Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???

[Wes]

Since buying a TS-890, my K3S is now a spare to it (although I doubt I'll ever 
need it) and my original K3, once a spare to the K3S (which I did need) is 
excess and I'm thinking of selling it.  But I'm wondering whether in today's 
climate, it might not bring more money as pieces than a whole.


Wes N7WS

On 6/22/2022 10:35 AM, David Gilbert wrote:


As I've said before, the advantage of a modular design is nonexistent if the 
modules don't exist.


Some people have suggested buying a complete spare rig for parts. I think 
that's ridiculous.  If I'm going to put out that much money for contingency 
purposes I'll buy a new rig from a company that didn't put me in that situation.


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Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???

[David Gilbert]

Well, if Elecraft were to release the parts/specs/boards/gerber files to 
a 3rd party they would relieve themselves of the repair burden they 
clearly don't want, and any jeopardy for repair quality would fall on 
the 3rd party.  More importantly from Elecraft's perspective, it would 
address the image problem they have of leaving customers stranded 
without a repair path.  When I needed my K3IO repaired, Elecraft refused 
to do it and told me I should just buy the USB version ... and of course 
they no longer even offer that. None of which has anything to do with 
component obsolescence, by the way.  The key parts listed on the 
schematics are all still readily available, but of course replacing them 
can be problematic due to their small size.


As I've said before, the advantage of a modular design is nonexistent if 
the modules don't exist.


Some people have suggested buying a complete spare rig for parts.  I 
think that's ridiculous.  If I'm going to put out that much money for 
contingency purposes I'll buy a new rig from a company that didn't put 
me in that situation.


I hope you indeed consider offering a replacement K3IO board.  I'd 
probably buy one as a spare.


73,
Dave   AB7E



On 6/22/2022 9:40 AM, Dr. William J. Schmidt wrote:

I actually designed and build a K3IO "ethernet" replacement KIO3 board...before the USB 
version was available.   I probably have the only "ethernet" K3 on earth.   I may revive 
that card and replace the ethernet stuff with USB parts so that I can fix some of these K3's laying 
around.  I think there is ZERO chance that Elecraft will release parts/ boards/ gerbers for these 
parts.  There is nothing in it for them to do so and may cause maintenance headaches for them.  
Some of us can pick up the slack though...


-Original Message-
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net  On 
Behalf Of David Gilbert
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2022 10:47 AM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???


I have also.  The K3IO module is pretty fragile, it seems.  Of all the requests 
I've seen here on the reflector over the years for a replacement item, the K3IO 
tops the list from my memory ... you can't just buy a replacement from Mouser 
or Digi-Key like you can the input diodes.  And when it goes bad, the K3 
becomes essentially useless for contesting.

I keep saying that Elecraft should pass on the PC board artwork and component 
specs (I assume that not all of them are standard devices) for key discontinued 
modules to someone who might be interested in offering replacement as a 3rd 
party.  It's one of my key gripes with Elecraft that they seem to have no 
interest in doing so.

Dave   AB7E
  


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Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???

[Dr. William J. Schmidt]

I actually designed and build a K3IO "ethernet" replacement KIO3 board...before 
the USB version was available.   I probably have the only "ethernet" K3 on 
earth.   I may revive that card and replace the ethernet stuff with USB parts 
so that I can fix some of these K3's laying around.  I think there is ZERO 
chance that Elecraft will release parts/ boards/ gerbers for these parts.  
There is nothing in it for them to do so and may cause maintenance headaches 
for them.  Some of us can pick up the slack though...


-Original Message-
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net  On 
Behalf Of David Gilbert
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2022 10:47 AM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???


I have also.  The K3IO module is pretty fragile, it seems.  Of all the requests 
I've seen here on the reflector over the years for a replacement item, the K3IO 
tops the list from my memory ... you can't just buy a replacement from Mouser 
or Digi-Key like you can the input diodes.  And when it goes bad, the K3 
becomes essentially useless for contesting.

I keep saying that Elecraft should pass on the PC board artwork and component 
specs (I assume that not all of them are standard devices) for key discontinued 
modules to someone who might be interested in offering replacement as a 3rd 
party.  It's one of my key gripes with Elecraft that they seem to have no 
interest in doing so.

Dave   AB7E
 

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Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???

[David Gilbert]

I have also.  The K3IO module is pretty fragile, it seems.  Of all the 
requests I've seen here on the reflector over the years for a 
replacement item, the K3IO tops the list from my memory ... you can't 
just buy a replacement from Mouser or Digi-Key like you can the input 
diodes.  And when it goes bad, the K3 becomes essentially useless for 
contesting.


I keep saying that Elecraft should pass on the PC board artwork and 
component specs (I assume that not all of them are standard devices) for 
key discontinued modules to someone who might be interested in offering 
replacement as a 3rd party.  It's one of my key gripes with Elecraft 
that they seem to have no interest in doing so.


Dave   AB7E


On 6/22/2022 5:13 AM, Robie Elms wrote:

I have K3IO failures as well.

Robie AJ4F

On Wed, Jun 22, 2022, 6:57 AM Dr. William J. Schmidt 
wrote:


My K3 failures always come in the form of either K3IOx failures (extremely
common) or the 10W module.  Everything else seems to hang together.

-Original Message-
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net 
On
Behalf Of Geert Jan de Groot
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:30 AM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [POSSIBLE SPAM] [Elecraft] Common K3 failure modes???

On 22/06/2022 02:50, elecraft-requ...@mailman.qth.net wrote:

With more K3 radios broken on the bench than working at my contest
station
(J68HZ)  and NO spare modules to work with,

I am actually wondering about that. One of the magazines I read, the German
Funkamateur magazine, has a story each month about a group doing some
DXpedition and nearly every month they report about equipment getting
broken
during such an event. As these things often use Elecraft, there are reports
of K3's failing.

But I wonder the failure mode because the stories don't report anything
about that. I know of a few failure modes:
- Diodes at input blown up because of extremely strong signals
near-frequency. Bandfilters may help, as does careful frequency planning
and
some antenna distance. (ages ago I used a FT747 which uses a light bulb as
protection - after a heavy radio weekend I had the lightbulb open and one
of
the input coils fused!)
- PA kickback causing the low-power amplifier transistors to fail - there
has been discussion on the list to add transzorb diodes
- Encoders for filter settings etc may fail - easy to replace
- volume knob was bumped on, causing potmeter broken - just replaced it
- Plastic knobs cracked - partially solved by Elecraft warranty, partly
solved by buying new ones myself ( with shipping and customs)
- Audio amplifier dying because of a short circuit at the output. There is
a
mod kit for that.

I wonder about other failure modes. How does a K3 die at a contest station,
or a DXpedition, and what can be done to prevent?
What are the failures on the broken radios you are reporting about?

73,

Geert Jan PE1HZG


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Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

The only hardware failure I've had over the long life of my K3 (SN 4275) 
was the driver MOSFET in the KEY OUT circuit.  No idea what happened, 
but the transistor exploded.  Got it repaired locally.


73, Pete N4ZR
Check out the new Reverse Beacon Network
web server at .
For spots, please use your favorite
"retail" DX cluster.


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Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???

[Robie Elms]

I have K3IO failures as well.

Robie AJ4F

On Wed, Jun 22, 2022, 6:57 AM Dr. William J. Schmidt 
wrote:

>
> My K3 failures always come in the form of either K3IOx failures (extremely
> common) or the 10W module.  Everything else seems to hang together.
>
> -Original Message-
> From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net 
> On
> Behalf Of Geert Jan de Groot
> Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:30 AM
> To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [POSSIBLE SPAM] [Elecraft] Common K3 failure modes???
>
> On 22/06/2022 02:50, elecraft-requ...@mailman.qth.net wrote:
> > With more K3 radios broken on the bench than working at my contest
> > station
> > (J68HZ)  and NO spare modules to work with,
>
> I am actually wondering about that. One of the magazines I read, the German
> Funkamateur magazine, has a story each month about a group doing some
> DXpedition and nearly every month they report about equipment getting
> broken
> during such an event. As these things often use Elecraft, there are reports
> of K3's failing.
>
> But I wonder the failure mode because the stories don't report anything
> about that. I know of a few failure modes:
> - Diodes at input blown up because of extremely strong signals
> near-frequency. Bandfilters may help, as does careful frequency planning
> and
> some antenna distance. (ages ago I used a FT747 which uses a light bulb as
> protection - after a heavy radio weekend I had the lightbulb open and one
> of
> the input coils fused!)
> - PA kickback causing the low-power amplifier transistors to fail - there
> has been discussion on the list to add transzorb diodes
> - Encoders for filter settings etc may fail - easy to replace
> - volume knob was bumped on, causing potmeter broken - just replaced it
> - Plastic knobs cracked - partially solved by Elecraft warranty, partly
> solved by buying new ones myself ( with shipping and customs)
> - Audio amplifier dying because of a short circuit at the output. There is
> a
> mod kit for that.
>
> I wonder about other failure modes. How does a K3 die at a contest station,
> or a DXpedition, and what can be done to prevent?
> What are the failures on the broken radios you are reporting about?
>
> 73,
>
> Geert Jan PE1HZG
>
>
> __
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Re: [Elecraft] [POSSIBLE SPAM] Common K3 failure modes???

[Dr. William J. Schmidt]

My K3 failures always come in the form of either K3IOx failures (extremely
common) or the 10W module.  Everything else seems to hang together.

-Original Message-
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net  On
Behalf Of Geert Jan de Groot
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2022 3:30 AM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [POSSIBLE SPAM] [Elecraft] Common K3 failure modes???

On 22/06/2022 02:50, elecraft-requ...@mailman.qth.net wrote:
> With more K3 radios broken on the bench than working at my contest 
> station
> (J68HZ)  and NO spare modules to work with,

I am actually wondering about that. One of the magazines I read, the German
Funkamateur magazine, has a story each month about a group doing some
DXpedition and nearly every month they report about equipment getting broken
during such an event. As these things often use Elecraft, there are reports
of K3's failing.

But I wonder the failure mode because the stories don't report anything
about that. I know of a few failure modes:
- Diodes at input blown up because of extremely strong signals
near-frequency. Bandfilters may help, as does careful frequency planning and
some antenna distance. (ages ago I used a FT747 which uses a light bulb as
protection - after a heavy radio weekend I had the lightbulb open and one of
the input coils fused!)
- PA kickback causing the low-power amplifier transistors to fail - there
has been discussion on the list to add transzorb diodes
- Encoders for filter settings etc may fail - easy to replace
- volume knob was bumped on, causing potmeter broken - just replaced it
- Plastic knobs cracked - partially solved by Elecraft warranty, partly
solved by buying new ones myself ( with shipping and customs)
- Audio amplifier dying because of a short circuit at the output. There is a
mod kit for that.

I wonder about other failure modes. How does a K3 die at a contest station,
or a DXpedition, and what can be done to prevent?
What are the failures on the broken radios you are reporting about?

73,

Geert Jan PE1HZG


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