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Re: [TowerTalk] Sealing Coax Connector

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Sealing Coax Connector
From: "Roger (K8RI)" <K8RI-on-TowerTalk@tm.net>
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:05:19 -0400
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>

On 10/23/2010 1:23 PM, K7LXC@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 10/14/2010 10:30:47 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> towertalk-request@contesting.com writes:
>
>>   People seem to have so many different methods...I use  coax-seal...a
> goop
> specially made for the purpose. Messy but  effective  I have been
> recommended
> to use 3M 103C by a coax-seal  hater..hi hi
>
>      I also hate CoaxSeal. Once you put it on a  connector - you can never
> get it off; you have to throw the connector away.
I've never understood this.  I don't use coax seal, but I do use what 
the local vendor calls flooded heat shrink tubing.  (MMM variety)  The 
inside of the stuff is coated with hot melt glue. Generally most of it 
comes off leaving the connector shiny, but some times it doesn't.  It 
may not look pretty but it doesn't prevent me from reusing the 
connector. OTOH I rarely reuse a PL-259 and with clamp type N connectors 
I pour in about 2 CC of vinyl ester resin which makes them permanent.  
Crimp type connectors do not come with extra bands so they are hard to 
reuse as well.

OTOH even with the expensive machined connectors for hard line, I've 
never had the goo on the outside prevent them from being reused. Of 
course if it's a new commercial installation I can understand not 
wanting to reuse a scuzzy looking connector even if it is shiny on the 
inside. What I really liked were the Hard line connectors where the 
center connector screws into the center conductor and the outside clamps 
on the shield. Just cut and assemble, but don't lose the gaskets.
>    The commercial versions
> (e.g. db Products, Andrew, etc.) are much  better.
>
>      CoaxSeal is a butyl rubber-type vapor wrap and  will do a decent job if
> it goes over an initial layer or two of good  electrical tape.
Again, I want the stuff to seal onto the connector and the coax jacket.
It's faster, efficient, and I do agree with the overwrap and direction. 
OTOH as I said, I normally use the commercial flooded heat shrink often 
with no overwrap, but heatshrink isn't the handiest stuff when working 
up on a tower. <:-))

73

Roger (K8RI)
> Cover the
> vapor wrap with another couple of layers of  electrical tape and you've got a
> pretty bombproof connection. (Be sure  the last outer wrap of tape goes UP
> if the coax is vertical - that'll  keep water from running right into the
> joint.)
>
> Cheers,
> Steve    K7LXC
> TOWER TECH
>
> PS - There's a good chapter on weatherproofing in my UP THE TOWER book
> (www.championradio.com).
>
>
>
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