[ARC5] improving conductivity with aluminium

[Brian]

Hello Mike,

Almanox may well be an Australian product. As there is no longer any 
aluminium electrical wiring conduit used in Australia, Almanox is no longer 
available. Aluminium enjoyed favour in Australia shortly after the Snowy 
Mountains Hydro-electric scheme came on line, providing cheap power for 
smelting bauxite. Now, electricity demand exceeds supply and the greenies 
have such powerful voices that no more hydro or coal-powered electricity 
generation stations can be built. So, there is even talk of nuclear power, 
leaving the residue for our children's children to manage.

So, I too have used Noalox.

However, in Australia, we do have extremes of heat, humidity and salt spray 
atmosphere where the bulk of the population lives, ie, on the coast. So, 
radios with aluminium chasses 'rust' very quickly unless oxygen can be 
excluded from any potential electrolytic corrosion cell. Often, the cell so 
formed is not visible until you remove a component, such as a potted bypass 
capacitor in a Command set. Here, tweaking is not a long-term solution.

73 de Brian, VK2GCE.

On Tuesday, February 03, 2015 11:59 PM , you said:

Success!  I've been looking a long time and finally found a term that
yields no results in google - "Almanox"!  Must be the down-under
equivalent of Italian regional liqueurs - made within a 20 mile radius
of Brian's QTH...heh, heh...

A more widely available equivalent in North America might be Noalox or
Burndy's Penetrox, which *will* yield google results on this side of the
planet.  But I think the difficulty here is in the two different forms
of the English language.  Tweek (or tweak) - to me - means loosening the
screw counterclockwise a half turn or so and then retightening it to its
former tightness.  Unless your shack is under an open cabana with a salt
spray environment, it's unlikely that you will need more.  It will also
tell you whether there is potentially a need to do more - if there is a
white powder emanating from under the screw, some investigation is in
order.

If the screw head breaks off completely, you will *definitely* need to
do more...:-)

           73,
  - Mike  KC4TOS