[Elecraft] K3 Repair (Lightning damage)

[Don Wilhelm]

Guy,

I have repaired several lightning damaged K2/100s.
To protect against a re-repair within my 90 day warranty period, I 
arbitrarily replace all the active devices in the KPA100 and then do any 
required repairs to the base K2, usually replacing at least the firmware 
chip - usually little else is required (that depends on whether the 
surge came on the antenna or the power cord or both)
I have done 4 so far with no ill effects nor complaints from my 
customers afterwards.

One caveat that I must adhere to is that if there is visible damage to 
the board, that is an indication that possibly capacitors, inductors, 
resistors and relay points have been damaged too, and I would advise the 
customer that it is not repairable at a cost less than that of a new unit.

I don't know if Elecraft has a policy on this sort of thing or not, and 
I certainly don't know about the K3 question.

73,
Don W3FPR

Guy Olinger K2AV wrote:
> That's not as much a dig as it might sound.  A common occurrence after
> lightning damage is for components to weaken and then fail later on,
> on their own inconvenient schedule.
>
> A question for the K3 repair guru's...is a lightning damaged board
> replaced and tossed, or repair of the lightning damage attempted?  Is
> the warranty for such repair the same, or is there a caveat for
> lightning damage?
>
> 73, Guy.
>   
>