Well Ron, I guess there's a first time for everything. Although the radio was deaf and dumb, I had display function and it looked as it normally does after turning on the power. There was just no receive nor output power.
I turned it off, pressed the 20 amp circuit breaker on the rear panel and sigs were coming through the headphones and I had full power. Today it's also operating perfectly. 73 Todd > On May 16, 2016, at 3:30 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire <[email protected]> wrote: > > Todd responded to me off the reflector that he lost all power to the K3 so it > wasn’t the 20A breaker. That only controls power to the KPA3. The front panel > is still powered and the receiver continues to work. > > I suggested it might be the self-resetting breaker inside the K3. That will > turn it off completely. Actually power will still be on the KPA3 module and > anything plugged into the 12V external power connector on the K3 rear panel, > but the K3 itself will look dead with no front panel lights, receive or other > functions until it cools and resets itself. > > I’ve never had an issue with either breaker opening unexpectedly. > > 73, Ron AC7AC > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 12:18 PM > To: Ron D'Eau Claire; 'todd ruby'; 'Elecraft Reflector Reflector' > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] circuit breaker > > I believe Todd is referring to the breaker on the K3, not his house panel > circuit? > Ron has some good advice, but I wonder how common this circuit breaker > operates? > > I looked thru my manual for more info on it. The block diagram shows it as a > 25A fuse, > text and device indicate 20A circuit breaker, but NO info on the type > operating curve, or current vs. time for minimum trip? > > I have a 10A circuit breaker on my 40Ahr battery supply and it has never > tripped. It is a thermal time delay like most house breakers. > > Anyone out there have any clue? Wayne? > > Mike AC5P > > > > On Monday, May 16, 2016 12:28 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire <[email protected]> wrote: > > > The normal underlying cause for the breaker to open is over-current. That's > a 20A breaker that protects only the KPA3 100 watt amplifier module. The > first thing I'd do is check the current drain from your power supply on the > band where you experienced the problem. First set the power to 10 watts so > the KPA3 is bypassed and note the total current drain key down. Now crank up > the power and see if the part used by the KPA3 is pushing 20A. For example, > if your total current at 10 W was 3A, does the total at 100 watts approach > 23A? IF so, the breaker was simply doing its job. Note that circuit breakers > are not precision devices so it may trip a couple of amperes one way or the > other from 20A. > > A primary reason for excessive KPA3 current is a high SWR on your antenna > system. The higher the SWR, the less efficient the KPA3 becomes and the more > current it has to draw to produce the power. > > A defective breaker can also start tripping at lower currents. > > 73, Ron AC7AC > > -----Original Message----- > From: Elecraft [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of todd > ruby > Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 9:08 AM > To: Elecraft Reflector Reflector > Subject: [Elecraft] circuit breaker > > Would anyone venture to guess what would cause the circuit breaker to trip > on a K3? Mine did all of a sudden yesterday. Fortunately, my friend > suggested the reset and voila, I am back on the air. But if there is an > underlying cause, I think it would be wise to be aware of it so as to > preclude this episode from repeating. Any thoughts are welcome. > > 73 > > todd > > WB2ZAB > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > Message delivered to [email protected] > ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to [email protected]
