New Anytone AT-6666 Blowing Fuses

[JDF1815]

Un-boxed a new AT-6666 this morning. Was pretty excited, until the initial power up started. Unhooked my 2m/70 band radio from the truck, it came with a "T" style-quick connector so I installed male leads on the ends of the AT6666. Hooked the male leads into the quick connector and immediately blew the 15amp fuse on the power line.

The quick connector goes straight to the battery and ground in the engine bay. I tried again, blew another fuse. I reversed the wires, and blew the 15amp ground fuse on the lines coming from the engine bay.

I then wired it into a power port on my truck used to run a trans temp gauge. This time it blew the 10 amp fuse in the truck's circuit.

Finally, hooked it into a cigarette lighter adapter I had. This was plugged into a 120v-12v home converter but once again, it blew the 15amp fuse on the radio power line again.

To me it appears as if the radio is a lemon, perhaps wired incorrectly internally? Any advise guys? I've run 3 vhf/uhf rigs across 2 vehicles and a house for 2 years now and never had this issue. Stumped to say the least.Thanks

 

[jaspence]

Did you test the radio leads for a short with a VOM?

 

[KevinC]

My "guess" is it was wired incorrectly the first time you wired it (reversed polarity), which shorted the reverse polarity diode (which did its job), which is why it keeps blowing fuses now.

 

[JDF1815]

Thanks guys,

Radio was given a continuity test and did pass.

Kevin that was my initial thought as well. I did double check the lines before the before it was hooked up, but then again we all make mistakes. Assuming the diode fried, I'd have to re-solder a new one in correct?

 

[mmckenna]

Apparently I need to invest in companies that make fuses.

KevinC is probably correct. There is often a diode in the incoming power circuit on the radio. Hooking up the radio backwards will cause that diode to fault to ground. Once that happens, the only solution is to replace the diode. Repeatedly hooking it up to different circuits is going to cost you a lot of money in fuses and won't lead to it suddenly working.

Sounds like you did, at the get-go, hook it up backwards. Either that, or someone had that radio before you and did it and sent it back.

Often, when those diodes go, they leave a black scorch mark on the board. Should be easy to find, it'll be near where the power leads connect to the circuit board. Replacing it isn't hard, if you are good with a soldering iron. You'll need to figure out how to put the new one in correctly. They are, obviously, polarity sensitive.

All this is based on the assumption that these CCR's have reverse polarity protection diodes.

 

[N4KVE]

Why should you have to do any of this? The unit is brand new. Assuming you live in the USA, contact the authorized US distributor, & get a RMA to exchange the unit under warranty for a good one. Also ask them to test the replacement unit to make sure it works correctly before sending it to you.

 

[mmckenna]

Why should you have to do any of this? The unit is brand new.

Well, it's easy to get distracted and accidentally hook things up backwards. Did it once a long time ago with a customers Spectra. Trying to multi-task + not paying close enough attention = Poof. Having to explain to them that I smoked their radio is a good humbling experience. Fixing it and making it right is a good learning experience.

Sending it back to the company and claiming warranty if it was a simple install error wouldn't be honest. It's easy enough to fix if that's the case.

If it was bad from the factory, then sure, warranty repair. Being it's a CCR, I could believe it.

I'd expect, though, that someone hooked it up backwards, blew it, and then sent it back. Since some of these dealers/companies don't bother to check things, they'll just send it back out to the next person.