[TowerTalk] Cleaning Aluminum Eelements

[Dave D'Epagnier]

Cleaning the outside is easy. How do you clean the inside of those small
diameter elements?

--Dave
K0QE

	----------
	From:  Arne Gjerning [SMTP:gjerning@flash.net]
	Sent:  Sunday, March 19, 2000 9:09 PM
	To:  Tower Talk
	Subject:  [TowerTalk] Cleaning Aluminum Eelements


	This should start another discussion

	Do NOT use steel wool to clean aluminum.....

	Small particles of steel can actually be imbedded into the aluminum,
	can't be seen, and cause probelms later.  Instead, I use the 3M
Scotch
	pads, they are green in color and can be found a Home Base, Home
Depot,
	etc and work wonders on aluminum.

	To clean any aluminum parts I just get a bucket of water, get the
Scotch
	pad wet and start rubbhing the surface. You will be amazed how fast
it
	cleans corrosion from the aluminum. This is the technique I have
used
	for about 10 years. I used this method to clean 2ea TELREX 20M326
(3el
	20M yagiselements and booms) and if familiar with TELREX you know
its a
	lot of aluminum surface. And 1 yagi was badly corroded from salt
water
	(both came from San Franncisco area)..

	Added bonus, no steel slivers in your hand. Just rinse the Scotch
pad
	frequently and go back to the manual labor of love. (Is not antenna
work
	a work of love?).

	The Scotch pads are better than the pot scrubbers used in the
kitchen.
	And they are about 6 X 9 inches in size. I cut mine in half with
	ordinary scissors. My only suggestion: TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT.

	Side affect: Very fine aluminum  powder gets ito the pores/cracks of
	hands and is hard to get rid of totally. So, be ready for grey hands
for
	a day or two.

	73 de Arne N7KA\
	New Mexico


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