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
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