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Old 10-21-2017, 06:59 AM   #1
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Coating an antenna

Hi everyone,
We have some old but still working vhs antennas. The coating is coming off an the fiberglass hairs are troublesome.
So, the question is, can I paint or coat the antennas without hurting the performance?
I thought about coating them with resin.

Ideas?
Thanks
Gordo
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Old 10-21-2017, 07:24 AM   #2
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I’ve repainted 2 antennas on Hobo. I sanded, then primed with Interlux Brtightside primer and painted with their one part paint. No impact on performance and they looked brand new. I did thin the paint so it would flow better.
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Old 10-21-2017, 07:41 AM   #3
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I repainted our SSB whip antenna with 2 coats of Rustoleum. Worked fine. Held up well. After the first coat, you are able to sand off any remaining hairiness. One tip that worked for me was to hang the antenna so that paint flows down the length and does not pool on the underside of a horizontal antenna.
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Old 10-21-2017, 07:42 AM   #4
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Coating an antenna

2 Years ago one of mine did the same thing...i.e., the flaking fiberglass thing. I wrapped clear Gorilla Tape (lengthwise) around the antenna and it has continued to solve the problem.
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Old 10-21-2017, 08:06 AM   #5
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Paint or gel cote.

Can wrap with tape but a quick sand, light soray, quick sand and cover coat usually gets rid of all the glass splinters and looks better again.
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Old 10-21-2017, 09:24 AM   #6
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I would stay away from metallic paint but otherwise you can paint it.
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Old 10-21-2017, 11:59 AM   #7
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Thank you

Thanks to everyone. I will add it to my never ending to-do list.

Gordo
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Old 10-21-2017, 12:22 PM   #8
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I did similar work for my Forespar Man Overboard Pole (previous boat). Sanded gingerly; coated in epoxy (to capture the fibers), sanded again, painted with Brightside Polyurethane. Fine after 12 years. An antenna is a tapered fiberglass tube of the correct length with a wire inside.
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Old 10-21-2017, 03:32 PM   #9
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I've heard of using shrink tubing
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Old 10-21-2017, 04:35 PM   #10
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I've heard of using shrink tubing
None or little UV protection with heat shrink and what a mess trying to get it off later. I know from past work experience.
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Old 10-21-2017, 06:56 PM   #11
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I had the same problem , but light sanded and applied gelcoat using a foam brush , quickly before brush melted got a good smooth finish.
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Old 10-21-2017, 07:51 PM   #12
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I had the same problem and used rather West Epoxy system. I was planning on painting it but it looked so good with a high gloss look I never did for 15 years, then so,d the boat. It did yellow some bu5 still looked good (by my standards).
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Old 10-21-2017, 09:36 PM   #13
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Epoxy coating

I have a 17' 2 part ant. it was so weathered it was just exposed glass fibers. I beached it with straight bleach,let it dry in sun. repaired the break on the lower part with 2 part epoxy and woven glass. Then coated both pieces with same epoxy, sanded and sprayed 2 part white epoxy. Looks better than new!! I have seen others of this make with same weathering.
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Old 10-22-2017, 02:44 PM   #14
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None or little UV protection with heat shrink and what a mess trying to get it off later. I know from past work experience.
Maybe a better selection would have helped.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...4230525&rt=rud
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Old 10-23-2017, 03:38 AM   #15
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Unfortunately, in black..
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Old 10-23-2017, 09:03 AM   #16
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yeh it was just to show that you can get heat shrink that's uv resistant, poor choice regardless. Digikey does list some white 4to1 heat shrink that starts out as 1" and shrinks to .25, but its cost prohibitive because they have to order bulk qty.

So maybe flexseal liquid (not the aerosol) is a better candidate. It dries to a tough glossy finish. I coated my rv's roof with it and was really impressed.

Edit: these people claim to have clear epoxy that is non yellowing. Dont know how flexible it is though.
https://www.artresin.com/blogs/artre...s-its-possible

There was someone else on here that gelcoated his topsides with white epoxy but I cant find the link now. That stuff looked real interesting.
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Old 10-23-2017, 09:37 AM   #17
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I think at some point, it would be simpler to just break out the credit card and buy a new antenna. A can of spray paint is one thing but some of these "fixes" seem to be pretty complicated and expensive.

That new antenna won't seem expensive if you think of how many years it's going to last and divide the cost by the expected life. $10 per year or so.
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Old 10-24-2017, 07:36 PM   #18
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I think at some point, it would be simpler to just break out the credit card and buy a new antenna. A can of spray paint is one thing but some of these "fixes" seem to be pretty complicated and expensive.

That new antenna won't seem expensive if you think of how many years it's going to last and divide the cost by the expected life. $10 per year or so.


Sure, $10/year is small change but why chuck a functioning anything that can be easily restored for $10 along with a half hour or so labor?
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Old 10-25-2017, 05:32 AM   #19
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Todays thow away America.....

Loss in pride in maintaing the working......

Etc......

Lots of reasons.....none that I follow.
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Old 10-26-2017, 09:58 AM   #20
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Sure, $10/year is small change but why chuck a functioning anything that can be easily restored for $10 along with a half hour or so labor?
You might be able to buy a better one.
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