[ICOM] Non-OEM Power Cords

[Julio Peralta]

I wanted to pass this information along to the group.

I've been having problems with my PROII shutting off or not starting up
when I pushed the front panel power button. I was pretty sure It wasn't
a bad power button so I wiggled the cable at the back of the radio and
was able to determine that there was something wrong with the Molex
power connector. I took the rig and cable off the operating position to
the workbench and using a my bench supply I was able to reproduce the
fault at will just by wiggling the Molex connector. I disconnected the
Molex connector and examined both sides. I noticed that the white
plastic around one of the female pins on the cable side was a brownish
black in color a sign of overheating and a bad connection. The radio
side of the connector showed no discoloration.

I disassembled the Molex connector on the cable end to check for what I
thought would be a bad crimp of the pin, however this was not the case.
So I disassembled the PRO to check the radio side of the plug. I removed
the male pin from the radio connector which mated up with the pin on the
cable side that had the discoloration thinking surely it had a bad
crimp, but there was nothing wrong with that crimp!

I then inserted the male Molex pin from the PRO into the female pin from
the cable and guess what they aren't the same size. The male pin from
the PROII is so much smaller then the female pin  it just flops around
inside. As I was examining the pins I remembered that the cable on this
radio wasn't an Icom factory cable but one I had purchased at a hamfest.
I like to use these after market cables so I can cut them to the correct
length for the radios position on the operating table and still have the
original factory cable for possible resale. I checked 2 of my Icom
cables and the pins fit as they should.

So it would seem that Icom uses a smaller version of the standard Molex
pins then are being used with the after market cables. I was able to
re-form the female pins using a small pair of needle nose pliers. If you
have to do this be aware that I had to actually fold one side of the pin
shell over the other to squeeze the pin down to where it makes a snug
fit for the male Icom pin.

BTW I checked 3 more of these after market Molex plugs and each one had
the same problem and they were not purchased from the flea market
dealer.

Anyone else had this problem?

Julio, W4HY