I"m surprised we haven't heard from at least one ex-navy man who might be
familiar with their cable care routine. I know they have "oilers" whose job
it is to lubricate/grease the ships cables. There are probably other jobs
that involve cleaning and inspection?????
For we who are land bound I would certainly guess that environment would
play an important part of what the care should entail. In my case I have a
trolley with a cable that goes up across the top of the tower. The first
cable was largely ignored, i.e. not much lubrication, and lasted "only"
about 10 years. The second, and still present, I have oiled and/or greased
at least every two or three years. It's now about 30 years and still looks
like new. I'm sure it helps that I have virtually no blowing dirt or sand
and no salt water atmosphere.
Gene / W2LU
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Thomson" <jim.thom@telus.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2012 4:22 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Crank-ups.....do NOT lubricate your cables
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2012 17:22:15 -0700
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
To: Steve Maki <lists@oakcom.org>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Crank-ups.....do NOT lubricate your cables
from US tower
I suspect that rigging companies and crane ops also do regular inspection
and cleaning of those cables too, just like the ones on gondola and chair
lifts.
On Sep 3, 2012, at 17:05, Steve Maki <lists@oakcom.org> wrote:
I wonder why crane companies keep their cables (on million dollar cranes)
lubed religiously?
On this particular topic, I would not place much faith in the
manufacturer's edicts, unless you're looking for a reason to keep busy
replacing the cables more often than otherwise needed.
-Steve K8LX
## all the local ship yards around here have 55 gallon drums of
pre-lube 6, 9, + 11. This stuff is literally
poured onto those cables, right at the drum, via an oiler device. Its
just penetrating oil, to lubricate the inner strands.
Nobody is changing cables every 3 years. UST also wants me to check the
oil in the gearbox every month, and also
change it out every 2 years. Turns out those hub city gear boxes were
never meant to be used for lifting applications.
They were designed for stuff like conveyor belts, etc. They are
actually called ....speed reducers. They were never intended for
a hoist application. The UST control box on the tower is not water
proof nor is enclosed in anything remotely close
to a nema box. Whoever designed their anchor bolt configuration + rebar
cage on the HDX-689 was clueless. Neither
meet any spec here in town. If you put a 14 foot mast out the top of
their tower, you can kiss that 70 mph rating goodbye.
I wouldn’t be using the UBC-97 exposure B specs either, use exposure C,
or use the RS-222 rev g specs....if you can find em.
The story I got from the crane and ship yard folks is... without the use
of the various grades of prelube slopped onto the
cables, the inner strands can rub together..and break. You cant see
internal damage from the outside.
It would be nice if UST provided detailed instructions on how to
re-cable their towers. They insist you recable their
towers, but then wont provide the info. Check out their info on how much
torque required for both the anchor bolts +
leg bolts..... answer, snug fit. What kinda BS answer is that.
Jim VE7RF
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