[Elecraft] KPA500 Heat Expansion Pop

[FredJensen]

Every engineering new grad wants to be the Design Engineer, never 
knowing how complex and demanding Product Engineering can be.  Nearly 50 
email list posts leads to 1/16" change in screw length.  I'd be amazed 
and stunned, except I've seen it so many times.   Count up all the parts 
in your radio, multiply by all the possible dimensions that could 
matter, and then multiply by all the possible values for those 
dimensions [or reverse the order, multiplication is commutative], and 
only those who truly understand the magnitude of the National debt can 
understand a number that large.  And no, I am not a Product Engineer, 
nor do I play one on TV.  I just have a huge respect for them.  When was 
the last Nobel awarded to one?

I am amazed that the "Early Elecraft" decided to offer kits, and has 
succeeded so well, given all those like me who, given a technological 
challenge, cannot fail to screw it up, or so it seems.

Fred K6DGW
Auburn CA
KX1, K2, K3,KPA100, P3, and misc other stuff

On 12/10/2011 4:06 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> The Z bracket should be secure and tight against the side of the heat sink.
> My KPA500 has 5/16" screws and they tighten the Z-bracket so it does not
> move. More recently there have been comments that the 5/16" screws are too
> long, and the length of those screws has now been reduced to 1/4" to ensure
> they don't "bottom out" against the threaded hole in the heat sink before
> they are tight.
>