Re: [Elecraft] Broke my K2 :(
Don is exactly right about this. When I was at HP/Agilent, the company directive was generally not to try to clean the rosin with alcohol. (Rosin-core solder was used only in rework.) The rosin contains an acid to help with the soldering, but the acid is locked up inside the rosin where it does no harm. Once you dissolve the rosin with the alcohol it spreads out and can cause leakage paths between connections. Just leave the rosin there; it does no harm HP did clean production boards after going through the wave solder machine. But that used a water-soluble flux and the cleaning process was thorough enough to completely remove all traces of flux. That's basically not possible using alcohol and cotton swabs on rosin. Alan N1AL On 7/14/2021 5:20 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: When I have cleaned boards with IPA or other cleaners, I apply the IPA only in a small spot with a q-tip and then blot it with a paper towel to help dry it - do not flood the board. I generally do not recommend cleaning boards, solder flux is non-conductive and will normally not cause a problem. I only clean when the solder flux residue is really nasty as might occur with Kester 44 solder. Use of a solder with a mildly reactive flux (Kester 385) will reduce the need for cleaning the board - there is almost no residue. If you do choose to clean the board, make sure your cleaning work is complete. While solder flux is non-conductive, the flux plus the cleaner may be conductive leading to resistive leakage paths. If you can see any white stuff on the board, you have not done a complete job. 73, Don W3FPR On 7/14/2021 6:41 PM, Peter Eijlander (PA0PJE) wrote: Yes Jerry, isopropyl alcohol does this! I once cleaned a working print of a GPS receiver with isopropyl alcohol and it stopped working. Letting it be and trying it again next day turned out it worked perfectly again. From then on I leave a PCB to rest after cleaning to have the IPA dry out completely... __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 Only 30-metre Band Works
Don, I borrowed a couple of new relays from my KAT2 kit. I installed K1 and K2 with the correct orientation this time. This immediately resolved all transmit and receive problems. I have pushed on to successfully build the KNB2, KBT2 and I'm now working on the KSB2. No further problems have been found. The K160RX, KAT2 and KIO2 will follow these. My replacement relays are on the way to me from Elecraft. I'm having fun again. I have downloaded Spectrogram and I'll use it for filter alignment as soon as I complete the KSB2 just to be thorough but I'm already happy with the way the K2 is working. I've also bookmarked your web page since I see lots of useful articles. This email list sure is a useful resource. 73, Murray VA1CQ -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Broke my K2 :(
Yep. I worked at an company where we had some boards with very high impedance circuitry (with the usual guard rings etc.). We tried many things trying to get wave soldering and aqueous flux to work, but no amount of rinsing washing got the surface conductivity down to where we needed it . We wound up using mildly active rosin based flux on those boards. The diluent in 70 and 91% isopropanol is water. 99.9% isopropanol will only be 99.9% when you first open the bottle. It starts aggressively absorbing water from the atmosphere as soon as exposed. Lou W7HV On Thursday, July 15, 2021, 4:06:54 AM MDT, Alan Bloom wrote: Don is exactly right about this. When I was at HP/Agilent, the company directive was generally not to try to clean the rosin with alcohol. (Rosin-core solder was used only in rework.) The rosin contains an acid to help with the soldering, but the acid is locked up inside the rosin where it does no harm. Once you dissolve the rosin with the alcohol it spreads out and can cause leakage paths between connections. Just leave the rosin there; it does no harm HP did clean production boards after going through the wave solder machine. But that used a water-soluble flux and the cleaning process was thorough enough to completely remove all traces of flux. That's basically not possible using alcohol and cotton swabs on rosin. Alan N1AL On 7/14/2021 5:20 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: > When I have cleaned boards with IPA or other cleaners, I apply the IPA > only in a small spot with a q-tip and then blot it with a paper towel > to help dry it - do not flood the board. > I generally do not recommend cleaning boards, solder flux is > non-conductive and will normally not cause a problem. > I only clean when the solder flux residue is really nasty as might > occur with Kester 44 solder. > Use of a solder with a mildly reactive flux (Kester 385) will reduce > the need for cleaning the board - there is almost no residue. > > If you do choose to clean the board, make sure your cleaning work is > complete. While solder flux is non-conductive, the flux plus the > cleaner may be conductive leading to resistive leakage paths. If you > can see any white stuff on the board, you have not done a complete job. > > 73, > Don W3FPR > > On 7/14/2021 6:41 PM, Peter Eijlander (PA0PJE) wrote: >> Yes Jerry, isopropyl alcohol does this! >> I once cleaned a working print of a GPS receiver with isopropyl >> alcohol and it stopped working. Letting it be and trying it again >> next day turned out it worked perfectly again. >> >> From then on I leave a PCB to rest after cleaning to have the IPA >> dry out completely... __ 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 louand...@yahoo.com __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Broke my K2 :(
You can radically mitigate the issue by using a secondary container for that which you'll use in a week or so, and only open the quart/gallon to dispense to working container. I have dry argon in my shack to purge gas space in any container that is hygroscopic or oxidizes in presence of atmosphere. I use 99.9 for cleaning all boards (flush after "scrub").Where allowed, I follow up with RODI water flush and forced air drying. Clay Autery KY5G > > On Jul 15, 2021 at 06:51, Louandzip via Elecraft > wrote: > > > 99.9% isopropanol will only be 99.9% when you first open the bottle. It > starts aggressively absorbing water from the atmosphere as soon as exposed. > > Lou W7HV __ 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
[Elecraft] Nabble down
Nabble has been unavailable (DNS error) to read the kist for a few days. Temporary glitch or is it gone forever? Barry W2UP __ 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
[Elecraft] Flaky mic jack on KX3
The mic jack on my KX3 is not making good contact with my MH3. I need to push the plug in an extra bit, then feel a small click, then PTT works. If I move the cable at all, it backs out past that click and the PTT switch doesn’t make the rig transmit. The same thing happens with other plugs. This is a fairly early model, serial number 29xx. Any ideas other than sending it in for repair? wunder K6WRU Walter Underwood CM87wj http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog) __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Flaky mic jack on KX3
You could try to replace the jack yourself. It's an uncommon size (TRRS), but Philmore #70-088 should work: https://shopintertex.com/philmore-70-088-chassis-mt-female-jack-3-5mm-4-conductor.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub-HBhCyARIsAPctr7y3_kdB6IO7H2ehsuk2J5Ogwgfu2jpcBB2wN-453t_tS2F43g2z7JoaAlkZEALw_wcB 73 Lyn, W0LEN -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Walter Underwood Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 5:51 PM To: Reflector Elecraft Subject: [Elecraft] Flaky mic jack on KX3 The mic jack on my KX3 is not making good contact with my MH3. I need to push the plug in an extra bit, then feel a small click, then PTT works. If I move the cable at all, it backs out past that click and the PTT switch doesn’t make the rig transmit. The same thing happens with other plugs. This is a fairly early model, serial number 29xx. Any ideas other than sending it in for repair? wunder K6WRU Walter Underwood CM87wj http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog) __ 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 l...@lnainc.com __ 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
[Elecraft] FS: KX3 with all the internal options and accesories
I am offering my KX3 for sale. It is in very nice condition and functions as new. All the available internal options are installed. It will ship with the full original cable set, the printed manuals, and the accessories listed below. The installed options are: KXAT3 20 watt ATU KX3-2M 2 meter module KXBC3 NiMh Internal Charger with Real Time Clock KCFL3 Dual Bandwidth Roofing Filter The accessories included are: KC3-PCKT Cable Set MH-3 Hand Mike XG50 Signal Source The entire package is $1400 shipped in the US. Payment via Paypal. __ 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