K3 Cooling
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Hi Folks, Which way is the air flow supposed to be through the fans on the K3? Mine blows out, pulling air in from the slots in the top above the KPA3. (My K2 blows in.) The manual doesn't seem real clear on which way to install them in the K3. My K3 is nearing eight months old and doesn't seem to have a major cooling problem. But, I do some heavy RTTY contesting and I've occasionally seen the PA temp at over 60 degrees centigrade. I'm considering adding a fan on half inch stand offs from the bottom of the shelf above the radio to blow through the slots in the top of the K3. Will this disturb normal airflow around other components possibly causing them to overheat? In the past I installed an external fan on two off-shore radios and it seemed to improve cooling. I want to be sure I have the fans installed correctly and there would not be other problems before proceeding. Thanks everyone. CU in the Colorado QSO Party Sept 4th, 2010. 73, Jim, W0EM ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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They are exhaust fans, blowing air out. The manual states that the
fans must be oriented so that the manufacturer's label faces outward. This is correct, since the convention is that the air flows in the direction of the label on the fan. Bob NW8L On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 4:16 PM, Jim Harris <[hidden email]> wrote: > > Hi Folks, > > Which way is the air flow supposed to be through the fans on the K3? Mine blows out, pulling air in from the slots in the top above the KPA3. (My K2 blows in.) The manual doesn't seem real clear on which way to install them in the K3. > > My K3 is nearing eight months old and doesn't seem to have a major cooling problem. But, I do some heavy RTTY contesting and I've occasionally seen the PA temp at over 60 degrees centigrade. I'm considering adding a fan on half inch stand offs from the bottom of the shelf above the radio to blow through the slots in the top of the K3. Will this disturb normal airflow around other components possibly causing them to overheat? > > In the past I installed an external fan on two off-shore radios and it seemed to improve cooling. I want to be sure I have the fans installed correctly and there would not be other problems before proceeding. > > Thanks everyone. > > CU in the Colorado QSO Party Sept 4th, 2010. > > 73, Jim, W0EM > > > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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At 04:31 PM 04/04/10, you wrote: "They are exhaust fans, blowing air out".
Finally, something on/in the K3 that "sucks". John k7up ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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In reply to this post by Jim HaRRIS
Jim,
I too wonder what the "norm" is for continuous RTTY use with K3. I read somewhere on the Elecraft site about "higher volume fans" that either could be bought, or could have been considered in the design and have thought about emailing to check on those. I suppose we would pay for that with increased noise, but the peace of mind would be nice. I'm not a contester, but an avvid RTTY rag chewer (since 1972 or so) and will often ID several times during a transmission, hi. Your 60 degrees C gives me some indication, but hope someone will chime in with other thoughts about PA temp "norms" on RTTY. 73, Don, WB5HAK ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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In reply to this post by Jim HaRRIS
Jim,
Your KPA100 fan *should* exhaust air just like the K3. If yours moves air the other way, check to be certain the fan label is on the outside. 73, Don W3FPR Jim Harris wrote: > Hi Folks, > > Which way is the air flow supposed to be through the fans on the K3? Mine blows out, pulling air in from the slots in the top above the KPA3. (My K2 blows in.) The manual doesn't seem real clear on which way to install them in the K3. > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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In reply to this post by Jim HaRRIS
Hi Jim,
The K3 fans are exhaust fans and are intended to pull hot air out of the rig. A couple years ago (June 4, 2008 if I must be precise), Eric Swartz said this in response to someone asking if 40 - 42C was too warm: > We will let the heatsink get up to 85C before dropping the KPA3 off- > line, that still has plenty of safety margin for the transistors. > > 40-42C is actually on the cool side for heavy usage. But it never > hurts to keep it cool if you don't mind the added fan noise. His comment about the added fan noise was in reference to the original poster manually turning up the fan speed. I don't know if adding additional fans will help or hurt anything. My PA temp seems to plateau around 60 - 65C with high duty cycle digital modes with a shack temperature around 20C. I'm not too concerned about it, but I do keep an eye on it when running digital. 73 -- Joe KB8AP On Apr 4, 2010, at 3:16 PM, Jim Harris wrote: > > Hi Folks, > > Which way is the air flow supposed to be through the fans on the > K3? Mine blows out, pulling air in from the slots in the top above > the KPA3. ... > I do some heavy RTTY contesting and I've occasionally seen the PA > temp at over 60 degrees centigrade. I'm considering adding a fan on > half inch stand offs from the bottom of the shelf above the radio to > blow through the slots in the top of the K3. Will this disturb > normal airflow around other components possibly causing them to > overheat? > > ... > 73, Jim, W0EM > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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In reply to this post by Jim HaRRIS
Ken, The manual is NOT wrote to accommodate the industry accepted protocol for fans. Labels are not an accepted standard for direction of air flow. The industry standard is arrows embedded in the case of the fan indicating the direction of rotation and air movement. The manual doesn't tell me which way the air should flow. My K2 has the fan label on the outside but airflow is inward. Yes, it is assembled per the manual and verified at least twice. Perhaps I should have been more clear on my description of my conception of the instructions in the KPA3 assembly manual. CU in the Colorado QSO Party Sept 4th, 2010. 73, Jim, W0EM Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2010 17:55:54 -0500 From: [hidden email] To: [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Cooling On the contrary, the ASSEMBLY manual is very clear on how they should be installed. They should blow out . . . as stated in the manual: Assembling the Fan Panel Locate the fan panel and mount the fans as shown in Figures 12 and 13 using 4-40 7/8” black flat head screws and acorn nuts. Note that the appearance of the fans in your kit may differ slightly from those shown. 1. Orient the fans with the side with the manufacturer’s label facing away from the panel. 73, Kent K9ZTV SN 21 On 4/4/2010 5:16 PM, Jim Harris wrote: Hi Folks, Which way is the air flow supposed to be through the fans on the K3? Mine blows out, pulling air in from the slots in the top above the KPA3. (My K2 blows in.) The manual doesn't seem real clear on which way to install them in the K3. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4
Don, The label on the fan of my K2 is on the outside but it pushes air inward. Verified many times including fan wiring. CU in the Colorado QSO Party Sept 4th, 2010. 73, Jim, W0EM > Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2010 20:14:07 -0400 > From: [hidden email] > To: [hidden email] > CC: [hidden email] > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Cooling > > Jim, > > Your KPA100 fan *should* exhaust air just like the K3. If yours moves > air the other way, check to be certain the fan label is on the outside. > > 73, > Don W3FPR > > > Jim Harris wrote: > > Hi Folks, > > > > Which way is the air flow supposed to be through the fans on the K3? Mine blows out, pulling air in from the slots in the top above the KPA3. (My K2 blows in.) The manual doesn't seem real clear on which way to install them in the K3. > > > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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