antenna problem

[NITRO]

just got a call off a mate ... he bought a 10 15 and 20meter trapped vertical antenna ... put it up and all worked well ... last night it rained hard, and this morning he turned on his hf radio and it blew .... he says its because the rain got in the antenna and shorted out the radio ????
is that possible? i thought it would put his swr up ... not short out the radio ...
.. if its NOT due to rain .... what else could cause it please ??
thank you

[GeeFull]

just got a call off a mate ... he bought a 10 15 and 20meter trapped vertical antenna ... put it up and all worked well ... last night it rained hard, and this morning he turned on his hf radio and it blew .... he says its because the rain got in the antenna and shorted out the radio ????
is that possible? i thought it would put his swr up ... not short out the radio ...
.. if its NOT due to rain .... what else could cause it please ??
thank you

I am assuming "it blew" when he transmitted, not when he just powered it on?
Depending on radio concerned, most reasonably modern jobs have some sort of high SWR warning and protection, and will withstand an initial reasonable length of time key up, give out the warning, reduce TX power, and still survive.
Rain water doesn't tend to present a "dead short" situation, however much it pours down.
It may be antenna related, or it could be something else, dodgy feeder, dodgy patch leads, or just the coincidental aspect of that's the time the radio came to the end of its useful transmission life!
Whilst getting it repaired, he does need to check everything else he has connected, including PSU, as depending on make and type, "it" could even have gone over voltage etc.

[paulears]

I too suspect simple coincidence. "He turned it on and it blew" would be a rarity. Mind you, I did once get a puddle of water appear behind my radio. The cable was Westflex H100, and there is a water path from one end to the other as it's an air insulated type. Is there any chance that the feeder has acted like a hosepipe and filled the radio with water? That's about the only cause I can think of for something 'blowing'.

[GeeFull]

I too suspect simple coincidence. "He turned it on and it blew" would be a rarity. Mind you, I did once get a puddle of water appear behind my radio. The cable was Westflex H100, and there is a water path from one end to the other as it's an air insulated type. Is there any chance that the feeder has acted like a hosepipe and filled the radio with water? That's about the only cause I can think of for something 'blowing'.

I had exactly the same happen with some H100!
Fortunately it was spotted dripping out of the shack connector plug end, without getting into the expensive Icom RX it was connected to!