[Amps] AL-1500 power relays

[Mike]

My Al-1500 went the same way last month......200 bucks later and re-wired
per the schematic and all is fine.

Mike/K6BR

-----Original Message-----
From: Amps [mailto:amps-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carl
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2015 4:48 PM
To: Dave Hachadorian; amps at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] AL-1500 power relays

That is a common fault on the senior series amps and the first thing to
check is if the circuit is wired as per the schematic.

Many are not and this goes back decades.

I never cared for Ameritrons step start anyway and a high power version of
the Harbach circuit without those stubid cement resistors is a far better
idea IMO.

In my HB 1500W 144 and 222 mHz amps I went pure brute force with a 240V 30A
power contactor with a 24VDC coil and a 100W resistor since I had the room. 
The contactor was a NIB hamfest special for about $2 if I remember and the
resistor was likely less (-; The 2M amp is pushing 30 years without even a
hiccup and the one for 222 is only about 5 years old.

Carl



--------------------------------------------------
From: "Dave Hachadorian" <k6ll.dave at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2015 6:16 PM
To: <amps at contesting.com>
Subject: [Amps] AL-1500 power relays

> I used my AL-1500 in the Sprint Contest on Saturday night, and 
> everything worked fine.
>
> This morning, I was puttering around the shack, and heard a humming noise.

> Come to find out, the AL-1500 was sitting there, with the power switch 
> off, and all the lamps dark, but full DC HV was showing on the meter.  
> I haven't pulled it apart yet, but my guess is that the surge limiter 
> relay contact has welded shut, causing the main power relay contacts 
> to weld shut.  I never did like that idea of using an AC relay as a surge
limiter.
> Just a little chatter on the contact as the voltage ramps up and  it 
> gets stuck.  Then the main power relay takes the full surge next time 
> it starts, welding it shut.
>
> Anybody have a better way to handle the surge limiting, rather than 
> the old series resistor / AC relay trick?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
> Yuma, AZ
>
>
>
>
> .
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