[Elecraft] [K2] BAND+ push button failure...

[Steve Kallal]

Don,

I just spent most of the afternoon going over every trace that is part 
of the connection between the Front Panel, RF, & Control boards looking 
for solder bridges and frayed wires. Remember this started as a volume 
control mod requiring cuts and jumpers on all the above boards.

That said, I noticed the BAND+ tap/hold works every time if I push the 
button differently. I normally push the button horizontally, that is 
towards the rear of the rig. The tap/hold function works every thing if 
I press vertically towards the bottom of the rig. That makes me suspect 
the switch is going bad. It doesn't explain why the problem just started 
after my other volume control mod.

I will probably order some switches from Elecraft and see if that fixes it.

73,

Steve N6VL

Don Wilhelm wrote:
> Steve,
>
> As you said is only started after disassembling the front panel, I 
> would suggest looking for some other cause than the button itself.  
> Check the soldering of the pushbutton well.  If you do disassemble the 
> board from the front panel again, you might try soldering the 
> pushbutton from the top - the leads do not stick very far through the 
> holes and it may not have been heated adequately in the initial 
> soldering process.
>
> Pushbutton failures are rare.  They are sealed, so I do not think the 
> cleaner spray would be effective, but it may be worth a try.  If you 
> remove the left side panel, you can get to the edge of the pushbutton 
> without disassembling anything else.
>
> The microprocessor interprets the tap/hold selection, not the 
> pushbutton itself - of course the contacts could be bouncing and 
> causing the problem, but a bad solder connection might also behave 
> that way too.