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[TowerTalk] Corrosion;Coatings;Pinholes

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Corrosion;Coatings;Pinholes
From: "Pat Barthelow" <aa6eg@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:59:10 -0800
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
There have been discussions in the past about coating structural components of towers, including guy anchors, with various sealants from bituminous tar, to paint, zinc coatings, to whatever...
I understand the corrosion process is electrolytic, involving ionic transport and exchange through moisture. and minute electrical currents pushing the ions along, in the process.


I wonder what the effect is on a structure that is protected over the vast majority of it's exposed surfaces, but has a few 'pinholes' in the protective coating, whatever it may be..zinc,paint, bituminous tar, etc. If the moist soil or air, containing salts, that is contributing the movement of ions and oxidizing the exposed metal, can attack the unpotected surface through an undetected pinhole, ionic current flows. The current flow, as a yardstick of the pace of the chemical reactions, is concentrated at a point location on the structure. Does this point source corrosion do more damage, more quickly to a structure, than if large surface areas of the corrodable material were acted on more evenly over time?

73, de Pat AA6EG aa6eg@hotmail.com


















73, DX, de Pat Barthelow AA6EG (831) 646-0388 aa6eg@hotmail.com


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