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#1
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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 |
#2
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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 "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 |
#3
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" 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 |
#4
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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 |
#5
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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 |
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