[NLRS] Anti-sieze for antennas

[kb0nly at mchsi.com]

Whether its correct or not all I have ever used on aluminum antennas for the
last 20 odd years is the standard automotive store gray anti-sieze which is
aluminum powder suspended in a grease like compound, I would have to look at
the jar to see exactly whats in it, but I have been using the same jar of it
for both automotive maintenance and antenna maintenance forever, and I have
never had an issue with my aluminum yagi's or the HF vertical that I used to
have.  When I took that HF antenna down and sold it all the joining areas of
the antenna were wiped clean with a rag and a little acetone to clean them,
under the anti-sieze the tubing was still shiny as new, and that was after
6-7 years of standing out in the elements, which it probably saw more water
trying to get in the slip joints then the yagi's because it was vertical
rather then horizontal.  

I tried some of that NOALOX stuff a few years back, I wasn't impressed, it
dried up really fast and it was like a crusty film on everything, the
antenna lost its tuning and I went to take it apart and it was a mess.  I
cleaned it up and replaced it with the good old jar of anti-sieze and a few
years later its still dead on and working great.

Usually to clean up a used antenna I just get the aluminum clean with some
acetone then I use some OO Steel Wool to polish it down and get rid of any
oxidation and then a light coat of the anti-sieze and put it back together.
That's always worked for me, and it's the only way I do it.

73,

Scott KB0NLY



-----Original Message-----
From: nlrs-bounces at mailman.qth.net <nlrs-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf
Of Doug Reed
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2018 8:22 PM
To: nlrs <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [NLRS] Anti-sieze for antennas



Since "Butter It's Not" anti-sieze for antennas is no longer available, does
anyone have a known working suggestion to replace it?

Butter It's Not was listed as copper powder in a anti-sieze anti-corrosion
grease. When I was looking around the O'Reilly Auto store, I found VersaChem
brand Copper-bearing anti-sieze compound, $4 for a 1 ounce tube. The
petroleum grease base should keep the water out and prevent corrosion,  the
copper is supposed to improve metal-to-metal conductivity.

Most other common anti-sieze has aluminum particles in the grease base.
Maybe that would be a better option for aluminum antennas? But in that case
why did Butternut choose copper?

Another comment from a ham forum was that dielectric grease and plain
bearing grease is non-conductive and that could be a problem. But I assume
if I sand the tubing to leave ridges, they will pierce and clamp down to
make a good connection through any thin film of grease.,,,

And there is also NOALOX anti-corrosion compound for electrical wiring. It
too talks about anti-sieze, anti-corrosion properties with zinc particles
for improving conductivity. But this stuff is not rated as water proof, so
it might not be perfect for outdoor antennas....

Anyone got any good suggestions? I have to suggest that almost anything with
a petroleum base to resist water would be better than nothing. I really
prefer to use some type of anti-sieze on every antenna joint and mounting
bolt on a tower.... I have aluminum antennas that have been up long enough
that the joints no longer have conductivity and the antenna will not
resonate at the original frequency.

73, Doug Reed, N0NAS.



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Tomorrow is always better because it means you lived through today.

Democratic government is government by the people and for the people, on the
theory that the people ought to get the kind of government they want, good
and hard.
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