Fl-2100Z problems
开云体育Yes, it's a possibility that those capacitors are bad but more likely is that the 80m and/or 160m contacts on the band switch have been burnt away. It is quite common on the 2100Z. Shine a light down into the band switch and check every contact carefully. From memory, it is not easy to pick the burnt contacts at first glance. I can add that it is not a fun job to change the switch. I have done a couple over the years and I'm not keen to do it again. 73 and good luck, Alek VK6APK
On 9/08/2024 3:44 pm, vk3acu@...
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Thanks everyone for the response.
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I ended up drilling out the rivets and replacing the fingers with a similar wafer switch with basically identical fingers kindly provided by a local ham, I used small nuts and bolts rather than rivets to secure the replacement fingers.
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I wonder what causes the band switch damage, I suppose it could be dirty contacts overtime or possibly not enough delay hot switching, or perhaps pushing it too hard / high swr
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I'm curious about the grey lines on the anode in the pic below, they kind of look like pencil marks.
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开云体育Jordan. I commend you on your repairs. In my view and experience, 160m in the FL-2100Z was an afterthought and I have never seen one operate really well in the VK segment of the band. They are renowned poor performers and it's why I have always been more happy to live with the 2100B over the 2100Z.? If your switch repair has been successful, I think you would do well to leave 160m alone when it comes to using anything more than a few hundred Watts. Be content with having the other bands working properly. As for the marks on the anode. They probably got scratched when they were in the box with all the other anodes in the tube factory. I wouldn't think that it is anything to worry about. Others may have more experience in this area. 73 Alek VK6APK.
On 10/08/2024 4:59 pm, vk3acu@...
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开云体育
I too, have had an ongoing issue with the band switch in my FL-2100B. After repeated band switch repairs (replacing contacts you did) I ultimately found my problems were being caused by a keying delay with the buffer relay I was using between the radio and
amp. After the 3rd?failure, I got the O-scope out and measured the keying delay and much to my surprise it was I ended up solving my problems by using a solid-state buffer called a Keyall ().
It has an opto-isolated input and with the pair of MOSFETs can switch positive and negative voltages. There are similar devices that require no assembly on the internet. However, I liked the cost of this device over the other options I was able to find and
I just made my own enclosure. Because I had so many failures, I ran out of donor contacts for the band switch. I elected to step up and purchase the Multi-tech band switch found here:????
The switch is slightly larger than the original and it took a little work to get it installed but it wasn't a big deal.?
The one thing I always do when I tune up is to make sure that I drive the amp with a full 100 watts out of the exciter during the tune up procedure. Once all tuned for max output, I advance the loading control clockwise just slightly, to over-couple (un-mesh
the load capacitor) in order to reduce the chance of arc-over. One of the other issues I've seen is where folks think they are going easy on the amp by tuning the amp at reduced drive levels. The problem is that most radios have ALC-overshoot issues which
causes a momentary spike during key up. This spike is really hard on components and can create arcing in the tank circuit. Always a good idea to tune for max power out. If your radio produces significantly more that 100 watts out, then use an attenuator.?
Good luck!
73,
Jim - AA7CL??
From:[email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of vk3acu@... <vk3acu@...>
Sent:?Saturday, August 10, 2024 1:59 AM To:[email protected] <[email protected]> Subject:?Re: [ham-amplifiers] Fl-2100Z problems ?
Thanks everyone for the response.
?
I ended up drilling out the rivets and replacing the fingers with a similar wafer switch with basically identical fingers kindly provided by a local ham, I used small nuts and bolts rather than rivets to secure the replacement fingers.
?
I wonder what causes the band switch damage, I suppose it could be dirty contacts overtime or possibly not enough delay hot switching, or perhaps pushing it too hard / high swr
?
I'm curious about the grey lines on the anode in the pic below, they kind of look like pencil marks.
?
?
?
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