At 15:05 2/10/01 -0500, cqki8fh@juno.com wrote:
>Should a person clean the elements of an antenna that has been laying on
>the ground for about five years. It is a Telrex 5 element beam. If it
>should be cleaned what should a person use to clean the metal. I have
>heard some people use steel wool. What say ye.
>
>Thanks
>
>Dan
I can tell you what I recently did. I had an old TH6 that I was going to
rebuild. When I got into it and saw how crappy the traps were designed and
the shape they were in I decided to turn it into a monobander for 20m.
After complete disassembly and cataloging the material, I built a plastic
lined trough out in the yard. I made it long enough to hold the longest
length of tubing and about six inches wide and deep. I filled it with hot
water and disolved a can of household lye in it.
Wearing rubber gloves and safety goggles I dropped in the pieces for a few
minutes and let em' boil. When I took them out, I used a Scotchbrit pad to
give them a quick rub down and then rinsed with a lot of fresh water.
Purists might want to use a mild acid (vinegar) to neutralize but I didn't.
This was a lot of work but when I was done I had almost new-looking tubing
and brackets, with just a touch of satin finish.
I also replaced every bolt, nut and screw with stainless. Some of the Ace
Hardware stores stock this stuff and if you buy by the box, it's not too
expensive. I also used locking nuts everywhere and used Ox Gard at every
joint and as anti-seize on the stainless hardware.
Wes N7WS
>
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