[TowerTalk] re; STUF Weather Proofing compound...

[Jim Thomson]

Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2011 15:27:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: K7LXC at 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