KX3 Battery Holder Melted

[Tighe Kuykendall]

I use the internal charger in my KX3 to keep some NiMH batteries
charged.  I take them out occasionally, but not very often as they see
very little use since I almost always use an external battery.  I'm
careful not to overcharge by running the charger for short periods and
keeping an eye on battery voltage.  I pulled them last night to run the
batteries on a more sophisticated charger to check each cell as I'm
heading out tomorrow for a week long camping trip.  No indication of
problems with any cell.

When I started to reinsert the cells this morning I noticed the spring
end of one cell slot had melted plastic in the spring and the spring is
pushed through the end of the holder almost touching the large cap on
the filter board.  I almost certainly have a bad cell, now to figure out
which one.

Learn from my mistake, pull the batteries regularly and check them along
with the holder if you're using the internal charger.

Now off to the rat shack (I still have one of the independent stores
here) to search for a suitable replacement.

Tighe
NK4I
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Tighe,

Check the plastic covering on the batteries carefully, you will likely
find one where the battery case metal is exposed.
Also check the screws mounting the battery holders - the screwheads
should not be able to contact the batteries, but I think you will find
that your screws project too far into the battery compartment.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 8/1/2015 8:41 AM, Tighe Kuykendall wrote:
>
> When I started to reinsert the cells this morning I noticed the spring
> end of one cell slot had melted plastic in the spring and the spring
> is pushed through the end of the holder almost touching the large cap
> on the filter board.  I almost certainly have a bad cell, now to
> figure out which one.
>

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[Cady, Fred]

Here is a tidbit that Elecraft Support shared with me:
 "We have seen some no-name batteries where the terminals have not been made to the IEC specification for the distance between the 2 poles of an AA battery.  The problem we have seen is that the springs used in the KX3 battery tray will not register well and will short out the positive/negative terminals.  Extended discharge of these batteries then cause the spring wire to heat up, which results in melted plastic on the tray and the spring's loss of tension.  Guidance here: Use only batteries from known vendors who will back up their product."

Cheers and 73,
Fred KE7X

Author of:
"The Elecraft K3: Design, Configuration and Operation 2nd ed"
"The Elecraft KX3 - Going for the summit"
"The Elecraft KPA500 and KAT500 - the K-Line Dream Station"
Printed, coil bound copies of these are all available at www.elecraft.com
KPA500 and KAT500 Quick Set Up Guide
http://www.ke7x.com/home/k-line-introduction-and-set-up-guide

KAT500 and KXPA500 Tuner Operation
http://www.ke7x.com/home/kat500-and-kxpa100-tuners

"The Elecraft KXPA100, PX3 and 2M/4M Transverters - Assembling the KX3-Line Station" available at www.lulu.com.

"The Elecraft K3S and P3"  and a 3rd Edition of the K3 book with K3S upgrade parts are works in progress.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
> Tighe Kuykendall
> Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2015 6:41 AM
> To: 'Elecraft Reflector'
> Subject: [Elecraft] KX3 Battery Holder Melted
>
> I use the internal charger in my KX3 to keep some NiMH batteries
> charged.  I take them out occasionally, but not very often as they see
> very little use since I almost always use an external battery.  I'm
> careful not to overcharge by running the charger for short periods and
> keeping an eye on battery voltage.  I pulled them last night to run the
> batteries on a more sophisticated charger to check each cell as I'm
> heading out tomorrow for a week long camping trip.  No indication of
> problems with any cell.
>
> When I started to reinsert the cells this morning I noticed the spring
> end of one cell slot had melted plastic in the spring and the spring is
> pushed through the end of the holder almost touching the large cap on
> the filter board.  I almost certainly have a bad cell, now to figure
> out which one.
>
> Learn from my mistake, pull the batteries regularly and check them
> along with the holder if you're using the internal charger.
>
> Now off to the rat shack (I still have one of the independent stores
> here) to search for a suitable replacement.
>
> Tighe
> NK4I
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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