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Vertex 4204 Blows Fuse Instantly

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jaytoddmartin

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I have a vertex 4204 that is now instantly blowing fuses as soon as i wire it up. I suspect it got a power surge from my Pyramid power supply i was using to power it, which brings up a second issue/question. The Pyramid power supply seems to surge when I key my 10 meter radio that has a small tube amp attached. My dipole is right outside and the coax passes near the power supply - i'm curious if RF could cause the power surge or if I may have a wiring issue in my house!! What a day - anyway, any suggestions on why it would immediately blow fuses now are appreciated.
 

radiotweester

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Have you tried powering from a different source? Mobile/12vdc. See if it's your setup, power supply or really the radio. Not familiar with that supply, is it a switching type? Stray RF power can do all sorts of weird issues to other electronics. What's your SWR? You could have reflected power coming back. Is everything connected to a common ground? Don't trust your home electric ground, drive a rod for your equipment. I've had both VHF and UHF 4200s and used them for commercial, HAM and GMRS around HF, 6M and 700/800/900 and never had this happen. 73s
 

jaytoddmartin

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Have you tried powering from a different source? Mobile/12vdc. See if it's your setup, power supply or really the radio. Not familiar with that supply, is it a switching type? Stray RF power can do all sorts of weird issues to other electronics. What's your SWR? You could have reflected power coming back. Is everything connected to a common ground? Don't trust your home electric ground, drive a rod for your equipment. I've had both VHF and UHF 4200s and used them for commercial, HAM and GMRS around HF, 6M and 700/800/900 and never had this happen. 73s
Thanks for the response. I have tried it on different power supplies and a regular car battery even. I think I've blown something inside the radio at this point unfortunately. Not sure if I have any options at this point. It was a fine little sounding radio and I am going to miss it. I will have to chase down my power issues. I have the cases of several things grounded on a pole outside but not the guts. I am not sure how to find a good place to connect a ground on most of this old equiptment but will keep looking. Let me know if you have any 4200s laying around collecting dust or the best place to find some old used ones. Thanks!
 

Chronic

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Could the radio power leads possibly have been hooked up backwards at some point ? if that is the case most radios have a reverse polarity diode in them that will blow when hooked up backwards and that is the way they are designed is to immediately blow the fuse after the diode has been blown. if that is the case , replacing the burnt diode usually fixes the issue.
 

jaytoddmartin

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Could the radio power leads possibly have been hooked up backwards at some point ? if that is the case most radios have a reverse polarity diode in them that will blow when hooked up backwards and that is the way they are designed is to immediately blow the fuse after the diode has been blown. if that is the case , replacing the burnt diode usually fixes the issue.
It wasn't hooked up backwards but I am believing a diode could be a possible solution. The unit had 15amp fuses in it and it got surged. I removed the cover and don't spot anything that looked burnt or fried. Would the diode be visibly damaged? I'm trying to make this into a learning experience instead of a frustration - so I truely am grateful for these replies.
 

radiotweester

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Good to eliminate other components. If you search the web for "vx-4200 service manual" there's some things to look for. I wouldn't suggest messing with components unless you have SMT experience. There are some test points you can check the voltage of though. Sorry, no spares around. If you find a 4104 you can swap the heads and reprogram. *and no a UHF body can't be turned VHF with a head swap. You could also try contacting Yaesu. I don't know if they service those still or if it would be worth the shop rate vs just buying another one. You might also inquire at smaller radio shops or HAM clubs. Regarding grounding: if all your chassis are run to a common ground point you should be ok. I'd still check forward/reflected to make sure you don't have power coming back on the coax shield. It sounds like an internal issue, but have you tried using a slow-blow 20A fuse instead of 15A. Try TX on low power - both LM and LH and see if it still blows. You'll need to program a few channels and enable a button to toggle it.
 

KevinC

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It wasn't hooked up backwards but I am believing a diode could be a possible solution. The unit had 15amp fuses in it and it got surged. I removed the cover and don't spot anything that looked burnt or fried. Would the diode be visibly damaged? I'm trying to make this into a learning experience instead of a frustration - so I truely am grateful for these replies.
If this unit has a reverse polarity protection diode it will be right where power enters the unit. It will usually be obviously damaged, but not every time.
 

techman210

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If this unit has a reverse polarity protection diode it will be right where power enters the unit. It will usually be obviously damaged, but not every time.
Radio doesn’t necessarily have to be hooked up to the wrong polarity for these diodes to short.

A quick check with an ohmmeter across the power leads and see if it registers near zero ohms.

If that’s the case, as KevinC mentioned, the diode would be right where the power enters the radio.

But the cheap fix would be just to snip it out of circuit and carry-on. But it’s always better to replace these when they fail.
 

radiotweester

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This is the diode they're talking about. D1002. It's a P6KA18
*I'd misread your first post. My brain registered wire up as key up. Disregard my post about low power.



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