[TowerTalk] split locks vs star washers

[Norman Hockler]

Pete....  It is my understanding that the two washers you mentioned have 
very different purposes.  A split washer is used as a device to keep the 
nut/bolt tight.  It is used where vibration/heat/cooling would tend to 
loosen the nut.  A star washer (inside or outside star) is used to provide 
good electrical connection between the bolt/nut and the plate the bolt goes 
through.

We are required to use star washers to meet the UL requirements for good 
grounding and a lock washer is not acceptable for this purpose.

de Norm  N8NH


At 11:00 AM 9/26/00 -0400, you wrote:

>Does anyone have any info on the relative merits of these two types of lock
>washers for electrical (specifically RF) connections.
>
>I just pulled apart my 80m array switchbox.  For years it had suffered from
>increasingly severe problems with received signal level on some of the
>antennas, and just recently two of the dipoles went dead completely on
>transmit or receive.
>
>This is one of those arrays that requires switching both the center
>conductors and the shields of each feedline.  When I got into the box, I
>discovered that all of the shield connections (by solder lug under one
>mounting bolt of each SO-239) were loose by a turn or more.  After
>tightening them up, and resoldering one center conductor that was totally
>disconnected, all the problems seem to be gone.
>
>For the shield connections, I used split lockwashers under each nut.  I
>just tried replacing one of them with a star washer, and my impression is
>that it "grabbed" much more positively.  Is this generally the case, and
>are star washers preferred for conductive connections?
>
>73, Pete Smith N4ZR
>
>Contesting is ... Extreme Radio
>
>The World Contest Station Database
>is back up and running at
>http://www.qsl.net/n4zr
>
>
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
>Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
>Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
>Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com



--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com