I suspect you will get a lot of feedback on your post, but my opinion is
to avoid any sort of conductive grease on any part of a connector, for
many reasons.
Here, my tower and all the connectors associated with the antennas and
support items on or near it is located 1400 feet back and above a
beautiful (and very wet) central coastal Oregon beach. Erected my array
around 2002. Prevalent winds are from the west, right off the ocean.
Obviously lots of SS involved in the exterior fasteners and such items
To the point, I was highly concerned about salt water intrusion of the
electrical connections outside the house. So, stopped at the local
commercial crabbing/fishing fleet supplier/rigger in Newport OR (Yaquina
Bay) and asked what they recommended, what was used to the greatest
extent by the local fleet and fisher folk.
They suggested a Lear Chemical Product (think is made in Canada) called
CorrosionBlock, in the tube. Claimed it was impervious to water
intrusion and totally neutral electrically. Said it was commonly used by
the local fleet owners and the electrical and RF repair folk who do
maintenance on the ocean going boats and would keep the connector
threading or pin inserts free on connectors. I'm of the understanding it
is sold by a large number of the marine suppliers.
I can only say my experience is that I have yet to have any working
issue with an RF connector or an electrical connector (think rotors and
switch boxes) in the 20 plus years I've been using it (other than some
dumb mistake by me in its attachment to the cable). The grease is an
aqua color so it is easy to see where it was applied (or missed). That
doesn't mean I still don't apply a good tape wrap or tape or flooded
heatshrink around any connector to connector, cable to connector, etc
when I can.
Would imagine there are other products which do the same thing but one
experience input.
Don W7WLL
'This house runs on love, laughter and really good wine.'
On 12/4/2023 5:02 AM, Paul Christensen wrote:
After 15 years, a pair of PL-259 connectors have seized on mating SO-239
jacks used on an outdoor RF choke. Is there anything more suitable than
Penatrox-A which is Au/Cu rated? Ideally, I'd like to apply a synthetic +
conductive grease on the mating SO-239 threads.
Unrelated, but while investigating the coax connectors, the LMR400-Ultraflex
cable I installed about 15 years ago has started to decompose. At the time
of installation, I knew the Ultraflex version has a shorter life span but
wasn't expecting such severe decomposition. The jacket is crumbling due to
its rubber composition. This past weekend, I replaced it with gelled
LMR400-DB for direct burial, but it's installed above ground. Like the
original LMR400, the DB version has a rugged polyethylene (PE) jacket.
Paul, W9AC
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