Any recommended AT-6666 durability mods

[AgentJeffy]

Hey everyone,

I'm a pleb when it comes to CB's and their internal workings. But I'm not bad at soldering, and I'm competent at electrical components and working on and with them. So... Considering all the bad press on these radios blowing out their finals. Are there any mods that the more seasoned CB folks here could recommend I do? I know I read a TON on the MAX-MOD (and I think everyone here thinks that they're overpriced BUT efficient) so I went ahead and bought that. But should I change the thermal compound on the MOSFETs? Or any capacitors? Anything? Or should I just do the MAX-MOD (if even that) and call it a day?

My paranoia encouraged me to get a 3 year warranty on the radio so if it does pop I can always just get my money back, but I'd like that to NOT happen to begin with if I can prevent it at all...

 

[sp5it]

I would do NPC-RC. Mike

 

[AgentJeffy]

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that term...

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

If you got the extended warranty then I would not open it. Then turn the power down and run an amp with it. Set the dead key so it modulates 4x the carrier in peak power and call it a day.

 

[AgentJeffy]

Okay, so I may end up doing that the. I was worried about it doing damage over time.

 

[w9cll]

Here is a novel idea, how about running it no mods at all? You say you are new to all this so why screw something up and not know why.

 

[AgentJeffy]

Well I'm not trying to get a performance mod or anything like that. Just that there is an overwhelming number of people that say the finals blow. So I was wondering if there was anything that could be done to prevent this from happening.

 

[TheRealPorkchop]

Maybe this will put your mind to rest about the finals blowing, it’s a crock of crap somebody started.

 

[AgentJeffy]

Oh yeah I saw that, which did make me a little bit easier on this. Just saw a bunch of reviews on the Amazon page for the radio saying they popped. We'll see. I got a warranty. Just didn't know if there was anything worth while to do to help improve durability.

I guess I'll return the MAX-MOD... :/

 

[Capt Crunch]

Oh yeah I saw that, which did make me a little bit easier on this. Just saw a bunch of reviews on the Amazon page for the radio saying they popped. We'll see. I got a warranty. Just didn't know if there was anything worth while to do to help improve durability.

I guess I'll return the MAX-MOD... :/

Usually when people pop stuff as long as there were no defects and no high swr because of an issue, alot get their sets all peaked out to maximum and sit there for 20+ minutes with their echo boxes on talking bs day after day and then, POP. LOL. The only mod I would do on those is a fan blowing on the heat sink. I bought a small portable lighter socket fan for my mobile. I have seen some wire it directly into the radio and screwed fans onto the back of the heat sink, which you prbably shouldn't do with the warranty still good. If you have a warranty I wouldn't touch anything, not even to go in for the echo. Once you rip that sticker some may not honor the warranty. Some still do honor it depending on what was done so before trying to do anything I'd email and ask, and their answer will be in writing as well. Good luck with that radio, I love mine.

 

[AgentJeffy]

Yeah I may attach a fan on the inside blowing over the finals then. I can just find a power source inside that doesn't turn on until the radio itself is turned on. And it's one of those Assurian warranties so I don't think they ever tangibly get the radio (could be wrong). I think they just TS it over the phone with you and then replace if need be. It's not the greatest warranty but it's something.

And I hope it's just that those people were tweaking the radio. I have literally ZERO desire to modify for more power, this thing is already about the strongest radio out of the box you can get so why more? If anything you'd benefit more from an amp (and I don't even see the need for that).

There's honestly nobody really left in my area on any of the channels so this is mostly for when I am off road and need the ability to reach out and talk to someone in an emergent situation. And that's why the extra power was needed (dense trees).

 

[Slowmover]

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that term...

See thread with that in title, and also at CB Tricks. (And the guy who recommended: it is worth the time to read his many posts).

 

[AgentJeffy]

See thread with that in title, and also at CB Tricks. (And the guy who recommended: it is worth the time to read his many posts).

I looked it up and it looked like it was specific to a particular radio AND would require equipment I don't have. Right now I think the bigger obstacle to overcome is that I think I'm picking up a fair amount of noise from my truck. AM shows about a 7 and SSB shows about a 3 on the meter.

 

[Slowmover]

Among other considerations per truck electrical noise reduction, the (David) Navone filter shown has been recommended by another of our contributors. (See website).

It’s large in size and not cheap, so recommended as a final effort where other approaches still fall short.

.

 

[AgentJeffy]

View attachment 29868

Among other considerations per truck electrical noise reduction, the (David) Navone filter shown has been recommended by another of our contributors. (See website).

It’s large in size and not cheap, so recommended as a final effort where other approaches still fall short.

.

Beautiful. Thank you very much. Hoping I don't have to do a filter. But good to know one that comes recommended by the community.