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Technical Tips from Mark W. Persons
AM Coil Cleaning


Silver-plated coils can become very black with silver oxide after many years of use. The coil on the left is an E. F. Johnson, built in the 1950's or 1960's.  The coil on the right is of the same vintage and looked much like the left one, but has been cleaned.  The coil surface is not perfect, but is so much better than before the cleaning process.

Coils are then ready for years more service in an AM transmitter, AM antenna coupling unit, or AM phasor.

It was suggested that Muriatic Acid will do the job.  Because the acid is toxic, do the work outdoors and use rubber gloves when handling the coil in the acid bath.  To do the work, the coil ribbon is removed from its coil form and is put in a plastic bucket with about 2 inches of the acid in the bottom.  It takes about an hour to clean a coil when the coil is turned every 15 minutes.  Best to wash the coil in a bath of water and baking soda to neutralize the acid and then rinse well.   

Muriatic Acid is available in well-stocked hardware stores for about $8.00 per gallon. 


The stories go on and on.  Stop in again sometime.  I'll leave the soldering iron on for you. 
Mark W. Persons   ham W0MH      

Questions?  Email Mark Persons:  teki@mwpersons.com       

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