[Elecraft] K3 Assembly issue with bottom Heat Sink cover!

[williamsonr at pbtcomm.net]

Thanks Bob!

I bet this is it.  At midnight I was beginning to go cross eyed.  I must have missed the internal tooth lock washers!  Better RF ground this way as well.

Thanks Gang!

73,
Rodger
N4NRW

---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:06:04 -0500
>From: "Bob Serwy" <bob at n9rs.com>  
>Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K3 Assembly issue with bottom Heat Sink cover!     
>To: <williamsonr at pbtcomm.net>
>
>According to the assembly manual page 55, The NOTE states "The three screws
>marked "A" must be "1/4" black pan head with inside tooth lock washers under
>the screw heads."
>
>Also read the CAUTION. 
>
>
>Bob Serwy - N9RS
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
>williamsonr at pbtcomm.net
>Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 6:51 AM
>To: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: [Elecraft] K3 Assembly issue with bottom Heat Sink cover! 
>
>Hey gang,
>
>Just spent 4 hours assembling K3 s/n 1318 and all went well except for one
>slight but potentially serious hardware problem.  When installing the bottom
>heat sink cover over the LPA I noticed that the required 4-40 x 1/4" screws
>bottomed out in the standoffs under the TO-220 LPA transistors before they
>would compress the cover to the transistors (and yes I can measure screw
>lengths).  This will leave a gap between the transistor and the heatsink and
>not provide proper heat sinking!  It is strange to note that one of the
>Manual Errata changes was to point out that the heat sink cover was
>"slightly" thicker than the other bottom cover.  Wonder if this part has
>changed?  Any way, I added 3 #4 stainless steel flat washers under the screw
>heads and that allows the screws to fully compress the heat sink against the
>transistors.  For a belts and suspenders fix I also added a dab of heat sink
>compound to the transistors as well.  I did not check the screws coming from
>the top side of  t!
>!
>he LPA assy to see if the factory may have used the wrong/longer screws
>taking up extra standoff threads.  A #4 split washer could have also been
>left off of this top side screw and create the same issue or tol. stack up
>of the parts?
>
>Any way HEADS UP!
>
>73,
>
>Rodger
>N4NRW
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