> Radio Works and a few other places sell a product called "Stuff" that's a
> dielectric compound about the consistency of toothpaste. You squeeze it
> into the connector to fill the voids and keep water out -- in addition to
> the normal external weatherproofing measures. You apply it, tighten
> everything, and wipe off the excess before you apply Coax-Seal, Scotch 88,
> etc. Seems to work well.
>
> 73 - Paul N3GPU
Just a note to the reflector - in disassembling a KT34XA yesterday, we
took a coax pigtail off the balun's SO-239 that had been "sealed" with
Coax-Seal. Ick! Obviously there had been plenty of moisture in the
connection as there was yellow-green crust a-plenty. A few minutes of
work with a fine wire brush and file tang cleaned it up, but...
I have never unwrapped a properly taped (using real tape...Scotch 33+ for
me) PL259-SO239 junction to find water that got in around the tape.
They're still shiny and bright after years of exposure. Think about it -
if putty worked like it's supposed to, why don't professionals make better
use of it? Because it doesn't work like it's supposed to...that's why!
There may be appropriate uses of putty-like materials. Perhaps, if
applied within their limits they work great. But those limits do not
appear to include exposed PL259-SO239 connections where there may be
flexing of the cable or significant thermal cycling.
73, Ward N0AX
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