At a recent surplus sale at my local radio club (Cambridge & District Amateur Radio Club) I bought a dummy load for £5, getting it on the bench the resistance at the PL259 socket measured 88 ohms.

I also knew that the internal cooling fan was  U/S, so I stripped everything out of the case, ready for cleaning and reassembly.

The tubular resistors have an copper shim inside the aluminium clamping brackets, all parts were cleaned and degreased and put back together, on the rear heat sink I used heat transfer paste, and after replacing the internal fan, installed a cheap thermostatically controlled switch which I got from ebay, the temperature sensor is bonded to the rear resistor clamp .

The temperature selection is set by dip switches on the PCB, I set the fan to operate when the temperature is greater than 35c, power to the PCB is via a fused 2.5mm DC socket.

After reassembly the resistance dropped the 46 ohms and the fan kicks in when tested.

My homemade paint tin dummy load works great but the mineral oil is ‘wicking’ up the cables and finding its way to freedom, this one will mean the paint tin being relegated to the shed.