[Elecraft] Loctite

[Hank P]

One more point about "loose" screws or nuts  and Loctite.  Any place the 
hardware is going thru a PC board (or any material that will cold flow at 
the pressures we get) , after a period of time there will be some "cold 
flow" of the board and Loctite will not fix that. Hopefully the split lock 
washers will minimize the effect  .  I had two  transceivers from another 
American manufacturer even with split locks and the tx ALC  would get 
unstable about once a year or two and just tightening all the grounding 
screws around the boards  would tame it down for another year. I suspect if 
I kept them for long enough the clod flow would finally stop.

Hank K7HP


From: Don Wilhelm
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2015 7:05 AM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Loctite

Mainly for kit builders --
Because the screws are stainless steel but are threaded into aluminum,
there is a small chance of a slight galling of the threads, making it
impossible to fully tighten the screw.  A bit of light oil the first
time a screw is inserted would my choice rather than a thread locking
compound.  If the oil drips, you have too much on - wipe the threads
with a cloth, there will be enough remaining to do the job.

The black screws are *supposed* to be an aid in tightening, but a little
bit of extra gives that last bit of assurance.

I will repeat my caution to use a good #1 Phillips screwdriver to keep
from rounding out the screw heads.  If you can see shiny spots on the
screwdriver tip, replace it with a new one.

73,
Don W3FPR