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KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

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GW0LUA

KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

I’m having *HUGE* fun building the KX3 which I received yesterday.

BUT… I’m now scratching my head on page 20 of the assembly manual.

This page shows various views of the bottom cover and the need to remove the paint masks, as I’ve already done for the top cover. The small leftmost illustration (immediately above “Figure 25” on the page) indicates that there should be a small mask on the left end (as viewed in the illustration) corresponding to a much larger mask on the right end.

On my bottom cover, this isn’t there. I’ve removed all the other masks - inside and out - but there is no mask to remove in the indicated position. And because there’s no mask, there’s paint where there should be bare metal. On the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words, my bottom cover inside end looks like this:

http://www.gloddaeth.com/1.jpg

instead of looking like this:

http://www.gloddaeth.com/2.jpg

So my question is: does it matter, or do I need to start sanding this area. As far as I can tell, there’s only a battery holder in this position in the completed rig, but I’d like to know one way or the other.

Thanks,
Dave GW0LUA

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

Dave,

Look at that area very carefully using a light held at an oblique angle.
The masking tape may be there, but completely covered with paint.
If it is not there, scrape with a knife and then sand a little. That
paint is tough and it will take a while to sand through it. Sanding is
OK, but scraping with the blade of a knife is much easier and faster.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/30/2014 3:44 PM, Dave Jewell wrote:

> I’m having *HUGE* fun building the KX3 which I received yesterday.
>
> BUT… I’m now scratching my head on page 20 of the assembly manual.
>
> This page shows various views of the bottom cover and the need to remove the paint masks, as I’ve already done for the top cover. The small leftmost illustration (immediately above “Figure 25” on the page) indicates that there should be a small mask on the left end (as viewed in the illustration) corresponding to a much larger mask on the right end.
>
> On my bottom cover, this isn’t there. I’ve removed all the other masks - inside and out - but there is no mask to remove in the indicated position. And because there’s no mask, there’s paint where there should be bare metal.
>
> ______________________________________________________________
>

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Vic Rosenthal

Re: KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

I've found that the neatest way to do this is to use a motor tool (in
the US it's a 'Dremel tool') with a conical grinding cylinder.

On 4/30/2014 12:57 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:

> Dave,
>
> Look at that area very carefully using a light held at an oblique angle.
> The masking tape may be there, but completely covered with paint.
> If it is not there, scrape with a knife and then sand a little. That
> paint is tough and it will take a while to sand through it. Sanding is
> OK, but scraping with the blade of a knife is much easier and faster.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> On 4/30/2014 3:44 PM, Dave Jewell wrote:
>> I’m having *HUGE* fun building the KX3 which I received yesterday.
>>
>> BUT… I’m now scratching my head on page 20 of the assembly manual.
>>
>> This page shows various views of the bottom cover and the need to
>> remove the paint masks, as I’ve already done for the top cover. The
>> small leftmost illustration (immediately above “Figure 25” on the
>> page) indicates that there should be a small mask on the left end (as
>> viewed in the illustration) corresponding to a much larger mask on the
>> right end.
>>
>> On my bottom cover, this isn’t there. I’ve removed all the other
>> masks - inside and out - but there is no mask to remove in the
>> indicated position. And because there’s no mask, there’s paint where
>> there should be bare metal.

Elecraft mailing list

Re: KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

If I recall correctly when I built my K2 I had to sand off a spot.

I masked off the area with aluminum tape then used the small wire wheel brush on a Dremel tool

________________________________
From: Vic Rosenthal K2VCO <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 5:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

I've found that the neatest way to do this is to use a motor tool (in
the US it's a 'Dremel tool') with a conical grinding cylinder.

On 4/30/2014 12:57 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:

--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/

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GW0LUA

Re: KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

Thanks Don. Definitely no mask there - only metal + paint! :-) I’ve got poor distance vision, but I can focus down to about two inches from my face. (Good for building models!) Even if I couldn’t see the mask, I’d be able to feel it.

I agree that scraping with a knife (or a Dremel) is a lot quicker than sanding.

73,
Dave GW0LUA

On 30 Apr 2014, at 20:57, Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Dave,
>
> Look at that area very carefully using a light held at an oblique angle.
> The masking tape may be there, but completely covered with paint.
> If it is not there, scrape with a knife and then sand a little. That paint is tough and it will take a while to sand through it. Sanding is OK, but scraping with the blade of a knife is much easier and faster.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> On 4/30/2014 3:44 PM, Dave Jewell wrote:
>> I’m having *HUGE* fun building the KX3 which I received yesterday.
>>
>> BUT… I’m now scratching my head on page 20 of the assembly manual.
>>
>> This page shows various views of the bottom cover and the need to remove the paint masks, as I’ve already done for the top cover. The small leftmost illustration (immediately above “Figure 25” on the page) indicates that there should be a small mask on the left end (as viewed in the illustration) corresponding to a much larger mask on the right end.
>>
>> On my bottom cover, this isn’t there. I’ve removed all the other masks - inside and out - but there is no mask to remove in the indicated position. And because there’s no mask, there’s paint where there should be bare metal.
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>>
>

Jim Low man

Re: KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

In reply to this post by Vic Rosenthal

Well, since a painted surface doesn't make a good electrical connection,
I would assume that the removal is done for this reason.

The same is true of the W2 wattmeter kit.

Nor sure why Elecraft didn't specify to the fabricator that this area on
both kits should not be painted.

I bought a Dremel tool kit, only to discover that we had one already. :-)

73 de Jim - AD6CW

On 4/30/2014 2:26 PM, Vic Rosenthal K2VCO wrote:
> I've found that the neatest way to do this is to use a motor tool (in
> the US it's a 'Dremel tool') with a conical grinding cylinder.

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Phil Wheeler-2

Re: KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

My KX3 is about 2 months old and no such issues;
no scraping, filing nor dremeling required.
Probably a one-off issue, or a single batch.

Phil w7ox

On 4/30/14, 3:09 PM, Jim Lowman wrote:

> Well, since a painted surface doesn't make a
> good electrical connection, I would assume that
> the removal is done for this reason.
>
> The same is true of the W2 wattmeter kit.
>
> Nor sure why Elecraft didn't specify to the
> fabricator that this area on both kits should
> not be painted.
>
> I bought a Dremel tool kit, only to discover
> that we had one already. :-)
>
> 73 de Jim - AD6CW
>
> On 4/30/2014 2:26 PM, Vic Rosenthal K2VCO wrote:
>> I've found that the neatest way to do this is
>> to use a motor tool (in the US it's a 'Dremel
>> tool') with a conical grinding cylinder.
>

Jim Brown-10

Re: KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

On 4/30/2014 3:44 PM, Phil Wheeler wrote:
> My KX3 is about 2 months old and no such issues; no scraping, filing
> nor dremeling required. Probably a one-off issue, or a single batch.

There are several spots where it is critical that the chassis make
contact with either other half of the chassis or to the circuit board,
or to connectors mounted to the chassis. Of course we must remove mask
if it is there, but if the fabricator/painter goofed and forgot the tape
at a location, it IS important to sand or scrape away the paint.

73, Jim K9YC
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