Refurbishing SteppIR Fiberglass Protection Tubes

I had been eyeing a three element SteppIR for some time. Purchasing one was part of my long term station improvement plans. In August 2019, I noticed a unit being offered by a fellow MRRC member. He was helping another ham dismantle his station in preparation for moving into a condo. The price was right and I purchased the unit.

The system was a 2007 vintage unit. It had given the previous owner years of performance and was still working when it was brought down. The trip to Ohio was nice and the timing worked out that I could attend DX Engineering's hamfest. The wife (KC0RBV) and kids came with me. My son and daughter were okay with the ham radio stuff, but loved seeing the cars in Summit Racing. We also did a quick visit to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I highly recommend it if you are in the area.

SteppIR offers a free service where you can send your older unit in for them to evaluate it and make recommendations on needed repairs and upgrades. You pay for shipping and parts, not labor. (As of December 2019). I took them up on this service and sent the main antenna in for a checkup and any recommended upgrades. I decided that I could repaint the fiberglass protection tubes myself. Discussion with SteppIR included the recommendation for Interlux Brightside polyurethane paint.

As you can see in Figures 1 and 2, the tubes were in pretty rough shape. Significant amounts of the polymer matrix were missing due to the sunlight. It appears that I was the first person to paint these. So, painting would be required to extend the life of these tubes. My understanding is that this system only had one owner.

Figure 1 Showing missing matrix.

Figure 2 Tip with missing matrix.

I sanded the tubes with 150 grit sand paper to prepare the surfaces for painting. With exposed fibergrlass, you should be careful to not damage the fibers with too much sanding. Sanding them can microscopically cut the fibers which weakens them. I used a very light sanding over these or no sanding at all in the worst locations (See Figures 1 and 2). I also removed all the tape at each junction since I would have to store these until the Michigan permafrost unfroze for installation on my tower. I placed painter's tape at each joint (See Figure 3). ( I have found that only genuine 3M tape doesn't tend to tear.)

Figure 3 Joint with painter's tape.

Looking at the small end of the protection tubes, I noticed that the foam pieces that are supposed to prevent animal entry, but still provide moisture escape, had failed. Most had a small path inside them (See Figure 4). I decided that I needed to remove these and replace them.

Figure 4 End of a protection tube showing the foam has failed.

Removal was easier said than done. It required the use of a small pick/hook tool, like the one in Figure 5. However, in a couple cases I had to remove the small protection tube from the entire tube assembly and gently use a steel rod to push the debris out. This process made me quickly aware that this cleaning was required since I found nesting material from insects inside the tube. Figure 6 shows all the material I removed, and Figure 7 shows one of the nests still intact. It seems that periodic removal of the protection tubes for cleaning and end foam replacement is necessary.

Figure 5 Pick tool used to clean the end of the tubes.

Figure 6 Nesting material removed from all tubes.

Figure 7 Closeup of an intact nest.

To ensure good paint adherence, I used rag-on-a-role and half a quart of denatured alcohol, from the home center, to remove any dust from the tubes. Alcohol tends to be a good choice since it vaporizes quickly and has less smell than alternatives like acetone. I recommend wearing gloves for this since it dries out your hands.

Figure 8 Poles ready for painting.

Figure 8 shows the method I used for holding the poles during painting. I carefully located the taped joints on the saw horses so I would minimize the paint on them and prevent the saw horses from ruining the painted surface.

I used a 4 inch roller with a 1/4" nap roll on it. I was able to put paint on rapidly. I was able to move the roller around the entire circumference of the pole. I found that starting on the small end and working my wait to the bigger end generally made it easier to keep the poles in position on the saw horses. Figure 9 shows the first coat of paint after drying. Once downside to the Interlux Brightside paint is that it requires 16 hours of drying between coats. Therefore, I let the coats dry for 24 hours. Between coats, I used 300 grit sandpaper, as per the manufacturer's instructions, and removed sanding dust using the alcohol. I also used a new roll for each coating. The roller and rolls I used were so cheap that I found it more cost effective to do this. Plus, polyurethane paints are a nightmare to clean and require heavy duty solvents.

Figures 10 through 13 show the final surface finish. This was a considerable improvement. I ended up using only two coats of paint with a touch up coat at the end for any spots I missed.

Figure 9 First coast results.

Figure 10 Final coat on a tip portion that had significant UV damage.

Figure 11 A main section after painting.

I hope this tutorial is helpful for anyone who has a severely damaged pole. I will have to make a post in a few years detailing how long these poles last after this repair. Please stay tuned for other images of the SteppIR revitalization and installation.

73,
N8YXR