Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements

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Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by W0IMO on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
What is a good product to use to prevent telescoping aluminum antenna elements from sticking together due to corosion. I bought a product called "Oxi-Ban" at an electrical supply store which is used to prevent corosion on electrical connections. I do not know if it is conductive. Can anybody help out? Charlie W0IMO

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by CW on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
You are trying to fight a loosing battle. Anything that really protects aluminum is going to be non conductive. All the spray or wipe on chemicals might work for a short time. Alodine 1001 will protect aluminum but it is not a hard coating. The best protection is the alloy chosen. Some alloys have much better corrosion resistance than others but that is not something you can change. Periodic cleaning is probably the best and only solution.

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by WB2WIK on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Oxi-Ban is fine, as are NoAlox and OxGuard. They all do the job of preventing oxidation and the resultant binding of close fitting aluminum tubing sections, such as antenna elements. Butternut-Bencher supplies a similar compound with most of their antennas (or at least, they used to) called "Butter It's Not" that does the same thing and works well. WB2WIK/6

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by OBSERVER11 on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
clear Krylon has worked for me.

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by WB6BYU on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
I use OxGard, and it allows me to take my antennas apart after 10 years... except for the one joint in my 2m IsoPole where I didn't use it! Actually, regular grease will probably work as well in many cases - it doesn't have to be conductive. When you clamp the fittings together some piece of it is going to have enough pressure to go through the goo and make electrical connection. The goo keeps the REST of the aluminum protected from corrosion, and seals the connection point from moisture so it doesn't corrode either. I saw one ham mixing graphite powder in grease to treat his antenna elements, though I don't know if it really made any difference.

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by K2WH on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Non-Allox or similar items work great. Just put some of this disgusting grease between elements or any other place where aluminum to aluminum or aluminum to copper is used. My 67' vertical had 12 sections of aluminum tubing inside one another and came apart like brand new after 3 years in the weather. No problem at all. As a matter of fact, the grease was still just as gooey. No loss in conductivity either. K2WH

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by K5LXP on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
I don't think No-Al-Ox was ever intended for direct exposure to the outdoors and tends to "go away" over time. I use $3/tub wheel bearing grease you buy at the auto parts store, it seems to stand up better to the elements. Just a thin film is all you need. Mark K5LXP Albuquerque, NM

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by WA9SVD on February 27, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Ox-Gard and similar work well, and some ARE intended for outdoor use. If you have a West Marine (or any other marine supply) store nearby, they can help. Any product intended for marine use (salt water, outdoors) should be a good choice. The important thing is to have a good, clean, smooth, dry surface (use steel wool or very fine sandpaper) and a good, solid mechanical connection before assembly. And a little goes a long way, just make sure all parts are coated. And it doesn't hurt to use it on any parts of the antenna, even if they aren't "close fitting."

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by N5NAE on February 28, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
Just a thought.... Not sure if it applies here or not but an A&P friend of mine says to never use steel wool to clean aluminum. According to general aircraft building wisdom, small amounts of the steel become imbedded in the aluminum and with the addition of moisture actually causes corrosion. He says to use sandpaper or the green colored scotch-bright to clean things. They actually sell "aluminum-wool" in homebuilt aircraft supply catalogs to prevent this problem from occuring. I wonder if a person could use a handheld spray bottle of alodine solution to mist an antenna after assembly. They alodine aluminum to retard corrosion in the aircraft industry. The gold tint that the alodine solution gives to the metal also looks kinda' slick. 73's Bob......

RE: Corosion Protection for Aluminum ant elements	Reply
by K5LXP on February 28, 2004	Mail this to a friend!
> ... never use steel wool to clean aluminum. I've heard that from numerous sources too so when the tech at Mosley told me to clean my classic 33 with steel wool I challenged him on that. He said that's what they use at the factory and as long as you wipe off the steel "dust" there won't be any problems. So I used some 0000 steel wool on my 30+ year old antenna and it came out looking like a new one. A year on the tower later and it still looks new. Maybe it's just an aircraft industry standard, I think for antennas it probably doesn't matter. The finish the steel wool provided is much nicer than what scotchbrite does. > They actually sell "aluminum-wool" I haven't seen that before, I will try and get my hands on some. > I wonder if a person could use a handheld spray > bottle of alodine solution Getting that amount of surface area degreased and prepped would be a lot of work, but I've seen a number of commercial antennas anodized with one color or another. A cheap and dirty coat of enamel spraypaint, clear or colored will take care of it too. Good info here. Mark K5LXP Albuquerque, NM to mist an antenna after assembly. They alodine aluminum to retard corrosion in the aircraft industry. The gold tint that the alodine solution gives to the metal also looks kinda' slick. 73's Bob......

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