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

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...

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

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

Richard Clark wrote:

The corriolus force (twisting) might work too.


Well, done, sir, well done!


- 73 de Mike N3LI -

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

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

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 -

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

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 -