fan. But after > hearing this longer it seems to be related to the temp. It clicks in an out > around the temps of 62C and 56C. It kind or reminds me of an old radiator > warming up and cooling off. I took the cover off yesterday and checked the > nut > that holds the transformer in place. I thought maybe that spring washer > might > be a little loose but it wasn't. >>> >>> Anyone else ever notice this? Hopefully it is not a serious problem. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> -- >>> 73 >>> >>> Steve AI9T >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
