I had a look inside my K3 today. Although it is an early one, S/N 307 it has a new RF board with gold pins.However, these mate with the KPA103 Interface Module which has sockets that are tinned.
I thought that there was a danger that over a period of time the tin would migrate onto the gold surface and cause oxide issues. Shouldn't it be gold to gold, and tin to tin ? 73 Stewart G3RXQ On Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:41:16 -0500, nr4c wrote: > That's odd, as yours is newer than mine, and I'm pretty sure mine has > gold plated pins on all connectors. And, my K3 was delivered Aug3, > 2010. Well after the 2009 date. > > ...bill nr4c > > > On Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:37:36 -0200, Adriano Perazio wrote: >> Mine is s/n 4795 and showed this problem last week. After turn off it >> disapeared. So must be it. >> >> PY2ADR >> >> -----Mensagem Original----- >> From: Jack Berry >> Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 2:20 PM >> To: Wayne Burdick ; Elecraft Reflector >> Cc: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Older K3/100s can be updated to avoid >> possible >> "ERR12V" problem >> >> Wayne, >> Define "older K3" please. Can you let us know when you started >> shipping K3's >> with gold contacts; date or S/N? >> >> Thanks! >> Jack - WE5ST >> >> >> ________________________________ >> From: Wayne Burdick <[email protected]> >> To: Elecraft Reflector <[email protected]> >> Cc: [email protected] >> Sent: Tue, February 14, 2012 9:53:28 AM >> Subject: [Elecraft] Older K3/100s can be updated to avoid possible >> "ERR 12V" >> problem >> >> Early K3s had tin plating on the connectors that supply 12 V DC to >> the >> KPAIO3 and KPA3 modules. We discovered that in some climates the tin >> plating can eventually corrode, reducing voltage to the PA module, >> especially when operated at high duty cycle. This can result in an >> "ERR 12V" warning ("check circuit breaker") and the amplifier going >> into bypass mode. Power output drops to 12 watts max in this case. In >> some cases the power is temporarily restored after turning the K3 off >> and back on. >> >> The cure is to replace the tin-plated contacts with new ones which >> have gold plating. It's fairly easy to replace just the pins >> involved. >> I believe we've been shipping the gold-plated connectors since >> sometime in 2009. >> >> If you have an older K3/100 and you're planning to use their K3 in >> high humidity or salt air, or if you've seen the warning message, you >> should replace these connectors. They will be supplied free of charge >> on request (email "parts at elecraft dot com"). >> >> If you further questions on this topic, please email k3support. >> >> 73, >> Wayne >> N6KR > >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[email protected] >> >> 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:[email protected] >> >> 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:[email protected] >> >> 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:[email protected] > > 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:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
