[Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off

[Alan Bloom]

I just measured my fully-loaded K3/P3.  They draw 1.94A on and 4.3 mA off.

Alan N1AL


On 10/16/2013 10:07 AM, Jim Brown wrote:
> I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries
> to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35
> Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by
> my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day.
>
> The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they
> might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when
> they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when
> switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is
> pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined
> with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining
> my batteries.
>
> Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them
> from the battery?
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
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