Tnx to all who chimed in on this.    I guess I was just curious if this 
was just one of those things, or a  known issue either with this  amp or 
the 3-500z tube.

Spoke to the tech this morning at Ameritron who told me   that a cap had 
burned up and a few other  parts  on the board  were bad or suspicious 
as a result, so the board was replaced.

I asked if there were any particular reason for the failure, and he said 
he figured it was just  due to age and use.   Also said he and his 
supervisor had gone over the amp and found no other faults, or anything 
that could have  lead to the failure.     I think at Ameritron, a 
supervisor is someone who has been there 6 months.   Just kidding, the 
guy was very nice and seemed to know what he was talking about.  In 
other words he knew a thousand times more than me.

73, Steve KW3A



On 4/16/2015 7:54 PM, Steve Dresser wrote:
> Steve,
>
> Perhaps RF may have gotten loose in the amp and caused a capacitor to
> partially break down, and the final failure just happened later.
>
> Steve
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Forst" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: April 16, 2015 17:20
> Subject: Amp parisitic board failure
>
>
>> Just curious if someone more knowledgeable  than me might know what
>> happened to my  amp.
>>
>> Sent my AL-80B to Ameritron for service after hearing an arcing
>> followed by a burning smell.
>>
>> Just got an e-mail that  a cap on the parasitic board had failed and
>> board was replaced.  $57 plus shipping.
>>
>> Just wondering what might have caused this.    As I recall, I heard the
>> arc when I switched from standby to operate, and  would smell the
>> burning  odor anytime RF was  put to the amp.
>>
>> Amp is 6 years old.  Just one of those things?    Maybe just a bad
>> component?
>>
>> Anyone run into something like this before?    I know there could be a
>> number of reasons, or maybe no reason, but I'm just curious.
>>
>> 73, Steve KW3A
>>
>
>
>