[Elecraft] Power pole connection comes loose

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

A crimp that has insufficient pressure will fail too. It may be "tight" and
you cannot pull the wire out of the terminal, but a good crimp requires more
than that. It needs to crush the terminal so tightly against the wire that
it literally fuses the molecules of the terminal to the molecules in the
wire over enough area to handle the current without heating. 

Crimping was developed because when you use the *right* tool with the right
*training*, you can produce a good connection without soldering. For
manufacturers, avoiding soldering is cheaper to do. 

That's why Elecraft continues to recommend soldering the connectors. 

73 Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----

  I was working cw with about 95 watts when my K3 shut down.  I checked the
  power pole connection and it had come slightly loose and was pretty warm,
  so I let it cool and then re inserted it to the radio, and this seems to
  work OK.  I've seen some comments about how to make this a more positive
  connection.  I don't see the roll pin hole on the radio connector?

The other powerpole issue is using a cheap crimp tool, where the pin can be
bent.  While I concur 100% with Don's advice about the pins clicking over
the lower pieces, even with them in place they can make bad contact if they
are bent.