[Elecraft] Building Tip - Check J6,J7,J8

[John Smith]

Chris,

As it turned out, I didn't have to unsolder the connector and replace it.  I
did take a pin and poked it into each hole on J7 and found that there were a
few where it would just not go into.  I ended up pulling the plastic housing
off of the connector.  Re-aligned some pins and re-seated the plastic
housing back onto the connector.  I was then able to easily seat the control
board onto the RF board.  I also ohmed out all of the J7 connections from
the RF board to the control board.  Proceeded to the first alignment and
test and all is splended now.  Since these connectors are critical in the
assembly stage and are not something that is easily re-worked, I suggested
the insertion test.  Elecraft may want to take a look at the vendor they're
using for these critical connectors or do a quick insertion test during the
kitting process...

John


----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Brougham" <brougham@eciad.bc.ca>
To: "John Smith" <jlsmith5@qwest.net>
Cc: "Elecraft Mail list" <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Building Tip - Check J6,J7,J8


> Hello All,
>
> Yes I would like to second this (finished 3641 a couple of weeks ago).
> But there was no need to desolder.
>
> I determined that J7 was the culprit.
>
> I found that no matter how hard I pushed, the control board would not
> slide into the RF board even thought the alignment was perfect. First I
> tried taking a component lead and poking it in to some stiff sockets in
> J7. Not too much luck there. I then took the control board and, a couple
> pins at a time, slid one of the end pins (I think it was P3) into J7 a
> couple of pins at a time until I found the stiff socket. Gave it a
> little extra push when I got to the socket and it slid in. The control
> board then went on the RF board properly
>
> John Smith wrote:
>
> >I would like to throw this out as a building tip to new builders:  Test
the insertion on the J6, J7 and J8 connectors on the RF board prior to
soldering them in.
> >
> >
> <snip>
>
>
> Chris VA7CAB
>
>