[Boatanchors] Rubber Restoration

[Doug Hensley]

I admire the spirit of applying an ointment to embrittled equipment cord but at some point doesn't it becomes an alchemist pursuit?   A metrologist I am related to explained to me that one of the NASA specs for earthbound applications was the percentage of silicon in rubber, particularly synthetic rubber, components.  Now I don't know if he was going beyond science when he went on and said that NASA could predict the probable failure point of a rubber seal given the percentage of silicon in it but he would have been aware of such things.  This conversation occurred while talking about the rubber seal around the front windshield of an automobile.  If any of this is actually true it would seem that some sort of silicon infusion would be necessary for a cord's sheath to regain some of its original resiliency.

Now I have worked on enough teletypes to know that any synthetic rubber or plastic used always carried an FSN and/or Teletype number.  The spiral wraps, the once clear rubber sleeving, the rubber gasket surround on the removable KSR keyboard, the typing platinum, etc etc., all had planned replacements.  One thought would be to pole FAIR RADIO to see if any surplus coiled cords were available in good shape.

In thinking about this, it would seem that a good bit of wisdom was applied in the early years of radio when hook up wire was made with a cloth covering.  I have a box of removed harnesses from defunct military equipments that are still in remarkable condition.  Perhaps a cloth covered mic cord would be the answer.  Dunno.


Hope this helps,

Doug W5JV






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