[Elecraft] KXPD2 contact post screws...

[Tom Francis, W1TEF]

Greetings,

I've been plagued with an issue involving the KXPD2 paddles contact posts,
namely the posts coming loose and the screws so loose that the posts 
actually
fall out of the paddles.  This is not a one-off issue - I've been 
through four sets
of these paddles and they all succumb to the same problem.  I've tried 
non-hardening
Loc-Tite, Loc-Tite blue goo - in short everything other than Permatex to 
hold
the screws and contact posts in place - nothing seems to have any effect on
the posts coming loose.

After thinking about it, and experimenting a little, I've come to the 
conclusion
that the issue is the screws, not the posts - I believe that the screws 
are too short
and need to be longer to properly keep tension on the posts under normal 
use.

I'm also convinced that the minor "warming" of the area where the KXPD2 
attaches
to the radio exacerbates the problem - this may be just my own idea 
conceptually
and I realize it seems unlikely to be a problem, but you never know.

It is what it is - what I need is to size the screws that hold the 
contact posts in place
so I can experiment with longer screws.

Anybody happen to know what the screw size is?  And before you ask, yes 
I know
about "better" keys and I do use them, but I want to solve this issue as 
I really like
the idea of the built in paddles - it's very convenient when operating 
mobile.

Very best regards,

Tom, W1TEF