K2 headphone jack

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K2 headphone jack

Scott McDowell-3
Hi

The headphone jack on my K2 has turned belly up, which I underestand
is quite common.
Does anyone know of an easy way to change it out without damaging the
RF board.
I've been thinking about trying to cut it into small bits with wire cutters
so that maybe I take the pins out of the rf board one at a time.
Has anyone ever tried this?
Any information will be appreciated.
73
Scott N5SM


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RE: K2 headphone jack

Dick Dievendorff
Could you use the same technique you'd use to remove a bad IC?  I have a
Hakko desoldering tool which really works well at removing the solder.  Or
wick it out carefully, with a goal of just lifting the part off the board?

73 de Dick, K6KR

>Does anyone know of an easy way to change it out without damaging the RF
board.
>I've been thinking about trying to cut it into small bits with wire cutters
so that maybe I take the pins out of the rf board one at a time.
>Has anyone ever tried this?

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Re: K2 headphone jack

Leigh L. Klotz Jr WA5ZNU
Administrator
In reply to this post by Scott McDowell-3
Yes that is the method I used.
I have replaced mine thrice:
1. Used snippers to cut the plastic apart.
2. Cut metal vertically if necessary until I can deal with one pin at a
time.
3. Used a solder sucker, the vacuum cylinder kind that looks like a
syringe.   If you have never used one, you will think that they must be
made by Ronco or Popeil and sold on late-night TV and could not possibly
work.  But they do work magic.
4. If the new jack's pins won't fit in, solder the hole closed and
repeat step 3, then use a wire or a steel pin (solder won't stick) to
clean it out.
5. Be sure it's level!

If you use this approach, the heating time on that tiny area of the
board will be minimized and you will reduce risk to the board.

While some say the jack fails due to downward pressure and others say it
fails due to repetitn, lately some think that the switch in the jack is
damaged by excessive heat during soldering, so I tried to solder it as
quickly as I could this last time, and also I installed a fixed-level
audio out board for digital modes, so that I wasn't tempted to plug in
the headphone jack when I didn't really need to.

73 es GL,
Leigh/WA5ZNU

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 9:38 am, Scott McDowell wrote:
> The headphone jack
> ...
Does anyone know of an easy way to change it out without damaging the

Scott N5SM write:
> RF board.
> I've been thinking about trying to cut it into small bits with wire
> cutters so that maybe I take the pins out of the rf board one at a time.
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Re: K2 headphone jack

drewko
On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:05:29 -0700, Leigh/WA5ZNU wrote:

>
>While some say the jack fails due to downward pressure and others say it
>fails due to repetitn, lately some think that the switch in the jack is
>damaged by excessive heat during soldering, so I tried to solder it as
>quickly as I could this last time, and also I installed a fixed-level
>audio out board for digital modes, so that I wasn't tempted to plug in
>the headphone jack when I didn't really need to.
>

There is a contact that slides across the three rear pins of the jack.
If soldering is the problem, it is those three pins to watch out for.
This contact is definitely the weak point of the switch.

See my earlier post to this forum ("Lost speaker audio in K2")
regarding installation of a headphone/speaker switch; then you can
leave the headphones plugged in all the time and just use the switch.
In any case, the switch is a lot more convenient. (Seems like I was
forever hitting the NB button when trying to get the plug out...)

If you want to add a switch the time to do it is while replacing the
jack becuase you have to bend one of the jack pins out of the way
before installing it.

Here are comments I sent to someone who asked me about it:

> The switch I used was p/n: 8011 from Web-tronics. It is a DPDT
> (on-x-on) miniature size. I bought it along with their budget
> soldering station-- a nice unit.
>
> http://www.web-tronics.com/index.html
>
> I'm sure you can find similiar switches at Mouser:
>
> The mini-size switch mounts securely with the supplied hardware in the
> rig's Transverter hole, below the speaker jack. I figured that if I
> ever get a transverter I'll worry about moving it then. If you're
> going to drill your own hole for the switch you might consider getting
> a sub-mini switch. As it is, mine doesn't interfere with my K2 options
> (antenna tuner & noise blanker).
>
> One pole of the switch is wired to the ground pin (center, forward) of
> the jack (bent flat, as mentioned), and to its mating pad on the
> circuit trace.
>
> The other pole (and opposite throw) is wired across two of the three
> rear pins on the jack body-- I can't remember which two at the moment.
> Actually, it is not wired directly to the pins but tack soldered to
> their circuit pads.
>
> I used a round 4-cond cable, routed as mentioned. But you might want
> to try flat ribbon cable instead. Maybe that will be able to sqeeze
> past the board to the rear compartment; you better check first to make
> sure there is enough clearance.
>
> Now, I think all of that is correct, but If any questions, please ask.


As for which of the three rear jack pins are wired to one of the
switch poles (mentioned above): With the jack flat on the table, hole
facing you, pins pointing up, it's the rear-right pair of pins.

73,
Drew
AF2Z

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Re: K2 headphone jack

JT Croteau
I think there is confusion to what the problem part is.

The headphone jack seems like a proven part.  However, from what I
have gathered in reading the archives, the external speaker jack is
the jack that has the most failures.  I know mine on 6233 has been
crap since day one.

--
JT Croteau, N1ESE - Manchester, NH
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Re: K2 headphone jack

drewko
On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:59:36 -0400,  JT Croteau, N1ESE wrote:

>I think there is confusion to what the problem part is.
>
>The headphone jack seems like a proven part.  However, from what I
>have gathered in reading the archives, the external speaker jack is
>the jack that has the most failures.  I know mine on 6233 has been
>crap since day one.

I don't use the external speaker jack so can't say what, if any,
problems it has. (But I think I'm going to put my fixed-audio output
jack in its place.) It was my headphone jack which died, and fairly
quickly, killing the speaker output.

The weak point of the headphone jack is a fragile sliding contact
which is wired in series with the speaker; so if it fails speaker
output is affected.

73,
Drew
AF2Z

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Re: K2 headphone jack

Igor Sokolov-2
My headphone jack failed after 2 weeks of use. It faled the way Drew
describes in his message below.
I know of at least 3 more K2 owners here in Russia who had the same problem.

73, Igor UA9CDC


: >I think there is confusion to what the problem part is.
: >
: >The headphone jack seems like a proven part.  However, from what I
: >have gathered in reading the archives, the external speaker jack is
: >the jack that has the most failures.  I know mine on 6233 has been
: >crap since day one.
:
: I don't use the external speaker jack so can't say what, if any,
: problems it has. (But I think I'm going to put my fixed-audio output
: jack in its place.) It was my headphone jack which died, and fairly
: quickly, killing the speaker output.
:
: The weak point of the headphone jack is a fragile sliding contact
: which is wired in series with the speaker; so if it fails speaker
: output is affected.
:
: 73,
: Drew
: AF2Z

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RE: K2 headphone jack

aa7jc
Mine has failed *twice* now (requiring a replacement jack both times).
I am kind of fearful to plug anything into it anymore.  
For me, at this point, it is almost predictable that it *will* fail (YMMV).

Ken Lotts
aa7jc

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Igor Sokolov
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 10:17 AM
To: [hidden email]; [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 headphone jack

My headphone jack failed after 2 weeks of use. It faled the way Drew
describes in his message below.
I know of at least 3 more K2 owners here in Russia who had the same problem.

73, Igor UA9CDC


: >I think there is confusion to what the problem part is.
: >
: >The headphone jack seems like a proven part.  However, from what I
: >have gathered in reading the archives, the external speaker jack is
: >the jack that has the most failures.  I know mine on 6233 has been
: >crap since day one.
:
: I don't use the external speaker jack so can't say what, if any,
: problems it has. (But I think I'm going to put my fixed-audio output
: jack in its place.) It was my headphone jack which died, and fairly
: quickly, killing the speaker output.
:
: The weak point of the headphone jack is a fragile sliding contact
: which is wired in series with the speaker; so if it fails speaker
: output is affected.
:
: 73,
: Drew
: AF2Z

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Re: K2 headphone jack

Vic K2VCO
ken wrote:
> Mine has failed *twice* now (requiring a replacement jack both times).
> I am kind of fearful to plug anything into it anymore.  
> For me, at this point, it is almost predictable that it *will* fail (YMMV).

It's funny. I have K2 s/n 709 which was built in the first year that the
K2 was released, and I do a reasonable amount of plugging and unplugging
of both the phones and external speaker jack, and have had no problems.

I think that getting components like this of reasonable quality is
becoming more difficult, as consumer electronic devices today seem to be
designed to fail quickly so that you will buy new ones.

I'm not talking about the K2, just the fact that there may not be a big
market for high-quality components out there. I know that Elecraft tries
to buy the best!
--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco
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