I see that Steve, K7LXC, makes a replacement clamp for the OR-2800 rotor.
Listed under Misc.. on his excellent website.
Has anyone used these before ? It appears the clamp just bolts to the
existing flat plate on the OR-2800 rotor. My concern is, there appears to be
no adjustments like the stock clamp. IE: the old clamp comes in from BOTH
sides.
With Steve's clamp, it appears his retrofit clamp assy is designed for exactly
a 2" OD
mast. It appears to be welded across the bottom of the channel steel, so if
the mast
is slid into place, the bottom of the mast would hit the weld, and not end up
flush
with his [what looks like 1/2" thick steel] base plate ? This may be a good
thing,
allowing water to flow out the bottom of the mast.
Another concern is, what about the stock 1/4-20 SS bolt, that holds the
stock base plate
to the internal rotor spline ?? The stock set up has an option for a 'self
centering mast'
which consisted of a triangle piece of 1/2" thick AL.. with a longer 1/4-20
SS bolt.
Either way, the 1/4-20 bolt is used to ensure the two splines stay mated
together.
With out it, the mast and the new clamp assy, is free to completely lift up,
off the
rotor. Perhaps the new massive 1/2" thick base plate has a recess on the
underside
to accommodate the thickness of the head of the 1/4-20 bolt ??
The stock OR-2800 clamp, has what appears to be a flat on either side, designed
to accept a 3/8" G-5 or G-8 bolt... straight through both the clamp halves, AND
the mast between em. IE: "Pinning the mast" The OR-2800 manual warns
NOT to pin the mast ! "just let it slip, or you will damage the rotor gears"
Now if the stock clamp has no gripping power, and eventually slips, why not pin
it??
If Steve's jumbo replacement clamp is used, [ with 6 x U-bolts/no saddles] , I
doubt it
would slip either, it's the real deal. So what's the real difference ??
On 2nd thought, I think it would be VERY difficult to precisely drill a 3/8"
hole in
from BOTH sides of a 3/8" thick, 106 ksi chrome moly mast ?
Steve, what does this clamp of yours weigh ?? Is it readily available ?
Tnx... Jim VE7RF
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