[R-390] Power Cords on eBay

Roy Morgan roy.morgan at nist.gov
Thu Oct 6 09:37:35 EDT 2005


At 12:50 AM 10/6/2005, John Lawson wrote:
>    If your radio is tripping the GFI with the ground pin active, then I'd 
> hazard a guess that the line filter unit inside has developed a leaky 
> capacitor,

Not likely (Though they ARE paper caps in there).  The line bypass caps are 
simply acting like capacitors and are not necessarily leaking.

>or other high-resistance leakage path to ground, which of course will 
>upset and trip your protection circuits - it's (the GFI device, he means) 
>actually doing what it was designed to do.

A leakage path is possible, of course, but unlikely.  It normally is the 
too-large line bypass caps in the line filter.

The "cures" are:

1) Don't use a GFI-protected line.

2) Use an isolation transformer.

3) Remove the line filter and:
   A) Rebuild it with smaller bypass caps  or:
   B) Replace it with a modern IEC (computer style)  line cord connector, 
either a filtered one or a non-filtered one.  or:
  C) Do away with the filter altogether and cobble in an unfiltered, 
directly connected line cord.

In ANY case, Please do use a grounded three wire line cord for safety.

Roy



- Roy Morgan, K1LKY since 1959 - Keep 'em Glowing!
7130 Panorama Drive, Derwood MD 20855
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