Thank you to everyone who replied with advice on my problem. The advice all points one way so I will have a look at the KPA power connection pins over the holiday period and then do the necessary repair with replacemnt pins from Elecraft as required - or just hardwire them as per one suggestion.
I will advise the outcome when I have resolved it. Thanks again to all. 73 Barry Simpson VK2BJ On 17 December 2017 at 23:58, Drew AF2Z <pu...@af2z.net> wrote: > I also have an early K3, ser nr apprx 400 earlier than yours. I got the > ERR 12V fault a couple of months ago. As others have mentioned it was the > KPA pins. They were not corroded so much as discolored. I replaced them > and the two front panel connectors at the same time. > > There's a good blogpost and photos of the front panel connector > replacement process at > > http://wb5bkl.blogspot.com/2012/07/elecraft-k3-p30-and-p35- > replacement.html > > That should give you a good idea. It looks tedious with all those pins but > it goes pretty quick if you use a solder sucker. A cheap spring-loaded one > will do. Also, use an alligator clip to extract the cut pins from the board. > > > 73, > Drew > AF2Z > > > > On 12/17/17 01:36, Barry Simpson wrote: > >> I have an early model K3 s/n 1397 which I built and which I upgraded >> around >> 12 months ago with the new synthesizers etc. >> >> It has the second receiver and numerous filters in both receivers. >> >> I have never had a moment's trouble with it since the original build in >> around 2009 and since the big upgrade. >> >> However, a couple of weeks ago, I had an ERR 12V message come up in the >> middle of a CQ and the rig stopped working. I simply turned it off and >> back >> on again and it seemed to be fixed. >> >> A little earlier today, I was calling CQ on 17m CW using the KPA 500 and >> the ERR 12V occurred again. >> >> This time I read the manual and saw that it could be related to the K3 PA >> module. >> >> I powered off the rig again and checked to find that there was some new >> firmware which I duly downloaded successfully. I then performed a TX gain >> calibration at 5w and 50w and that was successful. >> >> I then did a band by band check of the maximum CW power out. All seemed >> normal except for 24.9 MHz where the power out was around 130W - too high. >> >> However, as I was testing on 50.1 MHz the dreaded ERR 12V occurred again >> and after a power down and restart the same thing. >> >> Before I enlist the help of Elecraft, can anyone point me in the right >> direction to check for a short in the PA module. What should I be looking >> at/for ? The rig has not emitted any smoke nor has there been any burning >> smells or unusual noises. >> >> Any pointers would be appreciated before I take the rig apart. >> >> Thanks and 73 >> >> Barry Simpson VK2BJ >> ______________________________________________________________ >> 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 >> Message delivered to pu...@af2z.net >> >> > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > Message delivered to vk...@optusnet.com.au > ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
