Tom,
Before you decide how much risk you should prudently accept (thats the question
you really asked us), you should consider the consequences of potential tower
failure. You should be less risk tolerant if tower failure could result in
death, serious injury or significant monetary loss for yourself or others. If
the tower is adjacent to a residence or pedestrian or vehicular traffic, you
should be very risk averse. If its located away from buildings and people, you
can probably be more risk tolerant.
Without executing costly test procedures, its impossible to accurately assess
the probability of tower failure, given the rust conditions you've discovered,
and additional rust you may have not yet discovered.
73
Frank
W3LPL
>From: "Georgens, Tom" Date:
>Mon, 28 Aug 2006 20:51:19 -0700
>
>I have a question about my tower in Barbados. The environment down
>there is brutal and corrosion is a constant battle. Over 5 years, I
>have managed to get control over a rust problem on my Rohn 25. However,
>on a recent trip, I noticed some areas under tape and cables that have
>deteriorated since they were out of site.
>
>What I have is a couple of bubbles that, when pierced, the rust flaked
>away. In one case the removed rust exposed a small hole, about 1/16",
>all the way through one of the legs. There was also an area around it,
>about 1/4" by 3/4" that is thinned out. The second bubble left a
>smaller depression.
>
>I used a similar coating that worked on the other rusty areas, but this
>is the most severely damaged area. I suspect that I will be able to
>arrest the rust. My question is how much I have compromised the
>strength of the leg. Also, since there is an actual hole, what would
>this group recommend I do about it.
>
>The section in question is the flat top section of an 88 foot tower.
>The hole is few inches above the guy assembly and the other spot is
>about a foot below the guy assembly.
>
>Thanks and 73
>
>Tom W2SC
>
>_______________________________________________
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>TowerTalk mailing list
>TowerTalk@contesting.com
>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|