[Elecraft] How and How Often to Clean KPA-1500 Cooling Systems?

[Jim Brown]

On 3/27/2021 9:23 AM, N4ZR wrote:
> The other day I noticed some buildup of dust on the top vents of my 
> power supply.

Neighbor K6XX is the mfg engineer for both of Elecraft's amps. Bob lost 
everything (except one of his towers) in a big wildfire this summer, 
along with three other hams I know. For a contest a few months ago, he 
borrowed my KPA1500, and when he returned it, told me it was super 
dusty. My shack is pretty dusty, and I was running the fans all the 
time, often at a high setting, because I use WSJT modes on 6M and 160 a 
lot. His advice was to set the fan speed default to zero and let the amp 
determine the fan speed. Using 120 sec TX cycles at 1kW on 160, I've 
seen 95C temps, and the amp is still happy. I wouldn't do that on 6M, 
where the amp is least efficient.

73, Jim K9YC