On Mon, 22 Mar 1999 18:18:19 -0800 dan hearn <dhearn@ix.netcom.com>
writes:
>
>During a conversation w Mike a week ago he said that M2 abandoned the
>rubber
>donut shock absorber because the bolts loosened and gave trouble.
He told me the same thing when my donut ( BMW vibration dampener) failed
causing $1200 worth of repairs to the tower.
However nothing loosened up in my case, the bolts all sheared off (
probably from torque twisting) causing the mast to kick out and
fracturing 2 legs of 45G with a KLM 40M4 and a CC 204CD hanging over at a
30 degree angle. A scary sight at 160' up.
The rotator was mounted at the bottom of the top section and 2 thrust
bearings were used.
I dont know if I should try the donut again with aircraft grade bolts,
etc or just hard mount. Bolt expense is a non issue but future damage is!
The tower has been extended to 180' and I have no particular desire to
climb on a weekly basis to check everything.
Any ideas out there? How about castle nuts and cotter pins in lieu of
safety wires?
He
>also said
>that rotator mounting bolt loosening is a frequent problem. They have
>supplied
>some commercial rotator systems w drilled head aircraft grade bolts
>safety wired.
>These are very expensive. He also said they are looking at some sort
>of sheet
>metal plate with bend up tabs as used on some automobile assemblies.
>He suggested
>using RTV on the bolt heads rather than Loctite. This can be cut away
>with a
>knife if removal is necessary. He feels that it is necessary to
>periodically do
>maintenance tightening of bolts.
I wonder if the grade of the stainless bolts is causing stretching? I'm
no mechanical engineer but wouldnt a galvanized and hardened steel bolt
be better?? Ive been on many commercial towers and cant ever remember
seeing stainless hardware. Several friends in the 2 way radio and tower
biz refuse to use stainless.
> I wonder if the different thermal coefficients of aluminum and steel
>cause some
>of these problems. I like the use of lock washers to accomodate small
>dimensional
>changes w temperature. Double nutting, as suggested by Steve , is
>certainly a
>good practice.
Rohn supplies a lock nut for many of their accessories; does everyone use
them? (-:
73 Carl KM1H
73, Dan, N5AR
>
>K7LXC@aol.com wrote:
>
>> Greetings, TowerTalkians --
>>
>> Other than a prop pitch, the Orion 2800 is about the best
>amateur
>> rotator available but I've run across three Orions in the last
>couple of
>> months with the same problem. And that is, in spite of having the
>best and
>> beefiest mast clamp in the world, all three of them had loosened up
>and the
>> antennas were being turned by the wind. One was a TH11, one was a
>C-4XL and
>> the other was an M2 2L 75M yagi.
>>
>> In all cases, the nuts on the long bolts through the mast
>clamp had
>> loosened up. And all of these nuts were the nylock ones supplied by
>the
>> factory and also had spring lockwashers. These were both versions -
>the fine
>> threaded and the coarse threaded ones so they are both subject to
>the same
>> problem.
>>
>> While re-tightening them is great, I think it is inevitable
>that they'll
>> loosen up again. In the case of the 2L 75M, it went through almost 2
>winters
>> before coming loose.
>>
>> Anyone using this rotator should plan on taking added
>precautions to
>> prevent this. In my cases, I'm going to double-nut everything.
>Another option
>> would be to use some Locktite (sorry - I can't remember if it's the
>blue or
>> red to use). Or do both. In any case, you won't be sorry.
>>
>> Cheers, Steve K7LXC
>> http://www.championradio.com
>>
>> --
>> FAQ on WWW:
>http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
>> Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
>> Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
>> Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
>> Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>
>
>
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
>Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
>Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
>Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
>Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>
>
___________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions: towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests: towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
|