Motorola antennas - Cracking up and falling apart.

[601]

Ok, so I've noticed a very irritating problem recently, it only happens with my Motorola antennas, a lot of them have began getting brittle and cracking apart. It seems to happen a lot more than before, and it seems to affect the Helical antennas more than the older style ones. Is anyone else experiencing this problem? I'm also looking for ideas on how to prevent it, I just replaced quite a few antennas and would like to try to not have it happen again and have to replace them. I was thinking maybe some Armour All or something along those lines..... Any ideas?

[SYNTORX71MAN]

I have seen others use black electrical shrink tape to seal/cover the cracks..Its most likely the compound "M" uses to make the antennas...Of course nothing lasts very long nowadays...Its a disposible world...LOL

[wx4cbh]

MotherMoto doesn't actually manufacture the antennas, she has contract suppliers making them to Mom's specs, and the quality has varied more than one time over the years, probably depending on who's supplying this contract period.

Armor All does work pretty well at extending the life of the vinyl, but it requires reapplication at intervals, and remember to wipe the excess off or you'll be wiping it off whatever the antenna touches and it'll gather dust and pet hair.

[601]

Well if that's the case, I'm guessing the supplier recently, for lack of a better term, sucks. I know it's a disposable world, but wrapping electrical tape around isn't an option, it's just a personal thing. It just looks absolutely horrible to me. I'm gonna try some of the protectant on the newer ones and see what it does, hopefully I won't have the problem anymore. That or just keep on replacing them.... My Kenwood radio antennas have held up for over 5 years with no problems, M's suppliers are really slacking...

[N4KVE]

I went into my storage locker last week & found 3 800 mhz dipole antennas. As I touched them, the plastic broke into many pieces. Found 6 MTX 820 Classics, & on 4 the volume knobs split in half. Yet a few Icom & Kenwood antennas in the same box just inches away, are still as new. None of these items have seen any sun exposure in 5 years. GARY N4KVE

[wx4cbh]

I feel yer pain. I am having the same poor quality experiences. I have some Spectra and MaraTrac mics with cords that are more than 15 years old and are in great shape. I also have some trunking MCS2000s less than eight years old with mic cords that are sloughing off the sheath like they're molting and the strain reliefs are cracked and functionally useless. The point is that the environment has been identical because for the last seven plus years these 2000s have been co-located in the vehicles with the MaraTracs and Spectras. Go figure.

[RadioSouth]

Same problem with many of the plastic knobs. Some turn white first others just fall apart when you turn them. I get out the armor all and a toothbrush a few times a year, seem to help. But yeah, I have much older radios from other manufacturers
and no knobs or antennas have had this kind of failure.

[601]

Yeah, I'm having the same issues with the knobs also. Especially on my MT1000s.I'm probably going to take off the ones that are still intact treat them before they get any worse. The new antennas I purchased were made by Tuff Duck. Anyone ever use this brand? I'm slowly going to replace the genuine Moto ones with aftermarket.

[FireCpt809]

Saber knobs and antennas are famous for this

[Tom in D.C.]

Don't forget the strain reliefs on the 6128 XTS speaker/mics that melt in the sun or heat. Wotta mess!

[fineshot1]

I have seen some techs use the black heat shrink tube material to extend the life of
the helical & some wip duck antennas but eventually they get so bad they need to be
replaced anyway.

[RadioSouth]

Don't forget the strain reliefs on the 6128 XTS speaker/mics that melt in the sun or heat. Wotta mess!

Yes, had this issue with MT1000 PSM's Stored in the shed a few months and all (40) had the strain reliefs on both ends turn into goo (probably not unlike the stuff washing up on the shores in Alabama).

[com501]

From a sales standpoint, I certainly don't mind stocking/selling extra antennas.......

[motorola_otaku]

I've used ArmorAll on old Saber and STX speaker mic strain reliefs, and it seems to do the trick. No such luck on Saber knobs.