Aluminium oxide removal
 

Hi All,

A bit trivial but very common problem...
I got a free 203BA i had to remove from a tower. It has been there for
years.
All parts are OK except that i can't dismantle some elements. Certain
tube junctions are corroded despite some tape protection, and the
elements are like soldered.

Is there a safe way to remove the aluminium oxide so i can disassemble
the elements for transportation ?

I've been told that letting petroleum seep between the elements would
help. But that can take days or ... weeks...

I'm sure, you all had this problem one day and that someone found a
"good" solution.

Thanks for any comments,
73, Patrick TK5EP

Aluminium oxide removal
 

On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:26:58 +0200, tk5ep wrote:

Hi All,

A bit trivial but very common problem...
I got a free 203BA i had to remove from a tower. It has been there for
years.
All parts are OK except that i can't dismantle some elements. Certain
tube junctions are corroded despite some tape protection, and the
elements are like soldered.

Is there a safe way to remove the aluminium oxide so i can disassemble
the elements for transportation ?

I've been told that letting petroleum seep between the elements would
help. But that can take days or ... weeks...

I'm sure, you all had this problem one day and that someone found a
"good" solution.

Thanks for any comments,
73, Patrick TK5EP

I like to use a source of heat like a propane torch to loosen up the
joints. You will need gloves as well, the aluminum conducts heat very
fast...

Aluminium oxide removal
 

Dans son message précédent, John Ferrell a écrit :
On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:26:58 +0200, tk5ep wrote:

Hi All,

A bit trivial but very common problem...
I got a free 203BA i had to remove from a tower. It has been there for
years.
All parts are OK except that i can't dismantle some elements. Certain
tube junctions are corroded despite some tape protection, and the
elements are like soldered.

Is there a safe way to remove the aluminium oxide so i can disassemble
the elements for transportation ?

I've been told that letting petroleum seep between the elements would
help. But that can take days or ... weeks...

I'm sure, you all had this problem one day and that someone found a
"good" solution.

Thanks for any comments,
73, Patrick TK5EP

I like to use a source of heat like a propane torch to loosen up the
joints. You will need gloves as well, the aluminum conducts heat very
fast...

Hi John,

Thanks for your suggestion.
I'm surprised to receive so few answers to a problem that seemed very
trivial to me...
You can get dozens of answers for a patent problem but only one to a
daily problem that every ham has encountered at least once in his life
.... ^^

Thanks and 73,
Patrick

Aluminium oxide removal
 

On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:22:56 +0200, tk5ep Patrick Egloff
wrote:

Thanks for your suggestion.
I'm surprised to receive so few answers to a problem that seemed very
trivial to me...
You can get dozens of answers for a patent problem but only one to a
daily problem that every ham has encountered at least once in his life

Practical problems have practical solutions - you got the most common
one that works. Same advice works for getting aluminum wheels off
brake hubs. That's pretty common too. Or get a bigger hammer.

If you want more correspondence, ask for a patented method - and then
try sifting the details from the obscure responses. There may even be
a method employing the weak force generated by the crippled Large
Hadron Accelerator. The corriolus force (twisting) might work too.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Aluminium oxide removal
 

On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:22:56 +0200, tk5ep Patrick Egloff
wrote:

Dans son message précédent, John Ferrell a écrit :
On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:26:58 +0200, tk5ep wrote:

Hi All,

A bit trivial but very common problem...
I got a free 203BA i had to remove from a tower. It has been there for
years.
All parts are OK except that i can't dismantle some elements. Certain
tube junctions are corroded despite some tape protection, and the
elements are like soldered.

Is there a safe way to remove the aluminium oxide so i can disassemble
the elements for transportation ?

I've been told that letting petroleum seep between the elements would
help. But that can take days or ... weeks...

I'm sure, you all had this problem one day and that someone found a
"good" solution.

Thanks for any comments,
73, Patrick TK5EP

I like to use a source of heat like a propane torch to loosen up the
joints. You will need gloves as well, the aluminum conducts heat very
fast...

Hi John,

Thanks for your suggestion.
I'm surprised to receive so few answers to a problem that seemed very
trivial to me...
You can get dozens of answers for a patent problem but only one to a
daily problem that every ham has encountered at least once in his life
... ^^

Thanks and 73,
Patrick

Experience sharing is one of the many positive aspects of the
internet.
The picture on qrz.com is beautiful!
It is going to take a while for me to get all the way through your
website. I hope to work you some day. I am not real active on Ham
Radio but I expect that to increase. The delivery man just dropped off
a new Ameritron AL-80B amplifier today, I am getting ready to open the
box...

John Ferrell W8CCW

Aluminium oxide removal
 

Richard Clark wrote:

The corriolus force (twisting) might work too.


Well, done, sir, well done!


- 73 de Mike N3LI -

Aluminium oxide removal
 

tk5ep Patrick Egloff wrote:

Thanks for your suggestion.
I'm surprised to receive so few answers to a problem that seemed very
trivial to me...
You can get dozens of answers for a patent problem but only one to a
daily problem that every ham has encountered at least once in his life



Well, its pretty hard to improve on John's method. 8^)

In the interest of furthering the conversation, it might turn to what to
do about that corrosion and general poor looks of the aluminum at present

Some folks advise using steel wool to remove the surface tarnish, others
caution that particles of steel will embed themselves in the tubing and
cause rust.

There is brass wool that would negate that, as well as Stainless or
copper wool.

If you really wanted to pretty the thing up, you could chuck the
elements in a drill and use aluminum polish.

One thing that I might try the next time I have to do this is to use
some motorcycle wheel cleaner on the tubing. It works a trick on my
bike's wheels. You spray it on, then brush it around, then rinse it off.
Wear gloves and don't let it sit too long, as it's a bit caustic.

Then the really big thing is upon re-assembly, you'll really want to use
some oxide prevention creme on every joint. I've bought some at the
local Hardware store, it's inexpensive and a tube will last a lifetime.
Sounds like the original assembly didn't use that.

-73 de Mike N3LI -

Aluminium oxide removal
 

John Ferrell wrote:

The picture on qrz.com is beautiful!
It is going to take a while for me to get all the way through your
website. I hope to work you some day. I am not real active on Ham
Radio but I expect that to increase. The delivery man just dropped off
a new Ameritron AL-80B amplifier today, I am getting ready to open the
box...



Gonna bark big, eh?


- 73 de N3LI -

Aluminium oxide removal
 

Michael Coslo wrote:
Richard Clark wrote:

The corriolus force (twisting) might work too.


Well, done, sir, well done!

Not that well, he could have spelled it correctly,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

Aluminium oxide removal
 

On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:19:35 -0400, "
wrote:

Michael Coslo wrote:
Richard Clark wrote:

The corriolus force (twisting) might work too.


Well, done, sir, well done!

Not that well, he could have spelled it correctly,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

It was spelled according to the British-American system of Illinoise.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

Aluminium oxide removal
 

"Richard Clark" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:19:35 -0400, "
wrote:

Michael Coslo wrote:
Richard Clark wrote:

The corriolus force (twisting) might work too.


Well, done, sir, well done!

Not that well, he could have spelled it correctly,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

It was spelled according to the British-American system of Illinoise.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC


* 'Two countries separated by the same language'.

Chris

Aluminium oxide removal
 

"Michael Coslo" wrote in message
...
tk5ep Patrick Egloff wrote:

Thanks for your suggestion.
I'm surprised to receive so few answers to a problem that seemed very
trivial to me...
You can get dozens of answers for a patent problem but only one to a
daily problem that every ham has encountered at least once in his life



Well, its pretty hard to improve on John's method. 8^)

In the interest of furthering the conversation, it might turn to what to
do about that corrosion and general poor looks of the aluminum at present

Some folks advise using steel wool to remove the surface tarnish, others
caution that particles of steel will embed themselves in the tubing and
cause rust.

There is brass wool that would negate that, as well as Stainless or copper
wool.


Those 3M 'Scotchbrite' pads work well too. There's a surface treatment that
used to be known as 'alochrome' (or similar spelling) in the UK that does
wonderful things to aluminium alloy surfaces - it's just a dip (but its
probably a combination of substances prohibited by the HSE nowadays).

Chris

Aluminium oxide removal
 

Michael Coslo a exprimé avec précision :
tk5ep Patrick Egloff wrote:

Thanks for your suggestion.
I'm surprised to receive so few answers to a problem that seemed very
trivial to me...
You can get dozens of answers for a patent problem but only one to a daily
problem that every ham has encountered at least once in his life



Well, its pretty hard to improve on John's method. 8^)

In the interest of furthering the conversation, it might turn to what to do
about that corrosion and general poor looks of the aluminum at present

Some folks advise using steel wool to remove the surface tarnish, others
caution that particles of steel will embed themselves in the tubing and cause
rust.

There is brass wool that would negate that, as well as Stainless or copper
wool.

If you really wanted to pretty the thing up, you could chuck the elements in
a drill and use aluminum polish.

One thing that I might try the next time I have to do this is to use some
motorcycle wheel cleaner on the tubing. It works a trick on my bike's wheels.
You spray it on, then brush it around, then rinse it off. Wear gloves and
don't let it sit too long, as it's a bit caustic.

Then the really big thing is upon re-assembly, you'll really want to use some
oxide prevention creme on every joint. I've bought some at the local Hardware
store, it's inexpensive and a tube will last a lifetime. Sounds like the
original assembly didn't use that.

-73 de Mike N3LI -

Hi all,

Thanks for these constructive answers...
My problem is that a local ham passed away and his widow asked me to
remove all antennas.
The only yagi he had was a 203BA. For transportation and reuse of this
antenna, i need to dismantle it. I was not able the separate the boom
in 2 pieces nor could i dismantle 3 half elements.

My first problem is the do that without breaking or deforming
something. Once this has been done i will clean the element parts that
have to be in contact together. I will leave the other parts corroded
by the aluminium oxide which is makes good "natural" protection.

I will try to heat the joints, all my other efforts did not help...
Unfortunately i could not carry the parts in my small car and i have to
wait the widows return to continue my work.

I was thinking of a chemical solution to remove the oxide without any
pain, but i think i will continue as far : "may the force be with you".

Thanks,

Aluminium oxide removal
 

wrote:
Michael Coslo wrote:
Richard Clark wrote:

The corriolus force (twisting) might work too.


Well, done, sir, well done!

Not that well, he could have spelled it correctly,


In the time honored tradition of destroying a joke by explaining it,
Richard made a remark about the OP's noting that other threads get a lot
more traction, namely the Coriolis thread of Arts'. That one had a lot
of posts. The twisting was the obvious reference to Arts' theory, which
was combined and brought home with the necessary twist on the antenna
elements. Finally, the spelling - well, Art has been known to make a few
spelling mistakes. We're talking three levels of joke in one here!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect

Aluminium oxide removal
 

On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:32:28 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:

The delivery man just dropped off
a new Ameritron AL-80B amplifier today, I am getting ready to open the
box...



Gonna bark big, eh?


- 73 de N3LI -
In my 48 years of Amateur Radio this is a new direction. I have never
had more than 100 watts available.
Besides, it was a 49 year anniversary present from the XYL!

John Ferrell W8CCW