Roof Radio Antenna Seal

[MrJoe]

Hello folks. I noticed my radio antenna was turned 90 degrees from before. Since I can't climb to the roof, I had a buddy check it out. Seems the antenna turns fairly freely at the base. I suspect a locknut came loose? We were in heavy rain last week and didn't notice any leaks. Should we be concerned? I can tell by the pics that the sealant moved. Thoughts? How would we tighten this up?

[bclemens]

My first thought is that it is a swivel base and they got a little too aggressive with the caulk (going up the side of the chrome shaft that swivels). But I'll go walk out on the line and take a picture...see how it mounts.

[MrJoe]

Thanks Mr C

[bclemens]

I took a look at one online. The base plate is screwed into the roof. The antenna then screws into the base plate with a locking washer on the back side. I was able to tighten and loosen it just by spinning it. If it is real loose, just spin it clockwise to tighten, if the seal breaks, reseal. However I think the caulk will hold it where it is and you shouldn't have to do anything. If its pointing to the tail end I don't see it causing any issues.

[MrJoe]

Thank you for checking on that!

[Thurman]

On the same note: I have a unit that I bought used about three years ago. This past spring ('13) I was giving the roof a good washing and inspection. When the wash brush touched the radio antennae, which was straight up, the bottom of the antennae moved a bit. On further inspection I found that I could rotate the antennae base in both directions within the limits of the sealant that was put around it. As I started to remove the plate I noticed that the six (6) mounting screws did not have any sealant on them. It appeared someone had sealed the mounting plate to the roof and then inserted the screws. When I took the screws out all of them had practically rusted in two. Being as the radio in this unit didn't work I just removed the antennae and mounting plate altogether. An inspection of the area the screws were put into showed me that the wood underneath the screws had indeed rotted, so I assumed the screws had been leaking a long time. I cleaned the sealant off the roof area around the old mounting position, made an aluminum plate a bit larger than the original radio mounting plate, placed this on top of the rubber roofing which covered the hole of the original radio antennae mount, secured it with new stainless steel screws, and sealed this entire area.