[Elecraft] K3 Heat

[rfenabled at gmail.com]

I am now wondering how do you settle on "Normal", "Heavy" and simply "Flat out" to come up with a "design limitation?" From the factory?

Much conjecture and pure guesswork has been written in recent posts as well as some very informative opinions on the cooling system used by Elecraft.

Perhaps we should hear from Elecraft on what design criteria was used when the decision was made to use the existing cooling arrangement.

Does the addition of the KPA-3 and now the 2m option board alter the effectiveness of the cooling system as designed?

Just how *heavy* is heavy?..use or perhaps abuse..?

Feeling around a radio as soon as you power down appears to me to be the same as sticking your fingers on a radiator of a car immediately after switching off. These days a lot of cars run electric fans to allow an even cool down period after running.

To make my point clearer, when I use the ride-on mower for an hour or more, I run the motor for a few minutes after I finish to effect a cooling down of the motor, I do not run my K3 (or any other radio) for RTTY then pull the power, call me cautious perhaps, but it just seems logical to me.

I hope Wayne, Eric and Lyle et al post a response in depth on this topic as many of us have differing points of view.

My two cents worth, or was that a Nickel?

Gary
VK4WT
K3 s/n 679
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