[Elecraft] Fw: KX3 encoder noise repair

[Andrew Moore]

So far so good with a polish to both sides of the washer plus a dab of
white lithium grease. I'm not sure if the polish was necessary but I did it
anyway. 95% of the noise is gone, and whatever remains is so faint that I
barely notice it and have no desire to do anything further. Not sure about
the long-term performance of white lithium grease on these parts so swim at
your own risk.

Encoder is now smooth and quiet, yet has sufficient drag that it won't
wander much during mobile operation. I think the Elecrew mentioned this was
by design.

It's entirely possible that the encoder would smooth itself out without
these tweaks; I never gave mine the chance so I don't know.

Happy. Very.

--Andrew, NV1B
Maineware.net
..


On Sun, Aug 5, 2012 at 10:38 PM, Richard Fjeld <rpfjeld at embarqmail.com>wrote:

> I will try this for the third time.
>
>
> Mike, W5EEA, posted;
>
> PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS FIX..unless you read this and think 'I have no
> >> problem doing this'. There is every chance you will loose parts or make
> >> things worse than they were (or may end up buying a new encoder).
> >> I found the scrapping/scratching stopped if you invert the radio and
> >> turned the knob.
> >> If you remove the knob you can see a "C" clip on the shaft over a washer
> >> resting on the body of the encoder. On mine the noise was coming from
> the
> >> surface finish between the washer and the clip. The washer rotates a
> little
> >> each turn and that is why the noise does not happen at the same spot in
> the
> >> rotation of the knob. Remove the washer and clip, make them flat and
> polish
> >> them, put them back on with a good silicone grease and it feels like a
> K3
> >> VFO. If you think SM parts are small you will never see what needs to be
> >> done to the washer and clip.
>
>
> FWIW,  many years ago, I read that silicone was found to creep and widely
> spread onto surfaces, including CONTACTS.  I knew of one company that
> banned the use of silicone treated paper eyeglass cleaners on it's premises
> for that reason.
>
> Intermittent problems may be experienced that will be difficult to
> determine.
>
> If you Google 'silicone creep, silicone oil creep', or similar, you will
> get more information than you care to read.  I hope Elecraft doesn't use
> silicone.
>
>
> Richard Fjeld, N0CE
>
>
>
>
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