[Elecraft] RE: 20th century K2s (was RE: Time for a new Volume pot?)

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Jeff WK6I wrote:

hi Ron - ol' #525 has been getting pretty scratchy lately, and it has 
the AF Pot Mod. I guess they just get old and scratchy like the rest 
of us...;-)

I found my misplaced XG1 the other day and went around measuring rigs. 
#1250 was singing along at MDS=-136dBm, but #525 wasn't close (haven't 
used it since Field Day, I'm afraid). After a bit of poking around, I 
found a marginal solder joint had finally gone bad in the T-R switch 
(RFC2). Some new solder and good as #1250!

-------------------------------------------------------

Hi Jeff: 

Yes, the audio pots do get old. That's why I didn't suggest the mod as a
"fix". Bill's K2 pretty obviously has a worn-out pot, but it's a good
investment to do the mod while its apart to install a new pot.

It can be downright scary how long an unsoldered joint or a poorly soldered
joint will work just fine! They are "time bombs" waiting sometimes years
before showing up as an intermittent for other weird behavior.  

Ron AC7AC