[DekaPrime]

So I just got my new Spirit pack just in time to start some mods and I noticed something missing. The yellow tube (which I think is normally misscollored) is completely missing. Not only that but the connector on the bottom of the arm is gone too and there's now real screws on the front. There's also a screw hole with the brass rod would fit in so that may be a good or bad thing.
The question is, is this an actual change to the pack or did I get one that's missing parts?
Any insight would be helpful.



And this is the updated arm for 2018, I did find that there is a hole in the bottom of the arm with no screw so it may be that I'm missing a part, if that's the case it's back to Spirit for an exchange.






One final note the clamp for the ribbon cable has changed too, now it has actual screws and the slot does not go into the pack shell, this may make it a bit easier to mod later.

Anyone else picked up a new pack and noticed the changes shown here.

[DekaPrime]

*UPDATE*

Turns out yes the part was missing. Went back to Spirit and exchanged for another pack. It still has the screws in the front of the arm and the ribbon clamp can be removed. We'll see if that makes modding it any easier.

[roofgoof]

its getting off topic but I'd like to see this new ribbon clamp

[DekaPrime]

So I too the motherboard off today and got some pics of the inside, I did take a few pics of the cable clamp as requested. Theres a few other changes I've noticed from looking at others pack online, let's start with the clamp.

As you can see I've removed a screw from it so it's no longer molded into the pack but a seperate part. The ribbon is then hot glued under the clamp to keep it held down. There's a part in the center of the silver clamp with teeth to grip the ribbon. I don't know how well this will work with the replacement from Spongeface but we'll see.










The other thing I noticed is the straps are now held in with rods and screws, which should make it a lot easier to remove them when it's time to mount it on a frame.



a shot of the inside electronics, looks like it's been updated as noted in the tutorial for the Spongeface kit so a little work will need to be done to get it all set up.



Finally I did remove those screws from the front of the ion arm, they are long as hell, mostly because the top half is completely removable. The screw hole that's where the brass rod should go also look like it's already the right size so no need to drill just super glue and done.