dkii
12-16-2002, 04:11 PM
My entire family works in the radio tower business, they routinely make connections 500+ feet in the air that absolutly cannot leak. The material they use. This is what they do.
Take a roll of scotch super 33+ electrical tape, wrap everything metal with it. Don't go past the ends of the connectors onto the coax. Make the final wrap so that the overlapping edges of the tape are pointing downward, as not to catch water flowing down the coax. This is the first layer of defense, and will help you remove the sticky stuff you are about to put on it, if you ever need to take it apart. Then use a material we affectionatly call "Dum Dum" I believe it is actually called vapor wrap. This material comes in rolls. It's basically an oil based silly putty, and is quite sticky when warm. If its cold outside, we heat it up a little to make it plyable. Take a couple of small pieces, roll them into small, elongated pices, wrap them around the coax on both sides of the connector assembly, and push them in between the connector assembly and the coax as much as you can. Then wrap the entire connector assembly with about a 1/8-1/4" layer of 'dum dum,' again making the final wrap upwards, as not to catch any flowing water. Then wrap the entire assembly again with Scotch super 33+ electrical tape, so that all of the vapor wrap is sealed in tape, once again, make the final wrap upwards so that running water doesn't want to get in. This final wrap also makes it easier to handle, as the vapor wrap is no longer exposed, and doesn't grab anything that it comes in contact with. I don't know where to get the vapor wrap from, it usually comes in ground kits and connector kits for our hardline coaxes(1 5/8" to 3") so we have loads of it laying around. My family has been doing this for 30+ years, and I haven't ever heard of any problems at all. Most of our water problems come from people trying to shoot out the lights on the towers, missing and hitting the coaxes.
Take a roll of scotch super 33+ electrical tape, wrap everything metal with it. Don't go past the ends of the connectors onto the coax. Make the final wrap so that the overlapping edges of the tape are pointing downward, as not to catch water flowing down the coax. This is the first layer of defense, and will help you remove the sticky stuff you are about to put on it, if you ever need to take it apart. Then use a material we affectionatly call "Dum Dum" I believe it is actually called vapor wrap. This material comes in rolls. It's basically an oil based silly putty, and is quite sticky when warm. If its cold outside, we heat it up a little to make it plyable. Take a couple of small pieces, roll them into small, elongated pices, wrap them around the coax on both sides of the connector assembly, and push them in between the connector assembly and the coax as much as you can. Then wrap the entire connector assembly with about a 1/8-1/4" layer of 'dum dum,' again making the final wrap upwards, as not to catch any flowing water. Then wrap the entire assembly again with Scotch super 33+ electrical tape, so that all of the vapor wrap is sealed in tape, once again, make the final wrap upwards so that running water doesn't want to get in. This final wrap also makes it easier to handle, as the vapor wrap is no longer exposed, and doesn't grab anything that it comes in contact with. I don't know where to get the vapor wrap from, it usually comes in ground kits and connector kits for our hardline coaxes(1 5/8" to 3") so we have loads of it laying around. My family has been doing this for 30+ years, and I haven't ever heard of any problems at all. Most of our water problems come from people trying to shoot out the lights on the towers, missing and hitting the coaxes.