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10-21-2017, 06:59 AM
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#1
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Veteran Member
City: Titusville,Fl
Vessel Name: Moonstruck
Vessel Model: 41' Defever
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 97
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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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10-21-2017, 07:24 AM
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#2
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,671
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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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10-21-2017, 07:41 AM
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#3
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,121
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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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10-21-2017, 07:42 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
City: Baltimore, Maryland
Vessel Name: HAVEN
Vessel Model: Golden Star 35
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 109
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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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10-21-2017, 08:06 AM
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#5
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Guru
City: Ft Pierce
Vessel Name: Sold
Vessel Model: Was an Albin/PSN 40
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 28,119
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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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10-21-2017, 09:24 AM
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#6
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,869
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I would stay away from metallic paint but otherwise you can paint it.
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10-21-2017, 11:59 AM
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#7
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Veteran Member
City: Titusville,Fl
Vessel Name: Moonstruck
Vessel Model: 41' Defever
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 97
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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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10-21-2017, 12:22 PM
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#8
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Guru
City: Philadelphia, PA
Vessel Name: Revel
Vessel Model: 1984 Fu Hwa 39
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,024
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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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10-21-2017, 03:32 PM
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#9
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Guru
City: Full Time Cruising East Coast
Vessel Name: Meridian
Vessel Model: Krogen-42
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,014
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I've heard of using shrink tubing
__________________
-------------------------
Terry
Meridian
KK-42097
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10-21-2017, 04:35 PM
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#10
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TF Site Team
City: Jacksonville
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,671
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meridian
I've heard of using shrink tubing
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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.
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10-21-2017, 06:56 PM
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#11
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Guru
City: Mt Crested Butte
Vessel Name: Artemis
Vessel Model: Cheoy Lee 67
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 551
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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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10-21-2017, 07:51 PM
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#12
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Guru
City: Miami River
Vessel Name: Gotcha
Vessel Model: Grand Banks. Heritage. 54
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 2,988
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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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10-21-2017, 09:36 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
City: Brentwood
Vessel Name: Miss Rita
Vessel Model: 2004 Heritage East
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 150
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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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10-22-2017, 02:44 PM
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#14
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Guru
City: kemah
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,135
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry M
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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Maybe a better selection would have helped.
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...4230525&rt=rud
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10-23-2017, 03:38 AM
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#15
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Guru
City: Full Time Cruising East Coast
Vessel Name: Meridian
Vessel Model: Krogen-42
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,014
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Unfortunately, in black..
__________________
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Terry
Meridian
KK-42097
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10-23-2017, 09:03 AM
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#16
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Guru
City: kemah
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,135
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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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10-23-2017, 09:37 AM
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#17
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,869
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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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10-24-2017, 07:36 PM
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#18
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Guru
City: Ashland, MA
Vessel Model: 1990 Silverton 40 aftcabin
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 1,208
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WesK
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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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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10-25-2017, 05:32 AM
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#19
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Guru
City: Ft Pierce
Vessel Name: Sold
Vessel Model: Was an Albin/PSN 40
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 28,119
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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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10-26-2017, 09:58 AM
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#20
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Guru
City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,869
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foggysail
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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You might be able to buy a better one.
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