Sounds to me that water is getting in from somewhere else, possibly from the antenna itself. If you are trying to seal a coax connection and the antenna termination is open to the elements, you are going to have problems. I always laugh when I see someone coax seal a J-pole and leave the connections at the antenna elements unsealed.
That doesn't explain why lack of coax-seal prevents the corrosion but you're right about the j-pole. For that matter, I've seen a lot of kits of verticals include caps for the ends of the pipes--definitely a good idea!