[Elecraft] KPA500 problem

[Jim Brown]

On Tue,2/16/2016 10:07 AM, Guy Olinger K2AV wrote:
> I heard of a problem something like this, not a KPA500, that turned out to
> be a defective wall outlet.

Or a long run of relatively small wire to the outlet from the panel. Or 
a bad splice at another outlet between your outlet and the breaker 
panel. Or perhaps you're not plugged directly into the wall, but into 
some other device or multi-outlet box. A good way to check this is to 
hang a voltmeter across another outlet wired directly in parallel with 
the power amp (most wall outlets are duplexes, two outlets in a single 
enclosure) and watch the AC voltage as you key the amp. Start with 
fairly low power (100-200W) and gradually increase it until the amp 
shuts down. As I recall, the KPA500 pulls about 10A at 120V for full power.

There's a very useful device to measure voltage, current, power, VA, 
power factor, and even kWh. It's called Kill A Watt. You plug it into 
the outlet, then plug the device you want to test into it. There are 
several version of it. Here's one, which is what I have.

http://www.p3international.com/products/p4400.html

73, Jim K9YC