The Mark I eyeball strikes again.

[nomadradio]

This Robyn SB520D had an intermittent noise in the transmit signal. Tapping on the circuit board would trigger the crackle sounds. As it turns out, tapping on the relay made it even worse.

A glance at the relay revealed why.

The discolored pole on the left was the clue. The contact points were even darker. A new relay fixed this fault.

Just goes to show that the Mark I eyeball is the single most valuable troubleshooting tool, at least sometimes.

73

 

[Klondike Mike]

That looks like the no longer in production OMRON 3PDT relay. Good thing you still had some in the parts bin.

 

[FlatlandBusa]

The power of a good visual observation!

 

[nomadradio]

Good thing you still had some in the parts bin.

On this job the customer supplied the replacement relay. It was a used fleabay part, but worked a lot better. He's a collector and knew to be prepared for this fault.

73