" wrote in message news:%OI9d.331893$mD.174063@attbi_s02...


"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message
...
Keyboard In The Wilderness wrote:

Advice from several gurus as garnered from the news groups over time.

For cleaning aluminum tubing, an antenna guru recommends the use of #0
steel
wool, along with dishwashing detergent. . .

I've read that using steel wool will result in tiny pieces of the steel
being left embedded in the aluminum, resulting in long term pitting and
corrosion. Is that an old wives' tale, then?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

No ! It definitely cleans and shines the anternna so objective is achieved.
Regarding possible destructive action , can you point to a study
that shows measurable losses with respect to exposure time ?
I am assuming that you are refering to cases where a sizeable portion of the
aluminum surface is removed and replaced by steel which somehow
prevent skin depth from attaining its original depth. ( not what the normal
operator had in mind)
But if you are refering to corrosion of the embedded steel particles
'tiny bits' that would be a nye impossible loss to measure and thus would
take it's place as "an old wives tale"
( Unless you have a study that proves otherwise
such as a .01" lump of steel embedded in a 1" diameter tube
provides a measureable loss )

Art

It's not loss. It's embedded bits of steel later turning to rust. I
could even see the possibility of the particles acting as diodes of
sorts, and could cause noise. Even if thats not true, embedded rust
particles on aluminum elements is not what I would call desired. Could
leave red streaks. Myself, I use the scotchbright pads, "usually
green", and whatever soap is around. MK

Prompted by the lack of a definitive response, I did a little web
research. A wide variety of industries (e.g., cookware and window frame
makers) routinely recommend cleaning aluminum with steel wool. Notably,
however, the FAA seems to prohibit it on aircraft. One newsgroup poster
(an EI, which would be a bad environment for corrosion) said he had
direct -- bad -- experience, and would never use steel wool on aluminum
again. So it looks to me like the jury is still out. Maybe it's ok if
you live in an environment that's pretty benign with respect to
corrosion, but a bad idea if you live close to the ocean. I don't claim
to know, and I've never felt the need to clean outside aluminum, so it's
just curiosity to me.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Roy I have used steel wool for year to clean Al with no problem, A couple of
years ago I experienced the problem you described in your post. Apparently
it depends on the type of Al used. The device I had trouble with was a TV
antenna. Electrical connections were bad and I had disassembled it for
cleaning. The Al was very soft.

"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message
...
Prompted by the lack of a definitive response, I did a little web
research. A wide variety of industries (e.g., cookware and window frame
makers) routinely recommend cleaning aluminum with steel wool. Notably,
however, the FAA seems to prohibit it on aircraft. One newsgroup poster
(an EI, which would be a bad environment for corrosion) said he had
direct -- bad -- experience, and would never use steel wool on aluminum
again. So it looks to me like the jury is still out. Maybe it's ok if
you live in an environment that's pretty benign with respect to
corrosion, but a bad idea if you live close to the ocean. I don't claim
to know, and I've never felt the need to clean outside aluminum, so it's
just curiosity to me.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

"Tom Ring" wrote in message
. ..
CW wrote:
Try Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. When I was in basic training,
there
was a guy that brought a can of Mother's with him. His stuff looked so
much
better than the rest (everyone else was using Brasso) that they told him
he
couldn't use it unless he supplied it to everyone. Yes, it's that good.


Thanks, I'll give it a try.

tom
K0TAR

The Mothers works very well depending on how bad the aluminum is gunked up
to start with. Mainly it a finish polish. I tried this but it was cleaning
to a degree I could not justify. Way to much elbow grease for something that
was going to be "tarnished" again soon and not cleaned for years.

try a tube of flitz metal polish and you dont need that much
just squeeze some from the tube to your hand about the size of a pl-259

then just rub it all over the aluminum with the palm of your hand and use
a light force but a strong enough one to make some friction ,
and you will notice the aluminum turns black.
this is good
then while the polish (black ) is still moist wipe off with a soft cloth
like a old bath toel and the more you rub the brighter it becomes and keep
rubbing till all oxidization is off of the antenna .
and then wait like 15 mins and buff it up again and youd be suprised at
how much more oxidization the buffing towel /rag is still taking off and
buff to your desired shine.
ps. you can also use easy off on you aluminum to remove heavy oxidization
but be quick to wipe wash it off, because it will eat your elements ... but
if your quick it works great...
I also shine boots, brass artillery shells and if it aint shiny It aint
worth keeping....
FLITZ can be bought in 5 lb cans.. and its great...
mike beauchamp ve3-tya
"Tom Ring" wrote in message
. ..
CW wrote:
Try Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. When I was in basic training,
there
was a guy that brought a can of Mother's with him. His stuff looked so
much
better than the rest (everyone else was using Brasso) that they told him
he
couldn't use it unless he supplied it to everyone. Yes, it's that good.


Thanks, I'll give it a try.

tom
K0TAR