[Elecraft] K3 - Reliability

[Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft]

Please note that all K3 knobs are warrantied for the life of the radio. 
We will replace them immediately if they break.

While most K3s never have seen knob breakage, we have seen it on -way- 
too many radios. We were not happy with this. We went through several 
evolutions on the concentric knobs as the vendor got their quality under 
control.  (This is a US vendor, EHC, with a great reputation. We were 
very frustrated with their issues.) We first added glass fiber fill to 
strengthen them, which helped a lot, around the time of your rig. They 
are now made with metal inserts. (We phased those in this year.)

We have seen virtually no breakage on the latest versions of the 
concentric AF/RF knobs, which are shipping on all new K3s.

Anyone who has broken knobs can contact parts at elecraft.com for free 
replacements.  If you just want an extra set and do not have breakage, 
they are very reasonably priced.

73,

Eric  WA6HHQ
---
www.elecraft.com

On 8/8/2012 5:53 AM, Vic Goncharsky wrote:
> I own K3 #2907 which I assembled myself in Floyd VA while visiting my friends KK4WW and KK4WWW in 2009. It didin't take long to make the radio work. It still works perfectly since, although has been taken to several expeditions including mountain tops. The only failure were the concentric knobs that just fell apart after a few months. I am fully satisfied with the radio and decided to order the K144RFLK    and    K144XV kit last week.
>
> The ELECRAFT response was so fast that I didn't manage to ask putting the knobs into the same package in time.
>
>
> Excellent service, thanks.
>
> Anyway I wonder how can I get the knobs, I don't care about color, even red ones made of good plastic will do the job for me, hi.
>
>
> 73 Vic US5WE/K1WE (UW5W in VHF contests) KN29AU
>