[TowerTalk] Sealing rotor connectors

[Jon Zaimes, AA1K]

On my own towers I don't seal them. Let them breathe! Any sealant put over the terminals just makes future maintenance more difficult.
HyGain did sell a spacer to elevate the rotor about an inch. It provided some protection for the terminal strip. I've only seen one of these on a ham tower and not sure it was of any benefit (but was harder to install/remove).
Putting a fat washer on each bolt between the rotator plate and the rotator helps to allow for water drainage but most installations I see don't have these. Rotator accessory plates usually have a big hole for the terminal strip which does a great job of getting rid of the water.
When rebuilding any HyGain rotator, I get the terminal strip replaced with a flat plate and feedthrough with a 3-4' length of rotator cable (no connector). I terminate this in a 4x4x2" Carlon weatherproof box mounted on the tower with a barrier strip inside to connect to the main rotator cable to the shack. Much easier for maintenance than those screws on the original HyGain terminal strip.
73/Jon

Jon P. Zaimes, AA1K
Tower climber for hire
Felton, Delaware
http://www.aa1k.us/
Cell: 302-632-2353 

Reviews of AA1K tower work on eham website: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/12922

Hug your favorite tower every day, and always stay connected to it. 

    On Monday, September 22, 2025 at 09:02:33 PM EDT, Charles Mills <millscl at gmail.com> wrote:   

 Did some searches and found a few things in the archives but nothing recent
on this.

What does everyone do to seal the rotor cable from the terminal strip on
the bottom of Hygain rotors to keep moisture out and corrosion from
forming?

I've been lucky with my previous rather simple setup but I am going to be
doing a rotor swap and would just like to make sure this is the last time I
have to do anything on there for a long time.
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