To close the loop, I finally finished installing the encoders and reassembling my K3. It still works! And the encoder action is smooth.
I just did the SPEED/MIC and CMP/PWR encoders. Should I decide to attempt the other two, I'd probably get a better desoldering scheme than I have now. 73 Nick, WA5BDU On Wed, Aug 4, 2021 at 11:59 AM Nick Kennedy <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm in the process of replacing the four encoders to the left of the main > VFO knob and wonder if anyone has any advice or pep talks to offer. > > The encoders in my summer 2008 vintage K3 degraded to the point where they > often count backwards, making adjustment of CW speed or power out difficult. > > I've purchased four replacements from Elecraft and have been working up my > courage and taking deep breaths. Getting to the board is a fairly > complicated first phase. I had an Elecraft document on installation of an > audio LPF on the DSP board and found it to be very useful in this process. > Of course the original assembly manual is also useful. > > Now I've got the K3 apart to the point of allowing access. The upper two > encoders have terminals located beneath an LED mounting board and are > almost impossible to access from the top. I may stop after replacing the > lower two, assuming I'm successful with them. > > My usual method involves solder wick plus flux. Sometimes I find ChipQuik > to be very helpful in allowing me to remove a part without getting rid of > all the solder. In this case though, using ChipQuik would require heating > seven joints simultaneously which I haven't been able to do. > > There's also an issue with mounting the encoder at the correct height so > the shaft switch can be operated. So I'll try to match the height of the > new shaft end to that of the existing encoders. > > I found one website which is somewhat helpful discussing this task: > > > https://www.n5na.net/s9y/index.php?/archives/26-Replacing-Elecraft-K3-Push-Button-Encoders.html > > I'm keeping a lot of notes. Anyone planning to attempt this job is > welcome to them. > > 73 > > Nick, WA5BDU > > > ______________________________________________________________ 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]
