Transformer mounting challenges

[kevin flynn]

Hello All,

I'm a Bottlehead afficionado, and have built three kits:  Crack/speedball, Reduction, and now the single ended experimenter.  Great gear, dollar for dollar and fun to build. Mostly. 
The reason I'm posting is hopefully to make life easier for fellow travellers.  In a word, I have found that the trafo mounting bolts supplied with these kits are too short...  Will they work / can they be made to work? Yes. I've found they can, and usually do.  However, when there are add-ons to the stock bolts, like ground tabs, terminal strips, etc., and esp. when using the self-lockers with attached washer, a five minute job turns into a half an hour spent trying to start the nuts without damaging any parts. It's not my job to tell BH how to make their kits, they know what they're doing. Sooo.., my recommendation is that builders source bolts 1/4 inch longer BEFORE starting assembly, and save aggravation and bad language.  Things may look a little less tidy on the underside, but well worth it IMHO.
Cheers, and happy building.
K.

[Doc B.]

Hi Kevin,

The underlying issue is that screws are often not consistent in their length. We see variations of 1/8" from batch to batch. If we go to the next size up there are sometimes clearance issues with other parts.

[kevin flynn]

Fair enough. 
As long as I know that it's an anomaly, and not intentional brain-twisting, I can deal with it.

Cheers,

Kevin

[Paul Joppa]

Just sayin' ... the lockwashers will compress, and the shoulder washers will seat better, once things are screwed down. (This is sometimes actually a good test for badly-seated shoulder washers. Yes I learned THAT the hard way   :^)  If the nut threads are not filled after all is screwed down, check these possible causes before seeking a new bolt.