The screws do not "back out", and any kind of product like Locktite would really mess things up making it impossible to tighten the screws or to replace the finals should you have a failed final transistor...During heat build-up in the transistor and the heat sink the expansion of parts compresses the insulators...Everything cools and shrinks back to normal, but the insulators do not, they are compressed, and that leaves things loose...
Make sure that the screw driver you are using is not a Reed and Prince instead of a Phillips...Reed and Prince drivers have a sharp point and Phillips, by comparison, have a blunt point...If a Reed and Prince screw driver is used on a Phillips screw, the point bottoms out in the screw before the side flutes are fully engaged and the crosshead of the screw might strip out...Some screw drivers sold as Phillips have too sharp a point... Jerry, wa2dkg >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.< _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] 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
