Collins 516F-2
Power Supply Rebuild
I’m rebuilding this Collins 516F-2 power supply. One of the chokes, L1 was bad, had indications the choke was overheated. The others 2 chokes were questionable so I’m replacing all 3 chokes.
I measure the DC resistance of the power transformer windings and made note of them on the 516F-2 schematic.
This power supply has a single primary winding. The schematic for single primary winding 516F-2 power supplies can be found on the cca website’s manual page.
Top view before rebuild. Note the dirt around the power transformer and chokes.
Original Below Chassis view
Top View After Removing chokes and clean up of dirt and grime around the power transformer and choke area. New replacement L1, L2, and L3 chokes have been ordered. The original tube sockets were replaced with new Ceramic octal sockets. The Bias pot was replaced with a new pot.
A new 3 wire power cord replaced the original cracked 3 wire power cord. I reused the original power cord strain relief.
A length of clear Nylon tubing was slid over the entire length of each V1 HV Blue wire. There have been some hams who have experienced arcing between the 2 Blue wires especially where the wires bend at 90 degree angles. There’s “2KVAC” across both Blue wires, 1KVAC CT. The clear Nylon tubing provides an additional amount of insulation to the old aging Blue wires to help prevent arcing between the 2 Blue wires.
The twisted wires around the wiring harness are temporary. Once the rebuild is complete, White tie wraps will replace the twisted wires around the wiring harness. The Hex metal standoffs are for the W0IY upgrade kit. I have the kit, completely assembled, but I’m not going to use it on this power supply. I have the original capacitor clamps and will be remounting them to hold the new replacement capacitors.
New replacement chokes, L1, L2, and L3 can be purchased from the following link:
