Just when I thought I had enough to worry about, I have to think about
the inside of my tower legs.....it never ends!
Bill Marx W2CQ
On 12/7/2011 12:32 PM, K8RI wrote:
> On 12/7/2011 8:29 AM, Jim Thomson wrote:
>> Message: 5
>> Date: Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:44:17 -0500
>> From: K8RI<K8RI-on-TowerTalk@tm.net>
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower Leg Maintenance
>>
>> On 12/6/2011 4:39 PM, Frederick Vobbe wrote:
>> ## U could also,[ if the tower is all in sections], stuff the TV
>> camera into each leg, like the plumbers all do, and see the inside of
>> the legs... in colour. Dunno how small an ID those things will fit
>> into though.
> Better yet is a "Bore Scope". It's a tiny TV camera on a flexible shaft.
> They are used to look at the inside of aircraft engines, pipes, and
> other inaccessible places.
>
>> IF it's not that bad inside, you might be able to hit it with a pressure
>> washer,
>> or fabricate something that will fit inside each leg...and fit onto a
>> pressure washer. IF you use
>> the rotating brush, you may just tear off zinc left and right,
> If the Zinc coating is that fragile I'd worry about rust underneath it.
> Normally a wire brush just makes it shine.
>
>> and make things worse in the process.
>> Then pour in a ton of cold galvanizing from a 1 gal container. If you
>> capped off the bottom legs
>> 1st, then poured it in the top legs, then capped off the top legs, then
>> balanced it on a single
>> saw horse, you could pivot it like a teeter-totter..and get it fully coated
>> really good. Then
>> roll the tower onto another face, then repeat.
> I've used that method to coat the inside of DOM masting.
>
>> Then open off the 3 x caps on the bottom, one at a time, and let any excess
>> drain into a container.
>> Now I can see why solid legs are popular. Pi-rod uses em.
>> Trylon also makes a 10' tower section,
>> http://www.trylon.com/lightdutytowers/stgtowers.asp
>> 18" wide, but 129 lbs per section, solid legs, and stronger than 65G. 7/8"
>> solid legs..and 1/2"
>> solid bracing. Not cheap though. I have never seen one. The way the
>> connections bolt together
>> looks slick though. A single 5/8" A-325 bolt [6" long] for each leg, via a
>> welded spigot. Just
>> 2 x hollow tubes welded to the tower legs, one at the bottom of the upper
>> section....and the 2nd one
>> is at the top of the lower section. 6" bolt just drops in. The solid legs
>> butt against each other. I have seen
>> that exact splicing technique years ago, at one of our telco sites, on a 26"
>> wide tower. It makes
>> for a fast assy.
> ROHN 45G and up are listed as available with solid legs.
>
> 73
>
> Roger (K8RI)
>> I have also see towers, like rohm 65G, where square plates are welded to
>> the bottom of each leg, and
>> 4 x bolts join the 2 x plates. A drain hole is on each leg, facing the
>> inside of the tower. Seen these things
>> get plugged up, fill with water, then split wide open when it freezes, what
>> a mess.... with a 16" rip right
>> up the leg. The tower engs finally said screw it, and went to solid
>> legs...or angle legs. Angle leg towers
>> were either 60/90 deg..and of course either 3 or 4 sided. On 4 x sided
>> towers, 8 x guy wires were used per level,
>> 2 x per face. They don't budge, and no star [TQ] bracket required. Some
>> of these installs are on mtn tops,
>> or way out in the bush, or on small islands etc. They only get inspected
>> 1-2 per year, wx permitting. That
>> orange/white paint only last so long too.
>>
>> later.... Jim VE7RF
>>
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