Yes to SOS pads here as well. I don't believe I've tried plain steel
wool. SOS pads were suggested to me by by someone who has spent a lot
of time cleaning aluminum antenna parts. I believe he also used SOS
pads to remove the anodized finish from some surplus aluminum so he
could braze them. I was quite skeptical (scratching, leaving steel bits
behind that rust, soap film, etc.) but the results are remarkable.
Of course, there is no need to clean more than the telescoping ends
(inside and out) for electrical purposes. Anything more is vanity.
However, with the smaller lengths, the SOS pads are so fast it's easy to
clean up the whole tube.
-Jeff
KE7FRJ
On Sun, 2008-07-06 at 20:08 -0500, Larry WA9VRH wrote:
> Hi Tom,
>
> Yes the SOS pads with the soap. I have found they work better than the plain
> steel wool as they residue washes off easier.
> I would recomend giving them a try. Worked good on a couple of TA-33's and
> the Heights towers.
> 73 Larry WA9VRH
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Osborne" <w7why@verizon.net>
> To: "Towertalk" <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 7:38 PM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Aluminum tarnish removal
>
>
> > Hi Jeff et al
> >
> > Are you guys talking about SOS pads or steel wool? SOS pads have a lot of
> > soap in them that gets into everything. Steel wool has no soap. I have
> > used steel wool here bofore and it works great. 73
> > Tom W7WHY
> >
> >
> >
> >> I'll second the SOS pads. I know folks have raised concerns about
> >> leaving pieces of steel behind but it just doesn't happen in my
> >> experience. Even old heavily oxidized pieces clean up very quickly.
> >> Rinse well and call it a day.
> >>
> >> As an experiment recently, I tried a spray cleaner intended for aluminum
> >> alloy wheels. It's a product available at most any auto parts store.
> >> It contains some pretty harsh stuff: hydrofluoric acid, sulfuric acid,
> >> etc. SOS pads are easier and provide better results.
> >>
> >> -Jeff
> >> KE7FRJ
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