Bill,
That depends a lot on the quality of the original connectors. For me, I try to do an "annual" on mine. After the initial cleaning (years ago) I use a small, "gentle" brass brass brush to get out the oxidation from the inside of the SO-239 and around the inner shell of the PL-259. Then, I spray a little DeOxit onto a Q-tip to remove the particles of oxidation and improve conductivity. For the outer part of the SO-239, I use an appropriate sized wire "brush" which is used to clean up copper tubing prior to soldering. It basically looks like a cylinder with a hole in the center and wire brush bristles facing inward. This can be screwed onto the SO-239, rotated a few times, and then removed. I wipe off the oxidation, and again apply a SPARING amount of DeOxit. I have no idea as to whether this is a preferred practice or not from an engineering standpoint. All I know is that is has worked for me. I'm sure there are some experts out there that have better methods and I'm anxious to learn about them. 73 and Merry Christmas, Evan, K9SQG -----Original Message----- From: Bill Ellis <wb9...@yahoo.com> To: Drakelist (Post) <drakelist@zerobeat.net>; DrakeRadio <drakera...@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thu, Dec 19, 2013 3:26 pm Subject: [Drakelist] PL-259 and SO-239 Connectors As we all know, as our equipment ages, these connectors tend to turn black or discolored. Do we ignore this, do you somehow clean them, or do we replace them? Thanks, Bill Ellis,WB9CAC _______________________________________________ Drakelist mailing list Drakelist@zerobeat.net http://mailman.zerobeat.net/mailman/listinfo/drakelist
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