[TowerTalk] On the reactivity of copper with HCL

[David Voit]

I am wondering about the concern over the reaction of copper with HCL.  I
am an old Chemical Engineer and my memory vaguely said it will not react.
I did a little searching and found this comment which seems spot on.

"If youre talking about aq.HCL, HCL dissociates to form Hydrogen ions and
copper ions in tge aq.HCL.Copper is less reactive than hydrogen in the
reactivity series of metals and thus copper cannot displace the hydrogen
ions in HCL"

What you might be seeing is the reaction of the copper with Oxygen to form
copper oxide which will subsequently react with HCL.  This secondary
reaction could cause you to believe HCL did the deed but it was Oxygen that
did it.  There could be other cations that could swap with copper on
polluted air but oxygen is the big one.  I suppose putting an antenna up in
a vacuum would solve all problems.  (hi)

In short, I would not think the release of HCL by the jacket is anything of
concern.

On the other hand, aluminum will react with HCL so there might be something
about aluminum wire that should be considered when building an antenna.

David Voit
WB6TOU