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Dielectric grease for roller inductors ?

 

I? have a RI-40 ribbon? style (3/8"? x .082")? roller? coil....with? no? lube on? it.? ? Can? I? use? permatex? dielectric? grease? on? it ?
My? RI-50 roller? coil? came? with? what? appears to be? green? coloured? ?grease on? it.?

Both? rollers? have the? ribbon? pinched? with a pair of? gold? plated? contacts,? 2? per? side.? ?Coil? is? fixed.? ?Contacts? spiral? around? the inside.

SSON? no? longer? sells? either? version.? ?I? bought the? RI-50? new,? years? ago.? The? RI-40 was obtained? used.? ? ?

Jim? VE7RF
Clint, VE3CMQ
 

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I use lubriplate lithium grease on most of my shafts.? Someone recommended it to me years ago.? So far, nothing I have used it on has gummed up, and no electrical problems have presented themselves.

?

Clint, VE3CMQ

?

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim VE7RF
Sent: December 28, 2019 12:35 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [ham-amplifiers] Dielectric grease for roller inductors ?

?

I? have a RI-40 ribbon? style (3/8"? x .082")? roller? coil....with? no? lube on? it.? ? Can? I? use? permatex? dielectric? grease? on? it ?
My? RI-50 roller? coil? came? with? what? appears to be? green? coloured? ?grease on? it.?

Both? rollers? have the? ribbon? pinched? with a pair of? gold? plated? contacts,? 2? per? side.? ?Coil? is? fixed.? ?Contacts? spiral? around? the inside.

SSON? no? longer? sells? either? version.? ?I? bought the? RI-50? new,? years? ago.? The? RI-40 was obtained? used.? ? ?

Jim? VE7RF

 

?
Call Oren Elliott and ask what they use. They proviided me a blob in a pill
bottle decades ago but forget the name.

Also Palstar.

I wouldnt use anything but what the pros use.

Carl
?
?
?

----- Original Message -----
From: Jim VE7RF
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 1:35 PM
Subject: [ham-amplifiers] Dielectric grease for roller inductors ?

I? have a RI-40 ribbon? style (3/8"? x .082")? roller? coil....with? no? lube on? it.? ? Can? I? use? permatex? dielectric? grease? on? it ?
My? RI-50 roller? coil? came? with? what? appears to be? green? coloured? ?grease on? it.?

Both? rollers? have the? ribbon? pinched? with a pair of? gold? plated? contacts,? 2? per? side.? ?Coil? is? fixed.? ?Contacts? spiral? around? the inside.

SSON? no? longer? sells? either? version.? ?I? bought the? RI-50? new,? years? ago.? The? RI-40 was obtained? used.? ? ?

Jim? VE7RF

 

I seem to recall that the Harris "RF Grease" for roller inductors was just Molybedenum Disulphide which is also conductive.

Besides moly greases have other attractive properties that is well suited to greasing applications

Henry
Cliff Fox (KU4GW)
 

I've been using a Palstar AT1500CV roller inductor antenna tuner to tune my 260 feet 450 ohm ladder line fed doublet antenna with since 2002 and Palstar makes no recommendations at all in the user manual about using any type of dieletric grease or any type of lubricant on the roller inductor. It does tell how to clean it. I clean it every 3 or 4 months when I blow the dust out of my Ameritron AL-80B amplifier. I use those little alcohol pads like I use for my diabetes tests and insulin injections to clean it with. They do say to make sure to not leave any fluid or anything on the inside of the turns on the inductor so I just wipe the outside of the turns and the small brass wheel that runs on the inductor turns until I get a clean pad. Usually there's a little bit of black dirt on them when I clean it. WA4GEG, Byron Campbell, who specializes in repair of Yaesu FT-1000MP line of transceivers recommends not using a roller inductor tuner at all because he says not getting a good connection can damage the T/R relay which is what was wrong with my Mark-V. He recommends using a noise bridge instead. I've been using my MFJ-259B antenna analyzer hooked up to a MFJ-1700B coax switch box that accepts up to 6 transmitters and 6 antennas as if it's a transmitter itself and then tuning the Palstar tuner settings for the match and it works great! Once I get a match I always write the settings down in a little book I made of 3" x 5" index cards stapled together on one side. When I return to that same frequency again I can usually tune up with those settings and get a match in under 5 seconds!?

Happy New Years and very 73!??
Cliff, KU4GW




On Sat, Dec 28, 2019 at 1:35 PM Jim VE7RF <jim.thom@...> wrote:
I? have a RI-40 ribbon? style (3/8"? x .082")? roller? coil....with? no? lube on? it.? ? Can? I? use? permatex? dielectric? grease? on? it ?
My? RI-50 roller? coil? came? with? what? appears to be? green? coloured? ?grease on? it.?

Both? rollers? have the? ribbon? pinched? with a pair of? gold? plated? contacts,? 2? per? side.? ?Coil? is? fixed.? ?Contacts? spiral? around? the inside.

SSON? no? longer? sells? either? version.? ?I? bought the? RI-50? new,? years? ago.? The? RI-40 was obtained? used.? ? ?

Jim? VE7RF

 

I'm guilty too.... tune my roller inductor with 10 watts or so RF.
Never "fine tune" with QRO... just null with the capacitors. The noise bridge would be a much better solution.
Don W4DNR



Quoting "Cliff Fox (KU4GW)" <cliffku4gw@...>:

I've been using a Palstar AT1500CV roller inductor antenna tuner to tune my
260 feet 450 ohm ladder line fed doublet antenna with since 2002 and
Palstar makes no recommendations at all in the user manual about using any
type of dieletric grease or any type of lubricant on the roller inductor.
It does tell how to clean it. I clean it every 3 or 4 months when I blow
the dust out of my Ameritron AL-80B amplifier. I use those little alcohol
pads like I use for my diabetes tests and insulin injections to clean it
with. They do say to make sure to not leave any fluid or anything on the
inside of the turns on the inductor so I just wipe the outside of the turns
and the small brass wheel that runs on the inductor turns until I get a
clean pad. Usually there's a little bit of black dirt on them when I clean
it. WA4GEG, Byron Campbell, who specializes in repair of Yaesu FT-1000MP
line of transceivers recommends not using a roller inductor tuner at all
because he says not getting a good connection can damage the T/R relay
which is what was wrong with my Mark-V. He recommends using a noise bridge
instead. I've been using my MFJ-259B antenna analyzer hooked up to a
MFJ-1700B coax switch box that accepts up to 6 transmitters and 6 antennas
as if it's a transmitter itself and then tuning the Palstar tuner settings
for the match and it works great! Once I get a match I always write the
settings down in a little book I made of 3" x 5" index cards stapled
together on one side. When I return to that same frequency again I can
usually tune up with those settings and get a match in under 5 seconds!

Happy New Years and very 73!
Cliff, KU4GW




On Sat, Dec 28, 2019 at 1:35 PM Jim VE7RF <jim.thom@...> wrote:

I have a RI-40 ribbon style (3/8" x .082") roller coil....with no
lube on it. Can I use permatex dielectric grease on it ?
My RI-50 roller coil came with what appears to be green coloured
grease on it.

Both rollers have the ribbon pinched with a pair of gold plated
contacts, 2 per side. Coil is fixed. Contacts spiral around the
inside.

SSON no longer sells either version. I bought the RI-50 new,
years ago. The RI-40 was obtained used.

Jim VE7RF
 

Scroll? to? extreme? right.? ?'Grease'






PRODUCT DETAILS

Two (2) graphite-lithium grease packets for use on all Palstar roller inductors. The grease is free. The handling fee is $3.45 and shipping cost is $0.50 via USPS.
 

Oren Elliott? no? longer makes? rollers...? just? ?air? variables +? verniers.??

I'm? gonna? buy? some...'conducto? lube' .? ? 75%? pure? silver...and 25%? castor oil.? ?Made for? sliding? contacts.
I? use? High? tech? 3M? air? filters? ?on? the? air? intake? to? both? hb amps.? ?Sealed on? top? side...except for? exhaust.? ? Zero? dust.? ?

My? ?4 x gold? contacts? ?pinch? and slide on? the? sides of the? 3/8" silver? plated? ribbon.? ?It? needs? lube.?

Center? bar? is 1"? square,? silver plated? ?square tubing,? ?with more? sliding contacts (8) on? all? 4? x sides.? ?And? still? more? sliding contacts (4)? ?at? each? end? of? the? sq tubing..where? they? brazed? on silver? plated? discs.?

Jim? VE7RF
 

?
OEP still makes variable caps and all the TX variety use that grease/goo/goop
?
?
?

----- Original Message -----
From: Jim VE7RF
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2019 7:55 PM
Subject: Re: [ham-amplifiers] Dielectric grease for roller inductors ?

Oren Elliott? no? longer makes? rollers...? just? ?air? variables +? verniers.??

I'm? gonna? buy? some...'conducto? lube' .? ? 75%? pure? silver...and 25%? castor oil.? ?Made for? sliding? contacts.
I? use? High? tech? 3M? air? filters? ?on? the? air? intake? to? both? hb amps.? ?Sealed on? top? side...except for? exhaust.? ? Zero? dust.? ?

My? ?4 x gold? contacts? ?pinch? and slide on? the? sides of the? 3/8" silver? plated? ribbon.? ?It? needs? lube.?

Center? bar? is 1"? square,? silver plated? ?square tubing,? ?with more? sliding contacts (8) on? all? 4? x sides.? ?And? still? more? sliding contacts (4)? ?at? each? end? of? the? sq tubing..where? they? brazed? on silver? plated? discs.?

Jim? VE7RF

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