Repairing Ruber Ducks

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hhrj

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I have a few rubber ducks that have deteriorated, the rubber is coming off in chunks. I took one and removed all the rubber, and then dipped it into a can of black Tool Dip. The dip is non-conductive and I repeated the dip 3 times to build up the thickness. This morning the dip is completely dry and shrunk a little to the shape of the coil. It is flexible and looks good for the first try. The performance didn't change either.
Anyone else thought about doing something similar?

Ron
 

mmckenna

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Yep, tool dip, also sold as "Plasti-Dip" around here works well. Heat shrink is another good option, as was mentioned.

We've done the heat shrink thing on some of our older MTS-2000 800MHz antennas. Some users have even used different color heat shrink to distinguish "their" radios from others.
 

hhrj

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mmckenna: Plasti-Dip comes in colors too! In fact the label shows yellow which I didn't want...but when I took it down from the shelf it had a "Black" sticker on it. Cost me $7.43 with tax at Home Depot and I still have $17.57 on that gift card.

russellmaher: You're welcome. I didn't know that I was dredging up and old trick. I did several searches before I bought the dip.
The only thing that I could think that would be a problem would be getting the entire length submerged. My thought was that I'd have to transfer the dip to a test tube or something. I was delighted to see that it comes in a can that's about 6-1/2" tall.
I'm well pleased with the results.
USCG....Thank you for your service!!! Been there done that, got the DD214, '72-'76 RTC Yorktown and Base Chasn. EN/MK (small boat SAR and ATON).
In the words of that female corpsman at RTC, "Always Ready....but not for you!!!"

Ron
 
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mmckenna

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USCG....Thank you for your service!!! Been there done that, got the DD214, '72-'76 RTC Yorktown and Base Chasn. EN/MK (small boat SAR and ATON).
In the words of that female corpsman at RTC, "Always Ready....but not for you!!!"

Ron

I went through Cape May in 1993, Q142
USCGC Ironwood out of Kodiak. 180 footer. Best learning experience of my life. Ops Area was Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
Finished up at Support Center Seattle. Boring duty after being on a 180!

Never intended to be a lifer, glad I did it when I did. Best experience of my life.
 

hhrj

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I went through Cape May in 1993, Q142
USCGC Ironwood out of Kodiak. 180 footer. Best learning experience of my life. Ops Area was Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
Finished up at Support Center Seattle. Boring duty after being on a 180!

Never intended to be a lifer, glad I did it when I did. Best experience of my life.

Cape May March '72 F85, RTC ENA8-73 June '72, RTC Sept '72 CGC Courier(decom) caretaker crew, RTC Wormley Creek Feb '73, Mutual to Base Chasn June '74, inactive reserve Jan '76.
I tried a mutual to the Papaw in early '74 but it failed.

As you, I can vouch for the excellent training and learning experience, I always got in line for a school of some kind. Outboard C, Hale P-250, Boarding Officer (D8), Mercruiser Factory School. I learned to dive at Wormley Creek and also small boat handling (I would practice every day during lunch). I got a Captains License in 1985 while working on fire trucks which are really just inside out boats. Looking for a boat to captain was always an easy affair, I had managment skills, marine diesel, welding, diving....A man of many hats. USCG been very very good to me!
 

ampulman

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That guy is retarded. At that close of coil spacing it becomes a 4" piece of metal.

Perhaps one could rig up a jig to hold the 'stop' slightly stretched-out before dipping. Then you would have an x length antenna.

BTW, how does one seal that container of 'rubber' after the dip. Kind of an expensive proposition (one-time use).

I seem to recall that many years ago, it was packaged in a paint can style container; the ones that you had to pry open with a flat tool and could be recapped.

Amp
 

hhrj

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BTW, how does one seal that container of 'rubber' after the dip. Kind of an expensive proposition (one-time use).

I seem to recall that many years ago, it was packaged in a paint can style container; the ones that you had to pry open with a flat tool and could be recapped.

Amp

The can has a plastic lid (like Tupperware). Under that is a pop top that I opened 3 days ago. I spend two days dipping the duck and replaced the plastic lid between dips. I checked it today and the dip is still just as liquid as when I opened it. Plus it can b thinned if needed, I can't remember the name of the thinner but I don't have any on hand.
At this point I'm not ready to agree with the one time use idea. Besides, I can always use it on some of my tools too.

Ron
 
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