cleaning the PGXL ?

James Kennedy-WU5E

year 3 of my PGXL and still kicking **** on the bands, but I'm noticing that the temp raises faster now. When we lived at Woodlawn TN is home built in 1968 is dusty environment. 1 Year being remoted from S Korea. We now live in GA I want to have my PGXL for 30 more years so what are the cleaning procedures. Do you have a video of this?

thanks

Jim

WU5E

Mike-VA3MW

We don't. Just pop open the case and gently vacuum it.

Do not use compressed air as you could overspeed the fan.

73

KM4CQG

Mike

The Expert Amps have a user removable filter infact they include an extra one.

Perhaps Marko can consider making something like this in a future release.

Ian

John K3MA

Now this isn't very clear. After a year I thought it was time to clean the fans and filter in the PGXL. It might be my imagination but I am thinking it does not cool down quite as fast as in the past which might indicate a cleaning is needed. So I looked on the Flex website and found this nice detailed step-by-step on how to clean inside.

https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/5509232017691-Power-Genius-XL-Filter-Fan-Maintenance

Then I came here to see if there might be some more information and I found this thread. Which Mike VA3MW indicates not to use compressed air. But the Flex document above says to use compressed air. So what is the official position? I understand from many past cleanings of other electronic devises with cooling fans that I want to ensure the fan is locked so that the compressed air cannot induce it to spin.

Additionally, in the Flex document, it says to open up the PA module and Filter module. However, they both have anti-tamper tape on the seams that says opening will void the warranty.

So should I use compressed air or not? Should I open the top of the two modules or not and if so will it void my warranty or not?

A little official Flex clarity on the answers to these questions would be appreciated.

Mike-VA3MW

When people use compressed air, they tend to use too much and overspeed the fans, damaging the fans. This is why a vacuum is a better choice.

We have no official document on cleaning, but it is the same as cleaning any other electronics such as a computer.

Remove all the dust gently.

If you are confident working on electronics, then you can safely pull the tape off without penalty. :)

The problem arises when with no practical experience try to do their own work and cause more damage. That will void a warranty pretty quickly.

Gord-VA7GP

I stick something into my PC fans to prevent spinning, and I use compressed-air aggressively* for a deep clean. Sometimes a finger on the fan is enough to prevent rotation. Sometimes I stick a piece of wire into the fan-blades (often into PC power supplies, where the fan isn't finger-accessible).

Whatever you do, please heed Mike's warning - do not let your fan spin!

*aggressive = 220V 30A air-compressor delivering 90psi and a lot of CFM through a blowgun

WX7Y

Running a Electronic and Radio repair shop for 35+ years I have ran into many REALLY dirty Radios and electronic equipment in public safety Vehicles and Road Dept. and by far the worst being in Road Maintenance equipment some being so compacted with Dirt or dried mud because they used a hose to wash out the Cab and they sprayed the Radio and other equipment that I had to use a tooth brush to loosen it up to get it removed and here is what I learned about cleaning equipment.

Using a soda straw or for smaller spaces a tooth pick works well just don't drop it inside and it wont damage the Fan blades to keep fans from spinning when using forced air if you don't get carried away.

Hi Pressure Compressed air on modern day Electronics is VERY scarry, I have repaired many peace's of equipment that do it your selfers used to clean inside equipment that actually ripped the surface mount Components off the circuit board.

On the other hand using a Vacuum that is NOT designed to be Non Static electricity generating like a shop or house hold Vacuum is NOT a wise choice either because of the Static electricity that builds up from the air moving in the Plastic hose and the brush is touching static sensitive components.

If I do my own equipment I use compressed Air, BUT I would not recommend any higher then 20PSI to do this and I would not concentrate on one section very long or get to close to surface mount components, but to each their own.