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K2 Condensation?

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jferg977

K2 Condensation?

K2 Colleagues,
My boat-board (alas, 36 feet does not make a ship) K2/100 with KAT100
gives me info80 displays on chilly damp mornings. It will step through
the bands but it takes two taps to do it, one to change the band and
then another to get rid of info80 and get the frequency display.

I checked the archives but could find only a single note about this
problem and the gist of the comments were that that problem might have
been a construction anomaly. I have to assume that if this were an
endemic problem, it would have showed up at field day or with the guys
who camp out with these things.

Has anyone else expereinced this problem?

It's been suggested that I clean the interior of the radio-especially
around the IC pins and look for any stray flux, etc. and then spray the
entire interior with some sort of varnish made for this purpose. I
really don't want to do this, but am worried that I will ultimately
have to deal with corrosion problems if I don't do something. It has
even been suggested that the problem is in the IC sockets and that I
should replace them with gold-plated ones.

Any ideas?

John Ferguson KI4NGH M/V Arcadian now on the hard in Brick, NJ

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Don Wilhelm-3

RE: K2 Condensation?

John,

You are evidently storing the K2 in an 'extreme' environment and it may be
picking up condensation as you surmised in your subject line.

Yes, in your case, I would think you may be wise to clean off the flux
residue, but work with a Q-tip and work a small area at a time.

On replacing the sockets - a definite maybe; but use only machined pin
sockets if you do that. Try to get the tin-plated ones rather than the
gold-plated ones because the firmware IC pins are tin and not gold-plated.
In your salt-water environment, corrosion between the dissimilar metals can
easily occur (yes, even with gold). You can find discussion about the
corrosion at gold/tin junctions on the web if you look hard enough.

The advantage of machined pin sockets is that they provide an air-tight
connection and so minimize corrosion at the contact areas.

73,
Don W3FPR

> -----Original Message-----
>
> K2 Colleagues,
> My boat-board (alas, 36 feet does not make a ship) K2/100 with KAT100
> gives me info80 displays on chilly damp mornings. It will step through
> the bands but it takes two taps to do it, one to change the band and
> then another to get rid of info80 and get the frequency display.
>
> I checked the archives but could find only a single note about this
> problem and the gist of the comments were that that problem might have
> been a construction anomaly. I have to assume that if this were an
> endemic problem, it would have showed up at field day or with the guys
> who camp out with these things.
>
> Has anyone else expereinced this problem?
>
> It's been suggested that I clean the interior of the radio-especially
> around the IC pins and look for any stray flux, etc. and then spray the
> entire interior with some sort of varnish made for this purpose. I
> really don't want to do this, but am worried that I will ultimately
> have to deal with corrosion problems if I don't do something. It has
> even been suggested that the problem is in the IC sockets and that I
> should replace them with gold-plated ones.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> John Ferguson KI4NGH M/V Arcadian now on the hard in Brick, NJ
>
>

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jferg977

Re: K2 Condensation?

In reply to this post by jferg977

Dave,
This seems a good idea. I had forgotten that some experienced mariner
once wrote that he left all his electronics on all the time - in
stand-by mode where possible and that this had considerably lengthened
their lives. My current plan is to take the K2 apart and very closely
inspect all the surfaces and connections looking for discoloration and
perhaps flux which might be causing a bridge when wet.

Don Wilhelm ( thanks Don) concurred that replacing the supplied IC
sockets with ones having machined tinned terminals might help as well
as the flux removal. We'll see. In the meantime the Info80 message
goes off within about 20 seconds of firing up in the morning so it's
really only an annoyance,

73 John KI4NGH

-----Original Message-----
From: dave <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 11:18:13 -0500
Subject: Re: K2 Condensation?

John,

I'd think a simple fix would be to cover the rig with a thick towel
when not in use. You could leave it turned on and that should also
work, but keeping the moisture away from the rig should do the trick. A
thick towel should stop the air flow over the rig and reduce or
eliminate condensation.

73 de dave
ab9ca

[hidden email] wrote:
> K2 Colleagues,
> My boat-board (alas, 36 feet does not make a ship) K2/100 with KAT100
> gives me info80 displays on chilly damp mornings. It will step
through > the bands but it takes two taps to do it, one to change the
band and > then another to get rid of info80 and get the frequency
display.
> > I checked the archives but could find only a single note about this
> problem and the gist of the comments were that that problem might
have > been a construction anomaly. I have to assume that if this were
an > endemic problem, it would have showed up at field day or with the
guys > who camp out with these things.
> > Has anyone else expereinced this problem?
> > It's been suggested that I clean the interior of the
radio-especially > around the IC pins and look for any stray flux, etc.
and then spray the > entire interior with some sort of varnish made for
this purpose. I > really don't want to do this, but am worried that I
will ultimately have > to deal with corrosion problems if I don't do
something. It has even > been suggested that the problem is in the IC
sockets and that I should > replace them with gold-plated ones.
> > Any ideas?
> > John Ferguson KI4NGH M/V Arcadian now on the hard in Brick, NJ

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Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy-2

Re: Re: K2 Condensation?

John,

The type of IC socket supplied with the K2 can cause problems after a while
even in a house environment. A couple of years ago I had to change the
Control Board's MCU socket in my K2 to a turned pin / machined pin type
after the K2 shut down a couple of times. I have ALWAYS used the turned pin
/ machined pin type of socket in my homebrewed equipment, and should have
used them when building the K2.

I did not see Don's e-mail so I could well be repeating what he said. A
quick check on socket corrosion if it is not too bad is to pull the IC and
then put it back into its socket.

Good luck.

73, Geoff.
GM4ESD

----- Original Message -----
From: <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Cc: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 1:46 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Re: K2 Condensation?

Dave,
This seems a good idea. I had forgotten that some experienced mariner
once wrote that he left all his electronics on all the time - in
stand-by mode where possible and that this had considerably lengthened
their lives. My current plan is to take the K2 apart and very closely
inspect all the surfaces and connections looking for discoloration and
perhaps flux which might be causing a bridge when wet.

Don Wilhelm ( thanks Don) concurred that replacing the supplied IC
sockets with ones having machined tinned terminals might help as well
as the flux removal. We'll see. In the meantime the Info80 message
goes off within about 20 seconds of firing up in the morning so it's
really only an annoyance,

73 John KI4NGH

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Stewart Baker

Re: Re: K2 Condensation?

I swapped out all of the Elecraft IC sockets for turned pin ones when assembling
my K2/100. Having had socket problems in my 'day job' the last thing I wanted
was the same for my hobby.

This thread reminds me that I need to get some more for my up and coming
transverter build.

73
Stewart G3RXQ

On Wed, 5 Jul 2006 15:21:11 +0100, Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy wrote:

> John,
>
> The type of IC socket supplied with the K2 can cause problems after a while
> even in a house environment. A couple of years ago I had to change the
> Control Board's MCU socket in my K2 to a turned pin / machined pin type
> after the K2 shut down a couple of times. I have ALWAYS used the turned pin
> / machined pin type of socket in my homebrewed equipment, and should have
> used them when building the K2.
>
> I did not see Don's e-mail so I could well be repeating what he said. A
> quick check on socket corrosion if it is not too bad is to pull the IC and
> then put it back into its socket.
>
> Good luck.
>
> 73, Geoff.
> GM4ESD
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To:
> Cc:
> Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 1:46 PM
> Subject: [Elecraft] Re: K2 Condensation?
>
>
> Dave,
> This seems a good idea. I had forgotten that some experienced mariner
> once wrote that he left all his electronics on all the time - in
> stand-by mode where possible and that this had considerably lengthened
> their lives. My current plan is to take the K2 apart and very closely
> inspect all the surfaces and connections looking for discoloration and
> perhaps flux which might be causing a bridge when wet.
>
> Don Wilhelm ( thanks Don) concurred that replacing the supplied IC
> sockets with ones having machined tinned terminals might help as well
> as the flux removal. We'll see. In the meantime the Info80 message
> goes off within about 20 seconds of firing up in the morning so it's
> really only an annoyance,
>
> 73 John KI4NGH
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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