[Elecraft] K3 Noisy fans?

[Joe Planisky]

Charlie,

Yes, I have battled the fan noise, too.  I got replacement fans which  
seemed a little quieter, but I still had no doubt when they were  
running.  I noticed that if I removed the fan panel from the rig and  
held it in my hand while the fans were running, they were very quiet.   
So I went to the local hardware store and found some neoprene (rubber)  
washers about 1/16 inch thick.  I placed them on the bolts between the  
fans and the mounting plate.  That has helped to quiet them down quite  
a bit.  I still know when they're running, but it's tolerable.

I've also found that where I place the K3 on my desk makes a  
difference in how loud the fans sound.  My desk is in a corner of the  
room and if I place the K3 so the back is pointing into the corner,  
the walls reflect any sound right back toward me and the fans are  
louder.  If I place it on a table in the middle of the room, I don't  
notice the noise nearly as much.

73
--
Joe KB8AP


On Dec 8, 2008, at 9:31 PM, Missouri Guy wrote:

> I was trying to ferret out some weak signals on 160m when
> the cooling fans switched on, making it very hard
> to hear over the "whine" of the fans (or fan) even through
> the padding on my headphones.
>
> Has anyone tried to quiet them down with vibration
> isolators, etc?
>
> Charlie, N0TT