[Elecraft] K2 Faulty menu switch?

[Don Wilhelm]

Jerry,

Yes I see the photo.

Although it looks like the copper is intact, I would scrape away a bit 
of the silkscreen on each end of the damaged area and then solder a 
small gauge wire across the damage.  If you have some #24 wire (from 
ethernet cable for instance) use that rather then the #22 wire supplied 
with the K2 kit.
It is usually best to route the wire along the original PC board trace 
so you can tack it in place at several places along the way from end to end.

Reflow the solder on the encoder board just in case that is the problem.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 10/22/2022 9:33 PM, Gerald Wolczanski wrote:
> Don, indeed it was the FP encoder board touching the back of the
> control board.  I'm attaching a photo, which I guess only Don can see.
> The PCB traces are dinged up, exactly .3" apart.  Two things:
>
> 1)  Wonder if the control board or the encoder board may have been been
> damaged by these boards touching?  Occasionally, in these last few
> days, the encoder freezes up and a tap on the menu switch gets it back
> to normal.  Even after I trimmed the encoder board leads and put a
> piece of think plastic material between the control board and the
> encoder board, I still get the occasional encoder freeze-up.
> 2)  Can I try and flow some solder on those damaged traces?
>
> Thanks so much for your help!
>
> Jerry
> KI4IO
> Warrenton, VA
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, 2022-10-15 at 17:36 -0400, Don Wilhelm wrote:
>> Jerry,
>>
>> That does sound like it might be a bad solder connection.
>> Try resoldering Front Panel RP1 and U2.  Those components are
>> critical
>> to decoding the switch matrix.
>> You might also try reseating Control Board U6 - but do so in a static
>> controlled manner.
>>
>> With that 7xxx serial number, you might instead have a problem with
>> the
>> FP Encoder board contacting the back of the Control Board which
>> causes
>> "strange things" to happen.
>> Flush cut all leads on the encoder board (right through the solder
>> fillet) and also on the Control Board where the encoder board could
>> contact.
>> As an extra measure, put an insulator (fish paper is best, but a
>> piece
>> of card stock or better yet, a piece of flat plastic (like from many
>> forms of plastic packaging) between the encoder and the control
>> board.
>>
>> 73,
>> Don W3FPR
>>
>> On 10/12/2022 5:51 PM, Gerald Wolczanski wrote:
>>> from KI4io - Jerry Wolczanski
>>>
>>> My K2 started exhibiting this problem in June and it's gotten
>>> worse.
>>> The LCD toggles rapidly between the frequency and the last menu
>>> used.
>>> A tap on the menu switch restores the display to normal.  It was
>>> quite
>>> infrequent to start, but now it's bothersome, happening every 10 -
>>> 15
>>> minutes.
>>>
>>> I re-flowed the switch contacts on the front-panel board this
>>> morning,
>>> but the problem persists.
>>>
>>> Is this a switch issue or something else?
>>>
>>> K2 S/N 7xxx
>>>
>>> KI4IO
>>> Jerry Wolczanski
>>> Warrenton, VA
>>>