120 volts AC on grounding strap

Brent61

I had 120 volts AC hit my grounding strap connected to my 6500. It was for just a split second. Radio is Dead. Did I destroy the whole radio?

Tim - W4TME

@Brent61 Probably not dead, but damaged. I created a HelpDesk ticket for you.

WK2Y

Time to open a ticket. Once they get the radio, they can get you a repair estimate.

Good luck.

Bob

Alan

Brent

On a residential single split phase system, the "Safety Ground" is bounded to the neutral tap at the first point of disconnect from the utility (typically your in-home breaker box). So, the fault current wants to find a path of least resistance back to that point.

Question: is your RF ground rod bounded to the safety ground system? It should not be, but if it is, that would have provided the fault current a low resistance path back to the safety ground at the first point of disconnect.

On the other hand, if the RF ground is not bound to the safety ground system (as per code, to prevent parallel fault current paths), then the fault current would want to find a return path to the utility from the Flex metallic chassis.

The Flex chassis is bounded to the Negative (-) power pole terminal. The Negative terminal in your power supply should be bonded to the metallic power supply chassis and to the safety ground prong of your 120 VAC plug. Then back to the utility via the safety ground wire to the point of first disconnect from the utility.

So, if everything is as described, I would suspect an overloaded wire on the Negative side of your Flex/PowerPole/Power Supply, resulting in the wire being damaged (open).

Also, check Flex, 13.8 VDC Power Supply and breaker box fuses/breakers to make sure they are closed. Remember, for breakers, to first cycle them "open" then "closed". The "tripped" state is midway open/closed.

Alan. WA9WUD

K0FLY

As I remember the 6500 has an internal "Blade Type fuse", pull the cover and check it. As Alan said check the power poll cable for +12 then check the internal fuse. Good Luck

Gayle K0FLY

Brent61

Wanted to post an update. Sent 6500 into be worked on. Turns out it was a easy fix. I think it was a reverse polarity diode, 5 dollar part. While it was at the shop, they updated the SD card and the fans for free. Here is the impressive part of this. They let me know when it arrived, when they put it on test bench, what they found and how much to fix it. They did the work ran it through all the diagnostics, boxed it up and had it on its way back to me in less than 5 days. I received emails everyday keeping me updated on is progress . All I can say is I am very impressed. It works great.

David Decoons, wo2x

Flex service is top notch!

Alan

Considering what it could have been, this is good news and good service.

Alan. WA9WUD