Denton,
The next step I would do is clean the contacts on the large cables that
connect to the Orion front panel. After the covers are off the Orion,
remove the screws holding the Orion front panel. Behind the panel you
will see two large connectors with about 200 pins for each connector.
These pins are not gold plated and as a result can easily fail with age.
Get a contact cleaner spray and disconnect the cable. Spray all the
pins and then while they are wet, plug them in and out about 10 to 20
times to clean them. Then put it all back together and I bet it's all
fixed.
This cleaning of pins has fixed my Orion over the years about 3 times.
Carl Moreschi N4PY
58 Hogwood Rd
Louisburg, NC 27549
www.n4py.com
On 2/26/2017 5:56 PM, denton sprague wrote:
I got the decent caps for the power distribution board rebuild…..I will make the rig a nice
project for next winter…..pulling, cleaning all internal connectors with dexoit, checking
continuity, and wiring in a new power pigtail with fuse holder in the B+ line…will jumper the
little mini fuse in the rig as I dont really like it too much.
I did the triple reboot as per N4PY’s instruction, and that did last about an
hour….did ok until I rebooted the rig to see if the sub receiver still worked, but no
go.
I will also probably install a new lcd illumination strip later on as the
display is getting dim..if determine all the voltages getting to the front end
of the rig are up to snuff.
If can’t get the rig to working to my satisfaction, oh well….they are not worth too
much these days and I have my Omni 7 that I got new some time back and a little icom
7300…which I consider a marvel to use.
On Feb 26, 2017, at 12:28 PM, K7TXO Radio<k7txoradio@gmail.com> wrote:
Denton,
I would definitely power off, unplug the DC power cord at the rear of the Orion
and take a good look at the contacts. There is a very good chance that display
and your sub receiver issues are being affected by insufficient current flow
from the power supply, at this connector.
The molex-type connector pins were in my opinion, a bit light-duty for the
application. On the other hand many Orion radios have run for years without
issues but it is very common in recent years to have all sorts of issues
because the pins have gotten weak and are not making good contact.
Unplug, clean and if the female pins in the cable connector appear to be
slightly enlarged, you can carefully try to slightly reduce their
circumference. You can easily make them worse so be very careful. Nothing much
you can do or even should try on the male pins on the radio side. Maybe
lightly scratch their surface with the very small tip of a jeweler screwdriver
is about the best you can do.
I do not even bother servicing these connector pins myself. I remove the connector
mounted on the radio and install a pigtail with fuse holders on both leads and add
power pole connectors. This is not an easy task to do on the radio side because the
inside of the radio back in this corner has very little room to work in. For most
people I think the best choice is to leave the radio alone and simply put together a
new power cable with brand new connector pins and shell. And go up one size in wire
size will not hurt, especially if you need some length to reach the power supply
terminals. But if you can, keep as short as you can. Orion’s are sensitive to
the range of voltage supplied to them. Keeping the voltage in the factory spec range
and allowing full current demand to flow through clean and good fitting connectors is
paramount.
You do not need a fan inside the Orion at all by the way. The radio is large
enough that in my opinion, it does not have any heat issues. The LCD puts off
the most heat, at least all the time and it is not that bad. The power
regulation PCB board that feeds the display can require new capacitors over
time. If you do put new caps on this board, get quality capacitors. I cannot
confirm that the quality of the ones sold at Radio Shack (if they still do) are
good enough but just order some decent ones from Mouser, Allied, etc. and wait
for their delivery.
I would not open up the radio just yet- look at and service the power connector
pins first and check operation again. It may not cost you anything and if it
helps without diving into the radio itself, your done. And you continue with
an utterly quiet radio instead of another whirring fan in the shack, hi hi.
Gene / K7TXO
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