Any thoughts about rig LONGEVITY???
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Any thoughts about rig LONGEVITY???
 
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Gentlemen,
This I'm sure has been thought about by many individuals for many years especially myself. Do you think that by cycling a rig (turning it off and on) for years has anything to do with it's LIFE, especially since with that process the internal components would be subject to current surges, maybe eventually breaking them down? Especially with the IC/micro-processors we all have in our more modern rigs now! Or do others out here just leave their rigs on 24/7 with my initial thought in mind??? WHADDAH YA THINK??? Regards to ALL & a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! Jim/nn6ee _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
Re: Any thoughts about rig LONGEVITY???
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Jim:
I keep my K2 on 24/7 in the hope that it will extend its life. 73, Steve Kercel AA4AK JIM DAVIS wrote: > Gentlemen, > > This I'm sure has been thought about by many individuals for many > years especially myself. > > Do you think that by cycling a rig (turning it off and on) for years > has anything to do with it's > LIFE, especially since with that process the internal components would > be subject to current surges, > maybe eventually breaking them down? Especially with the > IC/micro-processors we all have in our more modern rigs now! > > Or do others out here just leave their rigs on 24/7 with my initial > thought in mind??? > > WHADDAH YA THINK??? > > Regards to ALL & a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! > > Jim/nn6ee > > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > 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 > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
Re: Any thoughts about rig LONGEVITY???
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In reply to this post by JIM DAVIS-11
Jim,
The K3 (K2 and many other transceivers) use an external power supply, so the answer depends a lot on the behavior of your power supply. If it produces momentary overvoltages or spikes when it is turned on, that will shorten the life of any devices that connect to the 12 volt input rail. OTOH, most of the devices in the K2 and K3 are 'behind' internal regulators and those regulators (along with the capacitors at the regulator output) produce a 'soft-start' effect. Assuming a well regulated 12 volt power source with no overvoltages or spikes at power on, you will likely not notice any difference in the life of the components. Certainly components do have a lifetime - and that is expressed in MTBF - mean time between failures. For most individual components, that time is expressed in hours of power on time - but the lifetime is typically in the range greater than 100,000 hours (11 1/2 years). Those components that fail in a short period of time (usually less than 3 months) are not counted in the MTBF figure and are termed early life failures. Devices that have operated beyond the early life failure point can be expected to enjoy a long lifetime unless they are subjected to abuse (voltage surges are abuse). The bottom line as I see it is that it will make little practical difference. If one is operating with a 'ratty' power supply, it is going to reduce the lifetime of the components no matter what. When I was working with large computer systems, very careful attention was paid to power system designs and one of the reasons was to protect some very expensive and sensitive computer system components. If you wish to prolong the life of a radio, make certain you have good overvoltage protection on the power supply and disconnect and ground the antennas (preferably outside) when not in use. Lightning surges damage more transceivers than any other single form of abuse. And a Happy New Year to you and all the other reflector folks. 73, Don W3FPR JIM DAVIS wrote: > Gentlemen, > > This I'm sure has been thought about by many individuals for many > years especially myself. > > Do you think that by cycling a rig (turning it off and on) for years > has anything to do with it's > LIFE, especially since with that process the internal components would > be subject to current surges, > maybe eventually breaking them down? Especially with the > IC/micro-processors we all have in our more modern rigs now! > > Or do others out here just leave their rigs on 24/7 with my initial > thought in mind??? > > WHADDAH YA THINK??? > > Regards to ALL & a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! > > Jim/nn6ee > Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
Re: Any thoughts about rig LONGEVITY???
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In reply to this post by JIM DAVIS-11
We used to wear out rigs by wearing out the tuning gears on the tuning capacitor. Lately, it by display readouts going obsolete and the rice box manufacturers not offering a replacement part. It will probably be the push buttons or the display on the K3 if Elecraft does not continue to stock them. I doubt if turning the rig on and off will be a deciding factor.
Willis 'Cookie' Cooke K5EWJ --- On Tue, 12/30/08, JIM DAVIS <[hidden email]> wrote: > From: JIM DAVIS <[hidden email]> > Subject: [Elecraft] Any thoughts about rig LONGEVITY??? > To: [hidden email] > Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 12:17 PM > Gentlemen, > > This I'm sure has been thought about by many > individuals for many years especially myself. > > Do you think that by cycling a rig (turning it off and on) > for years has anything to do with it's > LIFE, especially since with that process the internal > components would be subject to current > surges, > maybe eventually breaking them down? Especially with the > IC/micro-processors we all have in our > more modern rigs now! > > Or do others out here just leave their rigs on 24/7 with my > initial thought in mind??? > > WHADDAH YA THINK??? > > Regards to ALL & a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! > > Jim/nn6ee > > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > 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 Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
Re: Any thoughts about rig LONGEVITY???
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In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4
Don Wilhelm wrote:
> > Certainly components do have a lifetime - and that is expressed in MTBF > - mean time between failures. For most individual components, that time MTBF is not a measure of lifetime, and ALL components have MTBF's. In human terms, MTBF is the non-accidental death rate amongst 25 year olds, which does not predict that hardly anyone reaches 110. > is expressed in hours of power on time - but the lifetime is typically > in the range greater than 100,000 hours (11 1/2 years). Those If there are more than a couple of components, other than deliberate consumables, that have an MTBF this low, the design has a serious reliability problem. E.g. if you have 500 components with MTBFs of 100,000 years, you can expect a failure approximately every 200 hours. > components that fail in a short period of time (usually less than 3 > months) are not counted in the MTBF figure and are termed early life > failures. Devices that have operated beyond the early life failure The failure rate curve that you are referring to is known as the bath tub curve, because it rises at both the left and right sides. The side you are referring to is the infant mortality phase, which is often covered by warrantees, or by factory burn in. However there is also an old age phase. In particular, this causes confusion with hard disk drives, as the system MTBF implies a useful life comparable with human lifetimes, but old age failure actually sets in at around five years. -- David Woolley "The Elecraft list is a forum for the discussion of topics related to Elecraft products and more general topics related ham radio" List Guidelines <http://www.elecraft.com/elecraft_list_guidelines.htm> _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
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