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[TowerTalk] Tower paint removal

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Tower paint removal
From: millersg@dmapub.dma.org (Steve Miller)
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 06:36:05 -0400 (EDT)
Hi All,

I just thought I would relay my recent experience removing red & 
white paint from some used Rohn 55G. After looking at the available 
options, I selected soda blasting as the method of choice. Soda 
blasting is similar to sand blasting but uses a sodium bicarbonate 
(baking soda) abrasive that does not harm the galvanize layer 
unlike sand blasting (or so I am told). This seemed advantageous 
since about 90% of my tower's galvanization was intact. The soda 
is also environmentally friendly.

Last weekend I soda blasted 15 sections of tower. Equipment rental
was $200, material cost of eight, 50 pound bags of soda was $25/bag 
and $50 of diesel fuel ran the compressor. Total cost was $450 or 
$30/section.

The soda blasting worked as advertised stripping the paint but not 
the galvanize except for a small amount of flaking adjacent to 
rusted areas where the galvanize layer was very thin. It easily 
removed the areas of loose surface rust.

Blasting a section of tower takes awhile since the legs and braces 
must be blasted 3 times to remove paint the full 360 degrees around. 
I averaged about 1 hour 20 minutes per section using the soda at a 
very slow rate. You can speed the process by increasing the soda 
flow rate but you'll use more soda. It is hard work and loud. In 
retrospect, I would consider paying extra to hire someone else for 
the task but if you don't mind hard work and loud noise you can do 
it yourself.

Overall, I am pleased with the results. The next step is to wipe 
down the sections with water and a little vinegar to remove soda 
residue then spot treat the rusty areas with a coat of ZRC cold 
galvanize paint followed by a coat over the entire tower. 

Hope this is useful to someone - I certainly had a blast doing it! ;)

73,

Steve


-- 
Steve Miller   N8SM   millersg@dma.org   http://www.dma.org/~millersg

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