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LEHAFER · 01-05-2014, 07:48 AM

I have one of the crank-up Winegard TV antennas that has started dripping water around the crank handle. I lubed the antenna with silicone spray in October 2013 per the manual. In January 2014 it starts leaking. I've lubed it again today without success. Any suggestions?

homeless · 01-05-2014, 07:51 AM

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NeilV · 01-05-2014, 10:46 AM

You have to inspect it and see what is broken or out of alignment. Mine is 13 years old and has not required any service for leaks however I did have to put a small hose clamp on the downlead boot to keep it in place on the mounting base.

What did the center tube and base on the roof look like when you pulled the spindle out to lubricate it? Nice and smooth or were there any cracks in it?

mel s · 01-05-2014, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homeless

homeless
Using Flex Seal in the mechanism might stop the leak around the batwing crank handle, but it surly will "gum up" the mechanism, rendering it USELESS.
IMO that's not a great solution to LEHAFER's problem.
Mel
'96 Safari

NeilV · 01-05-2014, 03:27 PM

On re-read my manual says to put silicone grease in the gear box via the screw in grease cap on the mounting base up in the roof. The solvent used to suspend the silicone lube in many of the sprays out there can be very damaging to the plastics used in the elevator assembly and may have embrittled it causing your problem however the plastic parts only seem to align and don't really seal against weather.

I do see that the current manual says to use spray though:
http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/2452013.pdf

Time to open it up and see whats going on there. You may just need to replace the 2 o-rings, reseal the base plate to the roof or you may have some damage from a low tree branch or high wind situation that has to be dealt with.

Check out groups 7 & 8 in the parts diagrams on page 7 of the linked manual to scope out where the o-rings are located and how the elevator goes together.