Damaged coax

[NightProwler]

So I have 20 meters of RG213 running down to the line post with an X200 on it mounted about 20 feet off the ground, Works really well on 2M but I brought it down the other day just to check it over, (I have a week off work and im bored already) I noticed the coax and PL plug were crusty and covered in white powder and the wire inside has lost it's shine, Never seen this before

Im always very careful to try and make the plugs as water tight as possible using self amalgamating tape but it's got in there by the looks of it. I chopped about 2 foot off and it was the same, Thing is the SWR is still very low where it's always been. Time to change the coax or go with it until it rots away?

[ch25]

When coax have big loss SWR is always low
RG213 is peanuts cheap, but because of PL-259 it will get the moisture again.
X200N is the way to go young Padawan.
Chris

[Transwarp]

@NP
Depends how old it is / how long you've had it in use outside for.

The white crusty powder is either galvanic corrosion or due to moisture trapped inside connectors / cable sleeve. If the copper screen and centre conductor of the coax is just dull on the surface and goes shiny when rubbed with some wire wool then it'll be fine to use. If it's black or green though and runs a fair way along the length of the coax after cutting back say a foot then it's chuck it time and get some new stuff.

Coax that has degraded somewhat is fine for HF / CB use but not for higher frequencies like 2m / 70cms.

[NightProwler]

The coax is about 4 years old and buried under the lawn in a thick plastic pipe. It's working the same as it always did but I suppose I better get some new