Maintaining polished aluminum towers

I got my Aerial Airborne in mid November of 2010 and have stored it under my carport in Louisiana ever since. Within 3 months it looked pretty bad so I polished it back up. I did part with "Blue Magic" and the rest with Mothers Power Metal Polish for Aluminum. It took me a couple of hours and I still didn't do a very detailed job getting in the racks and what not.

Well, 3 weeks later and it looks crappy again, I really don't want to have to polish this thing 12 times a year.

I tried waxing part of it to see if it looked better longer but it didn't seem to help.

I've used the Mother's Power Ball on it but it was more trouble than it was worth trying to buff a round tube with a round ball.

Obviously I could have it powdercoated or something but that's more than I want to do at the moment. I could wrap it in a vinyl graphic but I think it would look cheap.

Any other ideas that don't cost a ton of money that I could use to keep it looking nice other than copious amounts of elbow grease?

You could show pictures of what the problem is. Pitting or white/gray/black colored splotches/streaks/films?

You might also look for aluminum contact with dissimilar metals that could possibly set up galvanic-cell style corrosion.

It's little white oxidation specks and a dull appearance. The only other metals it's in contact with is the stainless hardware that came with the tower. I'd imagine that's no different than any other uncoated tower though.

Flitz is cheap. It's carried by my local Ace Hardware.

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showt...light=aluminum

Oh, and ... the dissimilar metal may simply be the oxide itself. In a lead acid battery, the one metal is lead, and the other is ???

I know that a dab of baby oil or olive oil rubbed onto stainless will hide any small scratches and keep it looking good.

A: Lead and ... lead-oxide.

A lead acid battery is a galvanic cell between a base metal and its oxide (or, its 'rust' if you will).

Once the oxidation of a base metal starts to sink below its skin, then the oxidation process is like the self-fueling spread of cancer.

Watch out about polishing/etching off the anodization layer. That's like scraping off skin. In the above link, it is advised to apply a compound like Flitz, which likely hydrates the aluminum oxide layer, rather than thin it/ remove it with acidity or polishing activity.

Mine is not anodized. I wish it was.

I keep mine boat on a covreed lift on the water, mie is anodized but 2-3 times a year I'll spray silicone on a rag and wipe the whole tower down with it....seems to keep it well protected.

Two words for you LIQUID GLASS Google it ,research it.Hardest crystal clear polish /finish available.More coats you apply the greater the PRIZM effect.One coat lasts all season but i am addicted to it ,i get compliments all summer.I must admit i have probably 3 pint size cans applied to my boat and tower.It's soooooo shiney its very distracting in a good way!!

Originally Posted by slowwwflowww

Two words for you LIQUID GLASS

I've used it in like 12 years ago on my truck and remembered liking it. Never thought about using it to protect the tower. Is the tower you use it on anodized?

No it's polished.I thought it was shiney when i got it but now it has a prizm-glow to it that catches your eye like no other .And the boat,well lets just say it acts like a mirror.

I was talking about this thread with the owner of a pontoon boat. He did something to his pontoons (logs?) which sounds like what Slow Flow did (polished to shiny and then sealed). (Although, I forget what he used to seal.)

Anyway, it's been 3 years for him and he is as pleased as Slow Flow sounds.

I always recommend not touching polished alloy with your fingers where possible. I also recommend washing your tower with warm soapy water and rinse when you wash your boat. They only time you should use a polish is when its oxodized, and it will take more than a couple of weeks for this to happen.

Take it easy, Matt