New KX3 can no longer be powered on

[Richard Squire - HB9ANM]

My friend Peter HB9AAZ received his KX3 four days ago. It worked fine,
RX and TX without problems. Suddenly, pressing XMIT switched it off
completely and now it cannot be powered on again.
And yes, a dummy load was connected to it.

What could have happened? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

73

Richard -- HB9ANM

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[Elecraft mailing list]

It sounds like the radio is not getting any power. I would suspect the power supply and cables before suspecting a problem with the radio.  Have the easy things been eliminated as the problem?   Is the power supply good?  Has a fuse in the power supply been blown?  Is there voltage at the radio end of the power cable?

The problem is often with the coaxial power connector.  If the operator isn't using the cable supplied by Elecraft, it may not make reliable connection with the radio.  There are a lot of connectors on the market that are close to 2.1mm, but really don't work.  I found one that had all the right diameters, but was simply too short.

There was also a problem with early KX3's with the connectors pulling away from the PC board, but if his radio is new, that shouldn't be the problem. 

Mark, KE6BB 

  
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

There are 2 sizes of coaxial power connectors - 2.1mm center pin and
2.5mm center pin.
All Elecraft gear uses the 2.1mm size.  If you have used the power
connector supplied by Elecraft, then it should be correct.
OTOH, if you used a different power plug (perhaps salvaged from a
wall-wart), check the size of the center pin.  If you have some #12
solid wire you can do a quick test.  The #12 wire will fit into the
center of a 2.5mm plug, but will not fit into a 2.1mm plug.  (#14 wire
will fit snug in the 2.1mm plug).

I recommend using #16 wire from the power supply to the KX3, especially
if the length exceeds 4 feet.  While the #18 wire supplied by Elecraft
is quite adequate, #16 wire will have less voltage drop during periods
of higher current (Transmit conditions).

73,
Don W3FPR

On 12/27/2014 5:03 PM, Mark, KE6BB via Elecraft wrote:
> The problem is often with the coaxial power connector.  If the operator isn't using the cable supplied by Elecraft, it may not make reliable connection with the radio.  There are a lot of connectors on the market that are close to 2.1mm, but really don't work.  I found one that had all the right diameters, but was simply too short.
>
>

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[Bill Frantz]

I have managed to blow fuses in my battery power supply by
shorting the unconnected 2.1mm center female power plug. On some
of these connectors, the center female section protrudes out of
the end of the plug. This piece of the plug is easy to short to
ground. Elecraft recommends connecting the power plug to the KX3
before turning on the power supply, which is good advice. If
your power supply is always on, like my batteries, be really
careful about shorts and carry spare fuses.

There may be a blown fuse in your power supply.

73 Bill AE6JV

On 12/27/14 at 2:03 PM, [hidden email] (Mark,  KE6BB
via Elecraft) wrote:

>It sounds like the radio is not getting any power. I would
>suspect the power supply and cables before suspecting a problem
>with the radio.
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Switchcraft plugs do not have that problem, the center pin is slightly
recessed.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 12/27/2014 11:06 PM, Bill Frantz wrote:

> I have managed to blow fuses in my battery power supply by shorting
> the unconnected 2.1mm center female power plug. On some of these
> connectors, the center female section protrudes out of the end of the
> plug. This piece of the plug is easy to short to ground. Elecraft
> recommends connecting the power plug to the KX3 before turning on the
> power supply, which is good advice. If your power supply is always on,
> like my batteries, be really careful about shorts and carry spare fuses.
>
> There may be a blown fuse in your power supply.
>

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