[TowerTalk] Force 12 rebuild

[Chris]

Scotchbrite pads and WD40 (and elbow grease) work really we ll for cleaning aluminum.  

Roger, I believe you, but you are the only person I know who's had problems with nylock nuts.  I think you got a bad batch.

Chris
KF7P









On Jan 11, 2016, at 7:42 AM, Roger (K8RI) on TT wrote:

> I rebuilt, or more like, reassembled a C19XR.  Tubing cleaner brushes work very well at removing the crud from ~4" from the ends.  A few brass barrel brushes with the extensions powered with an electric drill motor will easily go the 6 or 8 inches   inside the tube ends which should be more than enough,. Use the swabs (2 or 3" long) to apply your lube and antioxidant of choice. They will easily coat the inside uniformly.  The ultra-fine Scotch Bright pads do a real nice job on the outside of the matching tube.
> I didn't get it up soon enough so now I need to replace three tubes on one end of the 20 meter reflector.  Someone (not me) ran into the reflector with one of the rear wheels of a zero turning radius lawn mower
> 
> My work won't look near as nice as the projects shown.  I only cleaned the mating surfaces for tubes and straps.  Insulators were in good shape.
> I have lots of SS rivets and screws.  As I mentioned in another post. I like the Nylock nuts, but they just don't last around here.
> 
> 73
> 
> Roger (K8RI)
> 
> 
> On 1/11/2016 Monday 9:11 AM, Tom_N2SR via TowerTalk wrote:
>> Nice work!
>> One thought about cleaning aluminum.  A few years ago, I posted here looking for a way to clean up aluminum that was sitting in the dirt.  Someone suggested HVAC coil cleaner.  I was able to get a small container of the stuff, and WOW does it work.  It's very caustic, and you'll have to wear good gloves and old clothes, but it works extremely well, and it's probably much cheaper than the Locktite product you used.   I used the coil cleaner straight, applied it with old rags (they will disintegrate as you used them!), let it sit a bit, and use the garden hose to spray the stuff off.   The booms and tubing looked 100% better.  Not like brand new "polished" tubing, but still much better than having it look grungy.
>> Tom, N2SR
>>  
>>       From: Howard Hoyt <hhoyt at mebtel.net>
>>  To: towertalk at contesting.com
>>  Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2016 11:03 PM
>>  Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Force 12 rebuild
>>    Hi all,
>> 
>> All the talk about older Force 12 linear loading vs. Tornado coil
>> upgrades inspired me to rebuild a 20-yr old C-4SXL I have had stored in
>> pieces for a few years.  I took some pictures along the way, and you can
>> read about the process here:
>> 
>> https://proaudioeng.com/force-12-c-4sxl-rebuild/
>> 
>> I appreciate all the knowledge I have gained from this group that helped
>> me with the project, your comments and abuse are welcomed.
>> 
>> Cheers & 73,
>> 
>> Howie - WA4PSC
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
> -- 
> 
> 73
> 
> Roger (K8RI)
> 
> 
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