This isn’t quite a “Don’t Do This” article but it’s close. I recently had someone ask me if it was possible to clean the oxidation off an antenna with cola. I actually tested it, although I already knew the answer. .t isn’t, although I only let it sit for about a day. So there’s that.
The real question: why would you think it would work?
It’s actually not far-fetched though. You can use a cola drink to clean corrosion off a car battery terminal, I’ve done it myself. The key to it is the phosphoric acid that is in cola. It balances out the alkaline corrosion on battery terminals fairly well. It will also put the shine back on a green penny, for the same reason. However, that’s copper oxide, and the black stuff on your antenna is aluminum oxide. The two are completely different. A mild acid of any type would probably eventually work, but in the case of battery terminals, it’s the phosphorus interacting with the copper battery terminal that really does the hard work.
But really, you don’t have to clean your antenna.
More importantly, aluminum oxide, while it does take that nice shine off your antenna, isn’t really bad for the antenna. It doesn’t make much difference to the antenna’s ability to receive signals, and a thin layer of aluminum oxide actually prevents corrosion of the antenna by preventing more aluminum oxide from forming. That big difference is one of the reasons that aluminum is used in building materials, cars, and other things instead of iron. When iron starts to oxidize, it just keeps oxidizing. As they say, rust never sleeps. However a little aluminum oxide actually prevents more oxidation, so it’s a good thing. Because of oxidation, there are antennas out there that are 60 years old or older and they still work about the same as when they were new.
Yes, I did test it
Because I’m committed to getting you the real answers, I actually did climb up on the roof of our test labs and doused the 50-year-old antenna with soda. A day later I hosed it off but didn’t scrub it, because I didn’t want to affect the test. I did douse it pretty well though, and let me tell you, there was no difference between the parts I’d doused and the parts I hadn’t. They were all uniformly greyish-black. Maybe if I’d left that soda up there a month or two, who knows. But even if I had, that would have just left me with a shiny antenna that was going to oxidize all over again.
Just not worth it. Drink the cola, leave the antenna alone. Or even better, if you’re not happy with its appearance, replace it. You’ll find a great selection of everything you need when you shop at Solid Signal. If you have questions, call us! We’re just a phone call away. Call 888-233-7563 during East Coast business hours and you’ll reach a certified antenna tech. They’ll answer all your questions and recommend the best antenna for you. If it’s after hours, no problem! Fill out the form below, and we’ll get back to you, usually within one business day.
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