Brad Pioveson W9FX wrote:
> Here's a question for the ME's. Can a worm gear drive winch without
> a brake system safely be used on a telescoping tower - which tower
> does not have a latching mechanism to support the tower in the
> extended position?
>
Depends on the particular worm gears (more specifically, the pitch of
the worm). It's like whether you can backdrive a lead screw. Sometimes
you can, sometimes you can't. The finer the pitch (= higher numerical
gear ratio) the more likely you can't backdrive.
> In other words, can a worm gear drive winch be reverse driven such
> that the tower can fall in the absence of a braking mechanism?
>
> I have a TriEx W-51 tower that came from the factory equipped with a
> worm gear drive winch. When I received the tower, the winch handle
> was missing. If I do not replace the handle, I can likely drive the
> tower up and down using a 1/2" low speed rt angle electric drill.
> If, however, the handle needs to be there and if said handle needs to
> be locked in place to prevent self-unspooling of the cable, then I
> had best find a handle...
>
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