Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 15:27:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: K7LXC@aol.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] re; STUF Weather Proofing compound...
Boy, I'm with you 100% on that one. The stuff is a mess. I've never
understood why I would want to flood an RF connector with a non-conducting
goo.
### well, it's standard procedure to slop a thin layer of dow corning
silicone on the
center pins and also the threads of andrew heliax connectors in the cell
industry.
### DC-4 is the preferred silicone grease...good for 1kv per mil [ .001"]
Buried in the Andrew catalogue some where, they mention it's use on coax
connectors. They
also mention microscopic arcing, when the grease is not used on connectors.
ken at cal-av labs
also advocated it's use on 7-16 din connectors etc. Coax pins don't make a
perfect contact
in the mating female. The dc-4 grease fills the voids where u have small
gaps. If u wiggle and
move stuff about, the grease just shifts around,and still fills the tiny gaps
+ voids.
## Once the connector is torqued down tight, then the 88 tape, heat shrink
tubing [ or vapor wrap] is
applied, then more 88 tape, etc. [ tape/wrap/tape]
## I tried coax seals years ago, directly on connectors...and had a 50 k
short on a gamma matched 20m yagi.
The 50 k short was cuz of water that was inside the coax seal. I took the
mess of coax seal off..and presto, inside
was a pocket of water ! Dunno how it got in there, but once in..it will not
come out.
## coax seal might work if applied over top of 88 tape. Why even bother ?
Our local home depot carries
both 33 + 88 tape and also vapour wrap. Vapour wrap is just rubber
tape...with no sticky on either side.
You can also get vapour wrap..with sticky on one/both sides.
later.......... Jim VE7RF
Cheers,
Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for hams
Cell: 206-890-4188
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