[Elecraft] Variable Inductors Stuck

[G3VVT at aol.com]

Hi Gary,
 
A tip passed on to me when I was having the same problems with some very  
small inductor cores in a commercial 2 way was to place a small amount of  
petroleum jelly on the thread topside of the core and carefully warm it with a  heat 
gun or hair dryer before attempting to shift it.
 
It is very important to use the correct trimmer tool for  moving inductor 
cores as some of the ferrite types are very brittle and  unforgiving. Quite a lot 
of the small inductor cores also have a trimmer slot  both sides which means 
the core can be reversed if one side gets broken or  can be sometimes be 
accessed from the opposite side, though you cannot usually  make much headway if 
the core splits. At this point the easiest option is to  order a new variable 
inductor.
 
The worst situation is if the inductor core jams solid and no spares are  
available. One way out at this point is to add another ferrite/iron  dust core if 
the inductance is too low or a brass core if too high. Not a  problem with 
Elecraft products, but what can be a solution with obsolete  equipment when in 
that situation.
 
Bob, G3VVT