RCI-2995 Power Supply ( Ridiculous)

[D Day]

I found this on the Snake Radio Customs testimonial page:

Monty A.

Well what can I say about my experience with Tim At S R C. I had a like new RCI 2995 base station with a bad power supply. He suggested we go with a whole new switching supply instead of spending money to fix the old heavy outdated supply it came with. It was the right way to go for sure. His common sense approach to problems is the way CB radio service should be and his communication was prompt and excellent. The receiver is 100% better and more quiet now and the output is as it should be not over done. I am very pleased with all aspects of him and his service more shops should take his lead and do the same for their customers. thanks Tim for a great job.

Monty A. AZ.

[dirtyjob]

am i missing something ? whats the ridiculous part ?

[MDYoungblood]

Good question dirtyjob ! Everyone knows the power supply in the 2995DX is the weak link and replacing it with a Mean Well PS is the answer. If you are not sure which one to get here is the part number, Model SE-600-15 PS.

3's

Greg

[D Day]

Apparently you're both missing something, but that's to be expected considering.

[Slyguy]

Apparently you're both missing something, but that's to be expected considering.

Would you care to enlighten us? I too am not seeing any purpose of the "ridiculous" part of this topic.

[dirtyjob]

Apparently you're both missing something, but that's to be expected considering.

well ya, I said I was missing something in my 1st response I thought.

All I got out of it was that a guy had a used RCI 2995 with the known bad power supply issue that plagued them and was steered into replacing it with a superior switching supply and gave props to the place that helped him out.

Was there more ?

Glad his radio is back in service anyways

[D Day]

Technically this post should be in the 'Radio Modifications' category but the moderator got confused and moved it here for whatever reason. Since apparently everyone knows why the power supply is the weakest link in the RCI-2995, would you care to explain why that is? Maybe then you could explain why we've never had an issue with them or with the Galaxy Saturn Turbo supplies. The point is that ripping a perfectly good PS out of a base station and replacing it with a cheap switching unit is completely redundant considering it would be faster and less expensive to modify the supply to keep up with the modified transmitter. And don't tell me that making the radio 15 lbs. lighter is any consideration at all unless you're completely lazy and plan on carrying it around all day. I understand that switching supplies are a fad right now, but the truth is they have the highest failure rate in the industry.

Bad engineering = bad business:

[Bombero]

Apparently you're both missing something, but that's to be expected considering.

Hey..

A legit question was answered with a sarcastic remark....We need more explanation and information.

And from what I can see...all here to learn.

If I remember correctly...we are pretty much all amateurs in this hobby.

Bombero

[D Day]

Good question dirtyjob ! Everyone knows the power supply in the 2995DX is the weak link and replacing it with a Mean Well PS is the answer. If you are not sure which one to get here is the part number, Model SE-600-15 PS.

This is not a question, but rather a statement based on opinion instead of fact. I'm sure there are amateurs on here who would love to learn about this subject and I would be more than happy to share what I know as usual, but it would seem that a few myths need to be dispelled first before the conversation can get interesting.

[MDYoungblood]

Good question dirtyjob ! Everyone knows the power supply in the 2995DX is the weak link and replacing it with a Mean Well PS is the answer. If you are not sure which one to get here is the part number, Model SE-600-15 PS.

3's

Greg

Next time use the entire quote, I like the credit.

This is not a question, but rather a statement based on opinion instead of fact. I'm sure there are amateurs on here who would love to learn about this subject and I would be more than happy to share what I know as usual, but it would seem that a few myths need to be dispelled first before the conversation can get interesting.

I believe your "opinion" of my fact is incorrect, the majority of good shops do change out the non functioning PS with a more modern switching supply because it is cheaper in the long run, waiting on parts is something I in my "opinion" believe only you would want to do. I wonder how long it would take. I do know that when something comes across my bench the owner wanted it back "yesterday".

Technically this post should be in the 'Radio Modifications' category but the moderator got confused and moved it here for whatever reason. Since apparently everyone knows why the power supply is the weakest link in the RCI-2995, would you care to explain why that is? Maybe then you could explain why we've never had an issue with them or with the Galaxy Saturn Turbo supplies. The point is that ripping a perfectly good PS out of a base station and replacing it with a cheap switching unit is completely redundant considering it would be faster and less expensive to modify the supply to keep up with the modified transmitter. And don't tell me that making the radio 15 lbs. lighter is any consideration at all unless you're completely lazy and plan on carrying it around all day. I understand that switching supplies are a fad right now, but the truth is they have the highest failure rate in the industry.

Bad engineering = bad business:

First to this I would not remove a working PS just to replace it with a new one, that is a hack just bumping up the price of repairs.
Second who cares if it 15 lbs. lighter, it is a base radio. Third I am glad you have never had an issue with your radios, undoubtedly kept your fingers out of them.
Above all I do agree with your last statement, "Bad engineering = bad business:", if China would spend a little more time on the quality of their products they would drive the repair business in the states out of business.

I found this on the Snake Radio Customs testimonial page:

Monty A.

Well what can I say about my experience with Tim At S R C. I had a like new RCI 2995 base station with a bad power supply. He suggested we go with a whole new switching supply instead of spending money to fix the old heavy outdated supply it came with. It was the right way to go for sure. His common sense approach to problems is the way CB radio service should be and his communication was prompt and excellent. The receiver is 100% better and more quiet now and the output is as it should be not over done. I am very pleased with all aspects of him and his service more shops should take his lead and do the same for their customers. thanks Tim for a great job.

Monty A. AZ.

What is ridiculous about this customers feedback?

The only thing I saw wrong in this YouTube was Tim, (Snake Radio), is not very good at making tubes but working on the radio itself I don't see a problem. Maybe he should cut back on his caffeine intake.

3's

Greg

[Z-MAN]

Maybe D-Day needs to pay attention better, he upgraded the PS because when he turned the voltage up (VR was all the way down, very low power) it FAILED! Instead of dumping money into the poorly designed PS, he simply did what RCI should be doing anyways. Alot of home techs play Monday morning quarterback with Tim. He does good work and video tapes it step by step for all to see.

[Cool Mule]

First, you must realize what a switch mode power supply is and why it exists. They are made for one reason only. Manufactures sell all over the world, to all sorts of countries with different sorts of line power. USA uses 60Hz while europe uses 50Hz. A switch mode will do it all, you can plug it in anywhere and it will run the unit. It was never even pretended to be better, it is just handier for manyfactures not to have to design supplies for every market.

They are far more delicate and if you blow one, you just about have to shotgun it or it will blow again!!!! Sony is notorious for this. Even the coils will change values on the blow along with the pico caps! Just put in new transistors and in 5 minutes, the timing changes in this so called "stable oscillator" will take out the new transistors. It comes down to how many sets of $30 transistors you want to buy before you shotgun it (I have had several "interesting" conversations with Sony about their switch modes. Let's just say I am not on the top of their Christmas gift list)

Now switch modes work best in a unit where power draw does not spike. It likes "sameness". That is OK in a VCR or TV or DVD player. Not so good in a transmitter where you kick it every time you key the mic. Whoever posted that you would be better off to modify the linear supply in the radio is right, but then again you shouldn't have tried to get the unit to do things it was not designed for LOL!

[Slyguy]

First, you must realize what a switch mode power supply is and why it exists. They are made for one reason only. Manufactures sell all over the world, to all sorts of countries with different sorts of line power. USA uses 60Hz while europe uses 50Hz. A switch mode will do it all, you can plug it in anywhere and it will run the unit. It was never even pretended to be better, it is just handier for manyfactures not to have to design supplies for every market

That is not why switching power supplies came into existence. They are lighter, smaller, do not require a large transformer, and are less expensive to build. They have been running linear power supplies for many years capable of both 120 and 240v input voltage. Ever see the little switch on the back that says 120/240. Being able to have "auto sensing voltage input" was just a side benefit of the switching design and all switching power supplies didn't used to be able to run off 120 or 240 without throwing the small switch on the back panel.