Has anyone had to specify or repair smaller threaded holes (8-32) in
aluminum that have been heli-coiled? How about the difference better
regular heli-coil and the "locking" heli-coil that has the
circumference slightly deformed triangularly so there is extra
gripping by those 3 sides with the fastener. This sounds like a
pretty good idea and I wonder if it eliminates the need for thread
locking fluid. There isn't a lot of vibration or heavy load
(application is an industrial keyboard/control panel)

The manufacturer seems to have specified heli-coil (1 "diameter" long)
as part of the original design/construction because of concern about
stripping out more due to the fastener being inserted and removed
rather than the load being secured.

I'm curious to know if we'd be better off in this application with a
stud going into bare aluminum (no heli-coil at all) and probably using
an aggressive thread locking fluid. (red) This way there would be
practically no insertion/removal in that threaded hole, just the
torque/stress from removing the retaining nut. (probably nyloc)