[Amps] Bandswitch arcing

[f1fly]

Hi

 

I just finished a homebrew amplifier with 2 X 3-500ZG.

 

It works fine but I have some arcing problems in the bandswitch when working
at full power on 80 m.

 

The antenna is a shorted dipole so I suspect it.

 

The bandswitch is a non-shorting one I found on Ebay (ceramic cheap russian
NOS - 4 wafers, 2 poles, 5 positions).

 

So I have 3 questions :

 

- Do I have to change to a shorting switch in order to short the unused
parts of the tank coil and also to avoid parasitic resonances ?  

 

- Do I have to buy a more heavy duty switch (shorting or non-shorting) ?

 

- An om told me that if I use several tank coils at right angles instead
only one, the auto induction is less and I decrease the arcing in the
switch.

 

In this amplifier I have 3 coils, the 10 m Pi coil that is mounted right
angle from the 15 to 80 Pi coil, the 15 to 80 m Pi coil and the L coil for
all bands

 

I think it's the same that in several commercials amplifiers.

 

What is the good solution to avoid bandswitch arcing ?

 

Both ?

 

73s

 

Eric - F1FLY