Hi Folks,
This may not be a very high tech solution, but it got me out of a perceived pickle. I had stripped one of the screws securing the final transistors to the heat sink in one of my K2/100s. I was thinking "how the heck am I going to remove a stripped screw in such a tight space?". A friend had suggested super gluing a Phillips screwdriver into the stripped screw. I tried it and the super glue didn't hold. Then I thought I could drill and tap the screw out, but I couldn't find a tap that was small enough. What finally worked was simply to drill into the center of the screw until the screw head detached from the screw shaft. It took a 5/64" bit. I had loosened all the other screws on the board and the board simply lifted away from the heat sink when the screw head separated from the shaft. With the board removed, the screw shaft could easily be unscrewed from the heat sink and replaced with a new screw. By the way, I turned the KPA100 board screw-head-down when I drilled so there wouldn't be much of a chance for metal splinters getting into the board. It worked! I have always used a high quality #1 screwdriver when I tightened these screws, but it stripped out anyway. I use my K2/100s exclusively for contesting and have been finding I need to re-tighten those screws after 20-30 hours of full bore operating (100 watts, lots of CQs). Maybe a Lock-tight type product is needed to keep the screws from backing out after thermal cycling, but some of you may have some advice whether this should be done or not. Anyway, in case you find your final's screw stripped, this method worked for me. P.S. I played around in ARRL SS SSB this past weekend. The K2 is a GREAT side band radio too! I know, I know.I can get ejected from this reflector for such heresy. ;-) 73, Bob K5WA K2s #4687 and #5119 in SO2R configuration _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
