[TowerTalk] PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray W9EHQ

Sat May 14 22:46:16 EDT 2016

Patrick,

Thanks for the info.  I have used the self sealing butt splices also. 
There are many different ways to weather proof
and in this case completely water proof our connectors.  We have touched 
on a couple.  Any other weather
proofing/sealing techniques out there ?   What say you ?

Has anyone tried Plasti Dip ?  I have been curious if it would be 
another good outer coating on our outside
connectors.

73,
Bob
K6UJ

On 5/14/16 4:53 PM, Patrick Greenlee wrote:
> There are waterproof butt splices.  The insulation is shrink and there 
> is the heat flowing glue stuff like comes on te ID of some heat shrink 
> tubing.  Even if I get rambunctious with the crimper and make little 
> holes in the insulation they are sealed by the hot melt glue and don't 
> cause problems.  These are used in water wells on 240 volt wires to 
> power submerged well pumps at the bottom of wells. I suppose if you 
> are really paranoid you could add your own waterproofing on top of 
> that which is built-in.
>
> These butt splices are widely available, even in stock at Harbor Freight.
>
> Patrick        NJ5G
>
>
>
> On 5/14/2016 6:32 PM, Bob K6UJ wrote:
>> Kevin,
>>
>> Good points !   Your system looks great.
>>
>> I was doing very similar for years.
>> I have added a final step for sealing the connection I would like to 
>> share.
>> Here in Napa Valley there are many wineries and many water wells. I 
>> was working on a project
>> for a winery which hired a well drilling and installation company to 
>> put in a new water well for irrigating
>> one of their vineyards.  I was very interested in how they sealed the 
>> electrical connections that were
>> down in the well under water.  They were making up a cable splice 
>> that day and I learned their process.
>> Their first step with Scotch 88 is not much different than what many 
>> of us do on our RF connection weather proofing.
>> First they stretch wrap with Scotch 88 electrical tape, then they 
>> stretch wrap with Scotch 130 rubber self bonding splicing
>> tape,  then one final stretch wrap with Scotch 88,  then finally they 
>> brush on two coats of ScotchKote 14853 electrical coating. After 
>> drying it is ready to go under water.
>> Granted this may be an overkill for our weather proofing needs, but I 
>> am anal about weather proofing outside RF connections and have been 
>> using this process myself, with 100% success. The ScotchKote is 
>> amazing stuff.
>>
>> The downsides:
>> * It is hard to split and cut open the weather proof coating later 
>> on. It can be done but not as easily as one coated with liquid 
>> electrical tape.
>> * ScotchKote is not cheap.  I only use it for this purpose so one can 
>> lasts me quite a while, but it is about $30.00
>> for one 15 oz can.
>>
>> Bob
>> K6UJ
>>
>>
>> On 5/14/16 12:40 PM, Kevin Stover wrote:
>>> I'm trying to understand why a soldered connector, assuming both 
>>> types are weatherproofed properly, is superior for corrosion 
>>> protection. Seems to me Sn/Pb solder will corrode just as fast or 
>>> faster than anything else in salt air.
>>>
>>> I'd say 90% of hams have no clue how to properly weatherproof a 
>>> connector. All you have to do is watch which end of the cable they 
>>> start wrapping stuff from to tell the connector is going to leak. 
>>> Such as starting the tape wrap at the connector and working down. 
>>> You've just created 6-8 seams for water to ingress. Start wrapping 
>>> the tape, 3M 33 or 88, not some cheap crap from Home Depot, down on 
>>> the coax and work up. Layers of tape laid like shingles.
>>>
>>> I weather "proof" my crimp connectors with glue impregnated heat 
>>> shrink, followed by 33/88, followed by coax seal followed by rubber 
>>> tape and a final layer of 33/88. All layers rolled half tape width 
>>> per course and bottom to top. It ain't pretty but I've never seen a 
>>> connector I did have a water problem, even 259's.
>>>
>>> On 5/13/2016 2:46 PM, Don W7WLL wrote:
>>>> I live on the coast, just a few hundred feet from the Pacific. Most 
>>>> wind is from the ocean onshore. The cable and sat installers here 
>>>> use crimped connectors, fast which counts for the installers. 
>>>> HOWEVER, later, they also spend a lot of time repairing lines and 
>>>> replacing connectors which corrode via the salt spray and air, 
>>>> specifically the work that is outdoors for periods of time. Varies 
>>>> of course depending upon the protection provided. Like Paul, every 
>>>> connector used outdoors at this house is 4 hole soldered for just 
>>>> the latter reason. And the coax cover is properly screwed into the 
>>>> connector. Where I use barrels to interconnect two cables they are 
>>>> covered with flooded heatshrink and the heatshink ends double 
>>>> sealed with an application of 3M liquid tape. I learned when I 
>>>> first moved here that while tape was great for keeping water out 
>>>> most of the time, when I did find dry connectors, they still were 
>>>> coated almost pure white with salt. So FAR DIFFERENT from when I 
>>>> lived inland in Portland. There what corrodes and rusts here in a 
>>>> couple of weeks would not reach that condx for years and years.
>>>>
>>>> Crimping is great but one has to consider the environment when 
>>>> choosing, at least that is the case here.
>>>>
>>>> Don W7WLL
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Paul Christensen
>>>> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2016 11:21 AM
>>>> To: towertalk at contesting.com
>>>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] PL259 Cobbectors Part 2 - Murray W9EHQ
>>>>
>>>>> 'I'm perplexed, but not really surprised, that hams still insist 
>>>>> on using
>>>> this kind of backwoods engineering when a better way has been 
>>>> available for
>>>> decades. I guess old habits die hard."
>>>>
>>>> If you mean crimped connectors as a "better way," I agree when 
>>>> they're used
>>>> either indoors or when they're adequately weather shielded. 
>>>> Mechanically,
>>>> I've had more crimped connectors break and fail than soldered type 
>>>> when
>>>> high, accidental lateral force is exerted.  For indoor use, I 
>>>> exclusively
>>>> use crimped type.  For outdoors, almost exclusively soldered type.
>>>>
>>>> Paul, W9AC
>>>>
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