Fw: DeoxIt and/or ProGold useage

[Ruchan Ozatay]

Second Sending!!
Any answer?
Ruchan - TA2AH


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ruchan Ozatay" <[hidden email]>
To: "Elecraft List" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 5:20 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] DeoxIt and/or ProGold useage


Hi,

I would like to know if it is really necessary to use DeoxIt or ProGold
product during the K3 (or any Elecraft products) assembling procedure or
not?

Any answer from Elecraft crew would be apreciated.

73, Ruchan (TA2AH)
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15:47


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[Julian, G4ILO]

On Nov 19, 2007 7:49 PM, Ruchan Ozatay <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Second Sending!!
> Any answer?
> Ruchan - TA2AH
>
> I would like to know if it is really necessary to use DeoxIt or ProGold
> product during the K3 (or any Elecraft products) assembling procedure or
> not?
>
> Any answer from Elecraft crew would be apreciated.
>

I am not Elecraft Crew, but I have never used it when assembling any
previous Elecraft product, nor do I intend using it when assembling my
K3. I don't even know what it is, or whether it is something
obtainable in the UK, but If it was essential, I am sure Elecraft
would include it in the kit.
--
Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
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[Ken Wagner K3IU]

It seems to me that if it were indeed "really necessary" to use any of
these products during the assembly of the K3 (or other Elecraft
Products) then this requirement would have been stated in the specs and
included in the assembly instructions. Since it isn't, then it is
apparent to me that it is NOT "really necessary."

I am obviously not speaking for the company... just me :-)

73, Ken K3IU

Ruchan Ozatay wrote:

> Second Sending!!
> Any answer?
> Ruchan - TA2AH
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ruchan Ozatay"
> <[hidden email]>
> To: "Elecraft List" <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 5:20 PM
> Subject: [Elecraft] DeoxIt and/or ProGold useage
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I would like to know if it is really necessary to use DeoxIt or
> ProGold product during the K3 (or any Elecraft products) assembling
> procedure or not?
>
> Any answer from Elecraft crew would be apreciated.
>
> 73, Ruchan (TA2AH)
>

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[AC7AC]

CONTENTS DELETED

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[Paul-285]

>Second Sending!!
>Any answer?
>Ruchan - TA2AH
>
>Hi,
>
>I would like to know if it is really necessary to use DeoxIt or
>ProGold product during the K3 (or any Elecraft products) assembling
>procedure or not?
>
>Any answer from Elecraft crew would be apreciated.
>
>73, Ruchan (TA2AH)

I use Deoxit or ProGold (now called DeoxitGold) on all electrical
connections (including Schurr Profi II contacts) and am going to
assemble my K3 with ProGold applied to all electrical
connections.  To me, it's a no-brainer.




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[Mike B-12]

Since I was one of those who brought up the DeoxIT / ProGold usage, I'd like to
post the following report I received from another list member.  I hope he
doesn't mind, as he'll remain nameless, and I've removed a thing or two from the
report which might identify his major aerospace company.  I found the report
rather illuminating.

To save you from Googling, I believe "cots CCA" to simply be "commercial
off-the-shelf circuit card assembly," i.e not a custom designed card for the
application.  "VME/VXI buss" refers to (I think) a series of common-sized cards,
or boards, used in a variety of equipment.

"Investigation into the MCG lockup condition identified the cause to be a high
contact resistance from fretting corrosion.  The corrosion is a result of the
flash (~4 micro inches) gold plating on the DIN connectors not being greater
than 30 micro inches.  Regardless on the cots DIN connectors, Fretting corrosion
is corrosion that can occur on the load bearing contact surface between mating
material when gold plating has been worn through.  One of the contact failure
modes of electrical contacts is fretting corrosion.  The corrosion results in
unacceptable increases of contact resistance in mated connectors.  Fretting
corrosion occurs in separable contacts, when the contacting surfaces are
submitted to small amplitude movement (micro-motion) relative to each other.
This can be caused by vibration, shock, or thermal expansion.  One of the
symptoms for fretting can be identified where reseating of CCA’s in the system
results in clearing the failure mode.  Examination of the connector mating
surface under a scope will reveal a black residue (non-conductive oxide) on the
contacts.

<snip picture of gold pins with black residue>

This corrosion results in a high resistance contact area thus causing a failure
in the system.  The reseating of the CCA’s results in a scrubbing action that
removes a layer of the oxide where contact is made and the process starts again.

  One method used to inhibiting fretting corrosion is the use of lubricants.
This was recommended by our components engineer <snip>.  The lubricant reduces
friction, wear, and to some extent shields the surface from the air. The oxide
formation can be decreased by limiting available oxy­gen.  The lubricant/cleaner
we chose is from Miller-Stephensen, part number MS-383H with UV indicator.  The
UV indicator aids in the inspection process to insure coverage of the contacts.
 We also had our M&P lab review the lubricant and agreed this was a good choice.

The lubricant was added after cleaning of the connectors with alcohol as
recommended by the lubricant supplier, since these were connectors that already
exhibited the corrosion.  After cleaning the lubricant was added to the
connector pin side and mated to the VXI/VME interconnect chassis.

Conclusion is all ground programs utilizing DIN connectors, VME/VXI buss, or
cots CCA’s in these chassis should use the connector lubricant to reduce the
risk of intermittent failures from fretting corrosion.  Connector design
guidelines are found on the components engineering webpage.  The lubricant is
not recommended for airborne applications.  Airborne applications need to
specify the minimum gold thickness allowed per the components engineering
webpage guidelines."

73,

Mike
KW1ND

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[Don Wilhelm-4]

I did not really want to get into this discussion, but I now feel moved
to make a few observations.

First, I don't believe the use of DeoxIT /ProGold will hurt anything
*if* used properly.  I would not use DeoxIT on gold connectors or the
ProGold on tin connectors - the effects are different.

Secondly, I observe that the copied report is dealing only with thin
gold flashed connectors, specifically DIN connectors, and then only
after the gold flash has been worn off.  I would not expect similar
conditions to occur in a K3 (or K2) where the connectors are more or
less permanent.  Yes, the temperature cycling may cause some wear, but
most K3s will not be subjected to temperature extremes nor frequent
cycles.  The report did not state where these connectors were used, and
I can only imagine a rather severe environment such as that which field
equipment may encounter.  I can understand that vibration and
heavy-handed use may create problems.  The omitted data and information
about the conditions may be as important as the report itself in
determining the severity of concern.

I have had considerable experience with the K2 and with much IBM
equipment, including both mainframes and PCs plus a lot of their
terminal equipment, and have never encountered (nor heard of) a problem
that could be attributed to fretting of the contact surfaces (and I
worked in an assurance/testing group that focused on just such
reliability issues).

In conclusion, I really don't think it is necessary, but neither do I
think it will do any harm if properly applied - just remember, a little
bit goes a long way.

73,
Don W3FPR

Mike B wrote:
> Since I was one of those who brought up the DeoxIT / ProGold usage, I'd like to
> post the following report I received from another list member.  I hope he
> doesn't mind, as he'll remain nameless, and I've removed a thing or two from the
> report which might identify his major aerospace company.  I found the report
> rather illuminating.
>
>  
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[Mike B-12]

I should have stated that, other than names and two pictures, that was the
entirety of the report I received.

Also, as Don pointed out, there's undoubtedly a lot more to the story than the
short summary report I was forwarded, so it's still left up to the individual
user to decide for themselves.

I still haven't decided if I'll use it or not.  If I had some on hand already,
that would probably sway my decision.

73

Mike
KW1ND
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