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Re: [TowerTalk] Fiberglass life expectancy

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Fiberglass life expectancy
From: Patrick Greenlee <patrick_g@windstream.net>
Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2017 14:23:03 -0500
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Rudy,

Petit's Shipendec and Z*Spar products are enamels, mostly in a traditional fashion (petroleum distillate vehicle, pigments and traditional oils). Their Easypoxy is a single part polyurethane. They now have a relatively new product, which is a two part polyurethane (LPU) called EZpoxy2. This is as you might expect an LPU, with bits of the bisphenyl A molecule included, so they can call it an epoxy. It's not a true epoxy, but a modified polyurethane, but is a good product. (LPU is linear polyurethane.)

Woosley is another good name in marine paint.  You can Google on marine paint and find plenty of info. You don't need to get into the hassle of the more traditional catalyzed epoxies.  Whatever paint you choose go with the maker's recommendations for prep and primer( if needed.)

Spraying can be wasteful. A good properly sized roller with correct knap and a brush for those difficult to roll spots is low tech, high reliability and thrifty man, thrifty. Depending on your spray equipment, expertise/skill and work piece configuration it is easy to waste 1/2 the paint spraying.

Patrick        NJ5G


On 7/30/2017 9:59 AM, Rudy Bakalov via TowerTalk wrote:
The plan is to buy fiberglass tubes from MGS4U, a site selling to hams, and 
apply my own primer and paint. They claim their fiberglass already has the UV 
additives.

The idea is to have a X arms support for wire antennas on top of my 95' tower. 
The QTH is VE3 with -20F cold winters and 90F sunny summers.

Can you recommend specific marine grade primer and paint?

Rudy N2WQ

Sent using a tiny keyboard.  Please excuse brevity, typos, or inappropriate 
autocorrect.


On Jul 30, 2017, at 9:05 AM, Patrick Greenlee <patrick_g@windstream.net> wrote:

Not all fiberglass (AKA GRP Glass Reinforced Plastic) is created equal.  Some is made 
with Acrylic resins, some with various epoxy resins and so forth.  Some have UV 
stabilizer(s) in the mix and some don't. Comparing anecdotal "evidence" of 
environmental robustness is essentially futile unless the nitty gritty of the chemistry 
is also known.  It is like saying, I have a bag of stuff and it is pretty heavy and when 
exposed to the weather in Minot, ND during a really cold winter it didn't catch fire.  
Now compare that to your bag of stuff in a meaningful way.

Painting fiberglass?  Is it contaminated with mold release?  If yes, then what 
kind, silicone, water soluble, or what. Many variables to consider when 
painting fiberglass. Clean is good. Lightly abraded to foster tooth is good.  
Well proven coatings successfully employed on fiberglass boats with exposure to 
sunlight and foot traffic are good candidates for fiberglass coatings exposed 
to the weather in many ham applications.

Patrick        NJ5G



On 7/30/2017 12:41 AM, Wes Stewart wrote:
I was thinking about building an LPD antenna and purchased some Strongwell 2" 
square fiberglass tubing about 7 years ago.  I never finished the project and the 
tubing has been kicking around the yard in the AZ sun since then.  I see no signs of 
degradation and it had no treatment whatsoever.

Contrast that to the fiberglass military mast sections that turn to hazardous 
waste in a year or so.

Wes  N7WS


On 7/28/2017 6:27 PM, Rudy Bakalov via TowerTalk wrote:
Hi folks,

Does anyone have first hand experience to share? What can I expect from primed 
and painted UV resistant fiberglass?

Thanks!

Rudy N2WQ

Sent using a tiny keyboard.  Please excuse brevity, typos, or inappropriate 
autocorrect.

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