Fried my new 996T?

Status
Not open for further replies.

BoxAlarm187

Level 6 RR Member (Since 1998)
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
1,710
Location
Old Dominion
Ugh, after spending several hours programming my new 996T last night, I took it out to my truck this morning to listen to it on the way in to work to see how it worked. Because I am not ready to do the permanant install until later this week, I was going to use the cigarette lighter plug to power it. Well, you know it would happen - as I tried to plug the plug into the back of the scanner, an arc occured. Heck, it was strong enough to leave a tiny burn mark on the back next to the female plug.

Now I don't have any power to the scanner at all. I even tried it on someone else's truck with no luck. Naturally, I left the wall-wart at home, so I can't try it out that way.

Anyway, anyone know if there is an internal fuse on this, or am I just out of luck until I can this this thing shipped off to Uniden customer service? :(
 

UPMan

In Memoriam
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
13,296
Location
Arlington, TX
You have blown the fuse in the cigarette-lighter adapter. I don't have mine handy (and haven't blown the fuse on mine) but you usually access the fuse by unscrewing the tip of the adapter.

Since you never applied power to the scanner itself, it should be OK.
 

BoxAlarm187

Level 6 RR Member (Since 1998)
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
1,710
Location
Old Dominion
Thanks, Paul. I don't know why that never occured to me in the first place. I will check it out later and see if that's the case.
 

Napalm

Active Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Messages
641
Location
Lake Co, Ind
And always plug the power in with the radio off.

I managed to fry a fuse in the main fusebox on the car the other day - saved the radio but it was a PITA getting on my hands and knees to replace the fuse - rather that than a new radio. :D
 

wm8s

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
787
Location
Houston, TX
Join the fuse-blowers club, a/k/a Uniden owner's group. As I noted in another thread, the 996's (and 785's) power connector is mis-designed and exposes the center conductor to short circuiting. If you plan on moving your scanner back and forth, get yourself a box of spare fuses. Also, try to eliminate any ground return before you plug the scanner in, so if the center conductor is hot and does contact the case, it won't have a return to ground and won't (maybe) pop the fuse.

Long term, you could also replace the connector with one that has a properly recessed center conductor (there are only about 852 possible combinations of ID and OD in these coaxial power connectors; make sure you use the right one).

On the plus side, it's a common fuse and easy to replace.

...R
 

hoser147

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
Messages
4,449
Location
Grand Lake St. Marys Ohio
While on the Ciggarette lighter plugin I just picked one up the other day instead of having the fuse inside it has a small Ushaped or square fuse that plugs into the adapter of the lighter plug so you dont have to take it apart to check the fuse..............hoser147
 

BoxAlarm187

Level 6 RR Member (Since 1998)
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 19, 2003
Messages
1,710
Location
Old Dominion
I checked it earlier, and it was indeed the fuse inside the lighter-end of the cord. I plan on doing the "real" install tomorrow night, so hopefully this won't be an issue in the future! :)
 

SILVERDOLLAR

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
14
I'm an ole fart from way back. Worked on TV, Radio Xmiters, installations, you get the idea. Back when the old junk had 8 or 10 pin connectors for 12 or 28 volt power and used vibrators (no, not the ones ur thinking about) to change dc to ac, you ALWAYS pluged that connector into the rig FIRST, then connected the dc power connection to supply current (battery or batteries). That procedure prevented you from ARC welding the connector plug and having molten metal splatter in your hand as you twisted the connector trying to locate the keyway on the male connector on the rig. It works fine today with the flea-current stuff to! It's good practice to attach any powercord to your equipment (computer, electric shaver), whatever, then plug the other end to the power source last
 

wm8s

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
787
Location
Houston, TX
SILVERDOLLAR said:
That procedure prevented you from ARC welding the connector plug and having molten metal splatter in your hand as you twisted the connector trying to locate the keyway on the male connector on the rig.

That reminds me of the time I was working on my T-195 transmitter (Google for an image of it; awesome rig). I didn't have the right power connector, so I alligator clipped to the bazillion-pin connector that power went into and hooked it to my 100A 28V power supply (that was the size of a small moving trunk).

One of the clips came loose and bumped into the other one, shorting the power supply. There was a big pop, a flash, and a cloud of smoke, then both alligator clips, wires, insulation, and rubber booties were completely gone. Fuse? We don't need no steeking fuses.

...R

http://www.icdc.com/~oldradio/web/vehicle/grc19.jpg
 

JESSERABBIT

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Messages
903
Location
Charles Town, Jefferson Co, WV
Now if one has a Kenwood thf-6a handheld, (a 144 mhz+220 mhz+444 mhz ham tranceiver), which is an EXCELLENT-EXCELLENT reciever for non-trunked public service band freqs, the word on the street has it that you do NOT plug in the DC power source while the reciever is ON. Plug it in, THEN turn on the unit. I do not know if this applies to any other scanners/receivers but I follow the advice just in case it does. I haven't had to send any of my units Pro-96/97/thf-6a/Ic-r3,etc in for repair since I started performing this procedure. Hope this helps someone to not have to deal with the PITA process of the dreaded "REPAIR SEND IN'!!!
Good luck!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top