The lye definitely does eat away the pure aluminum, as I learned in my miss spent youth! The fireballs were impressive, also, and we were darn lucky. I think you would need to eat through the good metal just to get to the oxide, which is on the inside. Heat would probably be the best bet, and not from burning (exploding) hydrogen. The aluminum we used for our "experiments" was obtained from old TV antennas in the dumpster behind the local TV repair store. This was also the source for our antenna wire. Old bundles of 300 ohm twin lead. We thought it needed to be bare, since that was what it said in the handbook, so we burnt the insulation off. What a mess!
73, Rick Dettinger K7MW > One possible solution would be to soak the "stuck" joints a solution > of sodium hydroxide (lye, as in drain cleaner). There's a web site > that discusses the chemical reaction and the ability of lye to > dissolve existing layers of aluminum oxide. See: > > http://www2.uni-siegen.de/~pci/versuche/english/v44-10.html > > The site says, in part: > > A layer of aluminum oxide previously formed by passive corrosion is > dissolved by the addition of sodium hydroxide. For this reason, the > reaction takes place at the beginning relatively slowly: > > Al2O3 + 2 NaOH + 3 H2O ––––> 2 Na(+) + 2 [Al(OH)4](-) > > I have never tried this myself, so I would want to test it on some > scrap aluminum or a no-longer-used antenna, to be sure the lye > doesn't eat away the pure metal as well as the aluminum oxide. > > But it might be worth a try. Use protective goggles and gloves, etc. > any time you're working with lye. > > Lew K6LMP > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
