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cleaning antennas
Hi Group,
What is the best cleaner to shine up my 2 meter beam? de KJ4UO |
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PDRUNEN wrote:
Hi Group, What is the best cleaner to shine up my 2 meter beam? de KJ4UO Assuming it's aluminum, I like Brasso. Or just 3M pads with a good rinse. A 3M pad was worth about .4 dB on a range for me once at 432Mhz on a 17dB antenna. The antenna had been outside for about 2 years in MN. tom K0TAR |
i suggest using WD-40 and a scotchbright pad
just spray the element down with WD-40 then wipe with Scotchbright pad till clean then wipe off with paper tower works well and low on the elbow grease scale as well PDRUNEN wrote: Hi Group, What is the best cleaner to shine up my 2 meter beam? de KJ4UO |
"PDRUNEN" wrote in message ... Hi Group, What is the best cleaner to shine up my 2 meter beam? de KJ4UO You might try Noxon liquid (available in grocery stores) and a rag. Probably easier to use than any kind of pad. I would also dismantle the driven element, and clean off with steel wool any portion that gets clamped/bolted together. Tam/WB2TT |
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. Another guru prefers Scotch Bright. First wet the aluminum tubing with water and wet the steel wool. Add a small amount of dishwashing detergent to the steel wool and then scrub the aluminum. Rinse out the steel wool periodically with water. Then add more dishwashing detergent to the steel wool and clean again. Rinse off the aluminum tubing periodically. After cleaning a piece of aluminum tubing, rinse it thoroughly with clean water and then dry it off with a clean rag. When assembling an antenna, apply a very thin film of Penetrox-A anti-oxidant to all of the aluminum-to-aluminum connections. Unless you totally disassemble and clean the traps, never attempt to clean the outer aluminum shells of antenna traps as water and steel wool fragments can enter the traps causing shorts and excessive trap moisture content. When assembling any aluminum antenna, put a thin layer of based-based anti-seize compound on all aluminum to aluminum joints. These are Penetrox-A from the Burndy Corporation or another is Noalox. Never varnish any antenna - the varnish penetrates into the joints and causes continuity problems. Painting antennas for stealth can be done. Disassemble the antenna, apply paint, then scrape away any paint where the aluminum makes an electrical connection. When restoring an old antenna, consider replacing all the hardware (nuts & bolts) with stainless steel. -- The Anon Keyboard I doubt, therefore I might be "Tam/WB2TT" wrote in message ... "PDRUNEN" wrote in message ... Hi Group, What is the best cleaner to shine up my 2 meter beam? de KJ4UO You might try Noxon liquid (available in grocery stores) and a rag. Probably easier to use than any kind of pad. I would also dismantle the driven element, and clean off with steel wool any portion that gets clamped/bolted together. Tam/WB2TT |
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 |
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. "Tom Ring" wrote in message . .. PDRUNEN wrote: Hi Group, What is the best cleaner to shine up my 2 meter beam? de KJ4UO Assuming it's aluminum, I like Brasso. Or just 3M pads with a good rinse. A 3M pad was worth about .4 dB on a range for me once at 432Mhz on a 17dB antenna. The antenna had been outside for about 2 years in MN. tom K0TAR |
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 |
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 |
" 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 |
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