[TowerTalk] Testing guy terminations

[Chad Kurszewski WE9V]

>>>KE5FI wrote:
>>>
>>>"Can you put 2 Nicopress fittings at each end for safety?"
>>>
>>>Absolutely, in fact you should use at least two.  I used two
>>>on the bottom 4 sets of 3/16" EHS on my 150' Rohn 45 and three on
>>>the top set of 1/4" EHS.  This tower survived many 100+ MPH
>>>winds and two 140+ MPH winds in the 11 years it was up at my
>>>Colorado location.  (Unfortunately one of those blew over a
>>>large chimney into my family room so the house did not fare so
>>>well!)  I think W0UN did some tests on Nicopress clamps so maybe
>>>he can share it if he is on this reflector.


Reposting a message from towertalk from W0UN:

>My local rigging and cable supplier says one swaged fitting per termination
>is plenty. What say, reflectorites? Is this "logger engineering" or is one
>really plenty? At 25 cents a sleeve they are cheap enough to put on
>multiple sleeves, but if this is truly overkill, I'll pass.

I disagree with the one is enough, although my reference material is
buried deep enough that I haven't found it the last time or two I looked.

The original swaging tool stuff is from Nicopress and about 20 years
ago I wrote them about using the oval sleeves in EHS 1x7 guy strand.
They said that the sleeves are designed to work with aircraft cable--where
one is enough, and that they would test them on 1x7 EHS for me.  A month
or so later they sent me the data.  It showed that one sleeve always failed
before the strand failed.  Two sleeves usually held and the strand failed
first, but they had one exception to that case--and to be absolutely sure
it took three sleeves.

My feeling is that two are probably enough and the failure of one two-sleeved
connection was at a test strength of almost the strand's strength.

Unfortunately, I don't recall if they had just run a splice with the 
sleeves or if they were used with a loop around a thimble or insulator.
Would make a difference.

So my feeling is that two should be used at a minimum and three should be
used if you were a belt with your suspenders.

73  John  



p.s.  The nicopress fitting that failed last Sunday WAS on aircraft cable.

---
Chad Kurszewski, WE9V         e-mail:  Chad_Kurszewski@csg.mot.com
The Official "Sultans of Shwing" Web Site:  http://www.QTH.com/sos



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