Wilson 5000 rebuild

[The Mad Scientist]

I managed to pull the cover off of the 5000 coil and this is what i found ( See rest of thread )

 

[The Mad Scientist]

this was an interesting find. i managed to remove the cover without damaging it at all, and it would appear that there were some improvements. i see that they replaced the nut with a stainless one, and added an "o" ring plus silicone..... but as you can see did very little good.

also found that the solder joints have all but oxidized away( the grey you see is actually a powder), that coupled with the extreme oxidation in the upper part of the coil where it is held between the brass fixture no dought led to my extreme swr issue. this one also has no drain hole in it....as if that really matters.

now, from the look of this, i cannot see this amount of damage being done from three days use. so, i am going to have to surmise that this was, in fact a used coil that i was sent.....figures

disgusting.....isn't it?:thumbdown:


you be the judge

 

[The Mad Scientist]

well, im going to make an attempt at re-building this load. after carefull inspection it would seem that the corrosion is comming from the copper coil which leads me to beleive that it may be due to poor plating procedures....i.e thin plate and or poor surface perperation....

i will post more as i go along with it.

 

[gamegetter]

lol

well, im got to make an attempt at re-building this load. after carefull inspection it would seem that the corrosion is comming from the copper coil which leads me to beleive that it may be due to poor plating procedures....i.e thin plate and or poor surface perperation....

i will post more as i go along with it.

I think they covered in 'perperation H'. LOL.....

Isn't this the coil that is coated with silver???

On edit;

P.S. I also think your a half a bubble off plumb,,,

 

[The Mad Scientist]

it just may have well have been. yes, it is apposed to be "heavily plated" according to their product description.

On edit;

P.S. I also think your a half a bubble off plumb,,,


possibly, maybe pushing 12 cards short of a full deck too...LOL

 

[The Mad Scientist]

i have broke down the load a little further and found something interesting. i will post some pic's shortly.

 

[The Mad Scientist]

well here are some more pics of what i found when i broke the center section down. i found that the center pin where the coil wipe is connected to is not soldered propperly..just a "dab" on the end. and i also found an excessive amount of what seems like some sort of a locktite compound on the threads of the lower section.

so i took apart the coil wipe from the center pin, cleaned off the corrosion, polished it and resoldered it propperly, ran a small wire brush chaser through the threads of the bottom plate and cleand out the corrosion and locktite compound, as well as the lower threads of the brass lower section. also cleaned the corrosion and polished the upper brass fixture.....

 

[The Mad Scientist]

pic's

 

[The Mad Scientist]

i am rebuilding the load after water intrusion. there was allot of corrosion as a result, and trying to redesign some things as well. have been posting pic's in the ....new install 102" or wilson thread.

 

[The Mad Scientist]

oh, by the way. thank you to the admins for your help..........

 

[Robb]

Two things I would consider at this point:

1. Find a way to machine a small round groove at the top on the inside of the plastic housing where the stud sticks through the top. Putting a small o-ring would seal off the top. Grease the o-ring generously too. You can get that o-ring from an automatic transmission shop; they will probably just give it to you.

2. After re-assembling the base, leave the stud loose enough to fill the base load with mineral oil. This will keep corrosion out, let you know if it is leaking anywhere (where water could have also intruded), and this could even raise the capacity for power handling too.

Just some thoughts. . .

 

[The Mad Scientist]

Two things I would consider at this point:

1. Find a way to machine a small round groove at the top on the inside of the plastic housing where the stud sticks through the top. Putting a small o-ring would seal off the top. Grease the o-ring generously too. You can get that o-ring from an automatic transmission shop; they will probably just give it to you.

2. After re-assembling the base, leave the stud loose enough to fill the base load with mineral oil. This will keep corrosion out, let you know if it is leaking anywhere (where water could have also intruded), and this could even raise the capacity for power handling too.

Just some thoughts. . .

very good idea robb, however, there may be a couple of problems. one being it would be difficult trying to seal the top around the threads with an "O" ring as the threads may chew it up on installation, and or not seal propperly not being able to get into the deepest part of the threads. you would get much better results from a flat sealing surface.

the mineral oil is great for the short term. but it would need to be changed out after so long as it will eventually become rancid and acidic. running high power would advance this condition.


i was thinking about something a little different. as far as the connection point at the top of the coil goes i am going to "solder" this connection as this would negate any possibilty of internal corrosion at this junction.

and after getting the coil completely clean im going to try an old trick that i have seen some of the old tube amplifier builders use when rewinding inductors and chokes and such to negate shorting of windings. which is coating the coil with a thin coating of clear nail polish to seal the pores of the metal. sounds queer but it works.

and of course this would be done after finding the correct spot on the coil for the wipe attachment for optimum swr.


still working on the sealing problem at the top of the plastic housing...

 

[Robb]

Guys have been using mineral oil in 2kw dummy loads -for years- w/o failure . . .

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

i have never seen one turn green like that before and i have opened a few .water got into one of mine too but no green like that .thats pretty sick .
was this a barjan made coil maybe??

 

[The Mad Scientist]

i have never seen one turn green like that before and i have opened a few .water got into one of mine too but no green like that .thats pretty sick .
was this a barjan made coil maybe??

i would have to say it is.