TS-430S, no display, no RX/TX with certain modes

I recently acquired a Kenwood TS-430 with an intermittent fault. The rig would occasionally perform normally but the rest of the time the display and RX would be dead only in the LSB, USB and CW modes. The rig would also not transmit in all modes.

The number of factory “add-on” components found under the PC boards on the rig was a real surprise. The Control and IF boards were first checked for dry joints and several were found, but the fault persisted. All switching circuits appeared to check out fine. After searching the Web for assistance, a mod described in a Kenwood Bulletin for a similar display problem was tried without success. A change in our hot summer weather seemed to indicate the problem was temperature related as the rig worked normally for longer periods under colder conditions. Freeze spray was then tried on all accessible components on the Control and IF Unit boards. No joy!

A QSO with Roger ZS1J, who used to run a ham radio outlet in Natal for several years, had him recalling a similar problem he had encountered some years ago on two TS430’s brought in for repair. The culprit in both cases turned out to be leaking LED’s on the mode selector switch indicators. He suggested this area be check out.

Removal of plug 13 from the Control Unit board (X53-1290-00) proved Roger correct and brought the rig back to life. There was a very low leakage on the LSB, USB and CW indicator LED’s. Exact replacement LED’s for D3- D7 were not obtainable locally, so to get around this, 1N4004 diodes were installed in series with the 5 leads on plug 13. The diodes were soldered directly onto the pins in plug 13 (with cathodes facing away from the plug side), and the plug reconnected to the board. The rig is now fully functional again.

It‘s incredible that the same LED’s should fail in three different rigs! Obviously just a bad batch of components used! Maybe this mod can restore a dead TS-430 that someone has given up on.

GW1NGL NA7KR Kevin Roberts Ham Radio

Page last updated on 09/10/2012 by Kevin Roberts NA7KR a colection of Ham Radio and Electronic Information