[Elecraft] Re: Spare parts for K2

[Allen Ward]

I managed to blow a set of K2 finals.  One of the mounting screws rusted and
the rust shorted one collector to ground (high resistance) so one transistor
opened and the other was down to about 3 watts max.  I dredged back in
memory to a First Telephone License test (when they were still available) to
the rules for number of spare tubes required  for radio stations.  I don't
remember the exact numbers but one spare was required for 1-4 tubes, 2
spares for 5-8 tubes (some such numbers).  So I went through the K2
schematic and ordered 3 sets of finals, 2 drivers, and some of just about
everything ( from RF Parts, Mouser, Newark, Digi-key etc.).  After replacing
the finals I have yet to need a single spare (about 2 years).  There is some
moral here connected with Murphy's law or some corollary thereof.  I suppose
in time there won't be any through-hole parts available and if I am still
around I won't be able to see well enough or solder well enough to fix
anything anyway.
Don't worry, be happy.
Allen