King KX165 Nav failure

[Igor_U]

I have KX165 as Nav-com 2 and i noticed it failed this Friday  while IMC on ILS at PWT. Nav 2 is needed to define a  Fix as radial from SEA…. Radio looked  like all was working, all the digits are on but I had no ID beeps and needle on CDI would not move.  Also, the DME that is set to remote via Nav2 was displaying the distance so at first i thought  SEA VOR was down. No Notams?
 

anyway, it would do the same with all the all the nearby VORs.

my though was indicator at first but now I suspect Nav portion. Also, when I pull the nav knob to display radial, feature is not working.

 

I would like to hear from somebody experienced with the same navcom… what could go wrong.

Also, who can repair it if Crown tech at KPAE can’t do it. I have to speak to them on Monday and see if they can provide a spare unit for a test.

in a past, I would take a radio (or a plane) to Amercan Avionics at KBFI but sadly they're gone and we lost a great avionics repair facility in Seattle.

 

looking forward hearing from you.

 

[Will.iam]

I can identify, my bk-165 Nav section was also not working the CDI needle even though the From To pointer did seem to flip correctly. While my aircraft was down for a month annual the avionics shop came over and looked at the radio. Said the capacitor in the nav section of radio had died and would need to be replaced. They didn’t have the parts and wiukd need to send it out. I didn’t want my annual extending out further so i deferred that mx until later in the year. Might take it up to altus OK to let the shop there work on it. 

[PT20J]

I have a working KX-165 and a GI 106A just removed for a panel upgrade if you need them. Rachel at Crown told me she sends King radios to Bevan for repair.

Skip

[jetdriven]

clean the contact card on the rear of the unit and reseat it into the tray. We repaired one at Bevan but its expensive, it was 900$.

 

[Igor_U]

On 11/1/2021 at 5:53 PM, PT20J said:

I have a working KX-165 and a GI 106A just removed for a panel upgrade if you need them. Rachel at Crown told me she sends King radios to Bevan for repair.

Skip

Well,

i spoke to Rachel and Crown has no tech available to do any bench repairs. She recommended Spencer for local work but normally Crown now sends everything to Mid-continent instruments and avionics at KVNY. 
I spoke to tech at Spencer and was told the should be able to fix it.  Will fly down on Friday and leave the radio for repairs and report back.

 

I don’t think cleaning contact card would do it. I already removed the unit, put it back and test it with same failure. But i can try it before the flight..

 

thank you 

[carusoam]

Let’s see what @Alan Fox might recommend… (Kx165 with nav issue…)

-a-

[Jake@BevanAviation]

You might give us a call and ask for Mike or Bill,  they should be able to give a rough estimate on what you would be looking at for a repair.  Biggest problem with the KX155-165 units tends to be display issues and cap leakage.

[Igor_U]

9 hours ago, Jake@BevanAviation said:

You might give us a call and ask for Mike or Bill,  they should be able to give a rough estimate on what you would be looking at for a repair.  Biggest problem with the KX155-165 units tends to be display issues and cap leakage.

Jake,

thank you for reaching out. I will do that tomorrow.

[Igor_U]

Just a follow-up:

I got my KX165 repaired by Bevan and it is getting delivered today. I spoke to Bill before sending and they seem very knowledgeable about these radios and assured me they can fix it for a flat fee as long it's older then 1993 - younger units often had bad electrolytic (fakes) witch I often seen and heard in vintage audio world as well. My displays are good, they might be repaired at some point in the past, though.

They shipped the repaired and calibrated unit two days after receiving so that is a great turnaround for anyone needing the repair.

Local repair option was Spencer Aircraft at KPLU, however their tech was out sick full week and I opted not to fly there and deliver it on a very crappy day...