[TowerTalk] PL-239 Going Open?

[john at kk9a.com]

A long time ago I tried Belden 9913 and I had moisture related problems with 
it.   I was amazed how much water got into my cable though a small nick. 
After a short time I threw it all away and switched to Belden 8267 which is 
much more durable.   Water can easily flow though 9913 and it will collect 
at the lowest point which probably isn't where the connector is located. 
9913 is a poor choice for direct burial and I don't think that there is any 
way you can be sure that your cable is dry.

73,
John KK9A




To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] PL-239 Going Open?
From: Kim Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net>
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:44:25 -0600
List-post: <towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>

I truly appreciate all the responses!

The 9913 is not wet inside -- I checked this the first time it
happened and it was dry behind the connector that I cut off. I won't
get any water ingress into my shack because my run is not continuous
and because all the 9913 connectors up on the tower are shielded from
the rain. This is good because digging up the 9913 is simply not an
option -- that would cost many thousands of dollars because we'd have
to go through the driveway and wrap-around porch. OUCH!

I've had 90 deg elbows fail before (non-Amphenol) but all my barrel
connectors are Amphenol. I also tested them when each failure
occurred and each time and they tested fine.

I used good, old-fashioned Kester rosin core Sn/Pb solder, of which I
should have enough to last the rest of my life. I'll avoid lead-free
solder to my ;ast breath!

I know that PL-259s aren't waterproof, but decided to not wrap them
having read that more often than not water gets in anyway and gets
trapped, never able to evaporate. But, I'll freely admit that this
might be misguided. I have a fair supply of Scotch 33+ tape and, as
soon as it warms up (it's 16 deg F as I type), I'll wrap all the 
connections.

Finally, I didn't positively determine if the failure was in the
braid connection or the center pin connection in the most recent
case. The prior failure was about a year ago and, in that instance I
cut off the connector and found that it was the center pin connection
that failed, even though I could not move the wire in the connector.

73,

Kim Elmore N5OP