[TowerTalk] Loosening Al tubing to Al Tubing

[Roger (K8RI) on TT]

After the usual wait, PB Blaster, or Mouse Milk loosen the corrosion and 
provide a lubricant. Metal fragments, depend on size.  Over time, they 
tend to corrode faster than the tubing, My C19XR uses a row of 3 rivets 
with one quite close to the end, but the factory holes have been 
deburred. Disassembly just requires carefully drilling out the head 
without drilling into the tube. They are 1/8th" rivets, so a sharp, 1/4 
inch drill works well at removing the heads,  A small drill, or drift 
punch easily pushes the shank into the tube, leaving a clean hole.  Fine 
Scotchbright pads will shine up the outside of the inner tube and a 
small wire brush for cleaning tubes that size usually works well.  Use 
lots of Noalox when reassembling.

The scratches may, or may not be a problem depending on the depth. Deep 
scratches tend to have ridges along the edges. Just smooth off the 
ridges along the scratches. before reassembly.

73

Roger (K8RI)

On 6/12/2016 Sunday 1:06 PM, StellarCAT wrote:
> generally I find its not only corrosion but metal bits from holes that 
> weren't cleaned on the inside (how would one do that!?) ... THEY put 
> the breaks on BIG time... the one I did manage to separate with lots 
> of time and effort had scratches around the tubing from the fragments. 
> If indeed that is the case, with corrosion acting as a dry agent (LOTS 
> of friction) - its nearly impossible to separate them.
>
> g.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Greenlee
> Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2016 8:49 AM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Loosening Al tubing to Al Tubing
>
> Put some ice  inside the smaller ID tube, cap the end and apply plenty
> of heat to the outer tube while trying to dislodge it. If available, dry
> ice is better.  Many Walmart stores used to sell it. The trick is to
> heat the outer tube quickly after letting both be chilled by the ice.
> If the workpiece will fit in the freezer chill it there before adding
> the ice and heating the outer tube. The tubes are often hard to separate
> due to some corrosion but that corrosion will partially insulate the
> inner tube from the outer tube and helps keep the inner tube cool while
> you are heating the outer tube to expand it.
>
> Patrick        NJ5G
>
>
> On 6/12/2016 7:29 AM, StellarCAT wrote:
>> I have a few sections from a used yagi purchase that are like this - 
>> a few of them I managed to get apart with lots of effort using a 
>> screw driver in an existing hole and lots of pulling ... the rest 
>> just wouldn't budge. Heating I don't believe works - its near 
>> impossible to heat them independently - so they expand together... I 
>> tried WD-40, and the slippery stuff - can't remember its name but for 
>> this purpose - nothing worked. These pieces are now in my scrap pile 
>> replaced with new material from DXE.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Don W7WLL
>> Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2016 7:31 PM
>> To: Towertalk
>> Subject: [TowerTalk] Loosening Al tubing to Al Tubing
>>
>> Want to restore a small inherited tribander for portable activity.
>>
>> Have a couple of tube to tube joints that are not coming apart with 
>> ‘gentle persusian’. They been sitting in a coast air environment for 
>> a few years (maybe 10).
>>
>> What recommendations here on TT of best solutions (s) to work into 
>> the joints.
>>
>>
>> Don W7WLL
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing list
>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk


-- 

73

Roger (K8RI)


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus