[TowerTalk] Crank-Up tower owners, please read

Tom Hammond - N0SS n0ss@earthlink.net
Tue, 12 Oct 1999 15:41:55 -0500


Greetings to TowerTalk readers:

You you're a crank-up tower owner, please read on, others, may wish
to hit <Del>ete at this point.

For the past year, I've been 'meaning' to climb the tower and do what
I should have done from the time I first put the tower up (5 years ago).
That is the properly lubricate the raising/lowering cables of my 72'
US Tower crank-up.  Shoot, I HAD two cans of spray-on lubricant,
supposedly the "good stuff", and I was ready... but every time I tried
to APPLY the spray, I couldn't hit the damned cable worth a darn!!!
To the left.. to the right... ANYWHERE but ON TARGET, and when I did
(periodically) manage to hit the cable, the foam from the lubricant
(yes, this stuff foams for about 15-20 seconds immediately after it's
applied) would bunch up and fall off...usually onto my leg, or shoes.
Always had to get my ground crew (XYM Jeri, K0RPH) to "Stand Up Wind!!!".

I was wasting 75% of the lubricant I attempted to apply... so I gave up,
vowing to find a better way.

It took a year... well, actually, it took about 30 minutes, it just 
took me a year to decide to attack it again.

Since I had a BUNCH of scrap PC board available, I cut two pieces of
board to 2" X 3/4" and soldered them together, along their long
sides, and with a 90 degree angle between them.  I then pop-riveted
on a 'handle' made from another PC board scrap.  The Handle was about
4" long and about 1/2" wide.  I attached it toward the top of the
right-most piece of the two 90-degree sides, so that the bulk of
the two larger pieces of PC board was down below the handle.  This,
I call my 'spray catcher'.

Then I went a-climbing (no, I don't have the tilt-over fixture).

At the top of the tower, I (being a "lefty") held the spray catcher
in my right hand and placed it so that it cupped one of the cables
in the 'V' formed at the junction of the two boards.  I sprayed a
small amount of lubricant into the 'V' and watched (thrilled) as
the foaming began, then subsided and ALL of the lubricant actually
STAYED ON THE CABLE, rather than flying away on the wind.

I slid the spray catcher down a bit and repeated the test... success
once again, and I found that although I couldn't slip the spray 
catcher between the tower sections when they were retracted, I could
hold it right above one rung, spray on a bit more lube than normal,
wait for it to de-foam, and then drizzle down the cable, past the 
bottom on the rung, to where I could again pick up with lubing the
cable.  Worked like a charm!

It took me probably 45-50 minutes to completely lube every one of
the cables on the tower, and I actually had lube REMAINING in the can 
when I was done... a pretty decent job, considering I'd already
wasted nearly 1/4 to 1/2 of the can the previous year trying to hit
the cables 'on-the-fly'.

I've now added a couple refinements to the spray catcher. Not sure 
if they'll help, but I suspect they will:
  
  At the bottom of the 90-degree 'V', I've added a plate which goes
  (horizontally) across the 'V', to catch excess lube as it liquifies.
  I cut a 9/32" in the plate RIGHT AT the 'V', so that all the excess
  lube would be funneled TO the cable, and I also cut a 9/32" slot 
  from front of the plate to the hole, so I could slip the cable into
  the hole.

  I also added a similar plate at the top of the spray catcher, but 
  this plate has a 9/32" hole drilled about 1/4" from the 'V' so that
  when the spray catcher is in place, it is help slightly tilted so
  the lube at the bottom is caused to flow to the hole.  Again, a
  9/32" slot is cut in the top plate as well.

Yeah, I know it's a long message... sorry, I just do that. But I hope
it may help others who have experienced similar difficulties in
properly lubricating the cables on their crank-ups.

If there seems to be enough interest shown here, I will probably
submit this article to QST for Hints 'n Kinks, or something.

Thanks for your time, hope this comes in handy sometime.

73 - Tom Hammond   N0SS

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