[TowerTalk] Rohn galvanizing quality

[k7hph]

Hello Jerry:

I think it's just the nature of the galvanizing process. That's why Rohn
cautions installers to always wear gloves. I have had four new Rohn towers
over the last 30 years; both 25G and 45G. All have had drips and raw edges
to look out for. Rohn, along with the experienced tower installers on the
reflector, recommend that you dry fit the sections and clean out the excess
Zinc in the legs and bolt holes before you begin the installation. I have
found that procedure to be much easier than hanging from the tower trying to
get the sections to fit. Usually you can get a good slide fit on all of the
sections by cleaning out the legs and rotating the sections to arrive at the
best fit. Of course then you need to mark them so you can duplicate the
positioning as the tower grows. I have had two towers re-galvanized at the
local plant of a national company who manufactures highway safety fences,
sign posts, light poles, etc. The towers come back looking like new and
having just as many drips and raw edge as they did when they were new.
However, galvanizing still beats any other covering that I have seen used on
towers. Just wear your gloves and be careful.

73, Mark...

----- Original Message -----
From: J. Kincade <w5kp@swbell.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 11:07 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Rohn galvanizing quality


>
> After bitching yesterday about the drips and runs I had to grind off to
make
> the sections fit together, further inspection reveals lines of little
razor
> sharp zinc whiskers 1/8" - 1/4" long up and down several legs, plus many
of
> the diagonal cross braces. I've already cut a hand on one, so I guess I'll
> end up hand filing all that crap off of 80' of tower while it's still on
the
> ground. Sigh.... This isn't Brand X tower stuff, it's supposed to be the
> best there is. Makes me wonder if quality production work is simply not
> available these days, at any price. I'm not a metals engineer, but I'd bet
> galvanizing results like this are caused by rushing the time in the tank,
> resulting in the object (tower section) being dipped not reaching the
> ambient temp of the molten zinc. When the tower section is pulled out of
the
> tank too soon, the insufficiently heated steel sucks the heat from the
> galvanizing coat too quickly, allowing drips and whiskers to freeze that
> would normally run off and smooth out. Cranking out tower sections too
fast
> = profit up, quality down. No big surprise.
> Jerry W5KP
>
>
>
>
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>


List Sponsored by AN Wireless:  AN Wireless handles Rohn tower systems,
Trylon Titan towers, coax, hardline and more. Also check out our self
supporting towers up to 96 feet for under $1500!!  http://www.anwireless.com

-----
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