I am puzzled by the reports of "condensation" accumulating inside a K2, in a marine environment?
At last count - we've had 13 boats, and built 3 of them. The boats with the least "corrosion" problems, are mostly 100% fiberglass, and 100% stainless steel. Some things to consider: a. DON'T CONSIDER SPRAYING ANYTHING INSIDE YOUR NICE K2! Once sprayed - its no turning back. b. Is your boat used in salt or brackish water? c. Electronics, or anything "metal" for that matter, in Hawaii - turn to rust and junk in a few years! d. You might have a "marine AC power, and grounding" problem - whereby, nearby boats are using your boat, and your hooked-up equipments - to gain access to the Marina's AC ground. This is a common problem in older or poorly maintained marinas. e. You might want to consider taking your K2 out of the boat, and home safe and sound, at the end of each boating day. f. At the very least (re: Grounding problems", unhook your K2 from AC or DC power and especially the boat's ground lines - when K2 is not in use. g. It could be that it is just that the K2 was not designed with a marine environment in mind. Icom gets big bucks for their SSB Marine Transceiver, probably for the extra work they had to build into their marine SSB transceivers. I can't imagine such a cold, damp and harsh environment a K2 must be in - to allow condensation to form inside case and circuit boards. Seems like the arctic wouldn't do this, perhaps the amazon would. h. If your boat has a "Grounding Plate" on hull, this really doesn't protect one's boat from LIGHTNING STRIKES, and often encourages the galvanic corrosion action caused by stray thru-water DC miliamp currents to come into your boat from other poorly grounded nearby marina boats, and thru leak (leach) thru your boat's ground connections or boat/electronics grounded metal connectors - eventually getting to the marinas AC ground contacts. Galvanic action results, and things get eaten up. IMHO - If it were me, I'd just truck my trusty friendly K2, to my homebase - after a day's boating. If I were considering an across the salty seas cruise - I might want to consider an Icom HF SSB Marine Transceiver. Thanks, Fred N3CSY .....13 boats at last count. 7/05 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
