[Towertalk] RE: TX-472 Crank-up Problem

[Jim Schnaidt]

Fred,

I have a TX-472MDP which I put up this spring. I purchased it used 
and it was about 2 years old. I had the same problem. There was a 
spot about 2/3 up at which the tower would stick and bind. I tried a 
new belt, but that didn't help. You may notice that you can tighten 
the belt by lowering the motor drive. This didn't help either.

My tower had some kind of lubrication on the legs that was like a 
thick grease that had gotten very sticky. I called US Tower and was 
told that there was a time when they used this stuff to lubricate the 
legs for nesting during assembly. I was told to use paint thinner or 
lacquer thinner and clean this stuff all off, since it's not needed 
once the tower is assembled. I laid the tower over and carefully 
cleaned this stuff off. It took about 3 hours. There was a 
particularly rough spot on one of the legs that I then painted with 
"Slip-Plate", which is a paint that has graphite in it.

Since taking these steps, the tower has worked flawlessly.

YMMV.


-- 

73,

Jim
KJØM