[TowerTalk] Glasstran guy failures

[Jon Zaimes AA1K]

I have been using three Glasstran guys on the upper set of 100 feet of Rohn 25. This is my 160-meter, series-fed tower which is lightly loaded at the top with small 6 meter, 2 meter and 1.25 meter antennas.

Glasstran is the predecessor of Phillystran. It is fiberglass material covered with a thin black sheath for UV protection. 

Back in January one of the guys failed, somewhere near the middle. It just pulled apart -- there were no tree limbs or anything nearby to chafe it. Fortunately I had a calm day and after loosening the other two guys in the set I replaced the broken one with a new one made of EHS steel with insulators.

Yesterday I found another of the Glasstran guys broken -- this time right at the bottom end fitting. This and the other remaining Glasstran will be replaced with steel as soon as weather permits.

I don't know what the expected life span of this material was, but it obviously has been exceeded! I purchased a 500-ft spool from Phillystran in the mid-1980s and it was used then for about 6 years, then kept in storage for about 6 years till reinstalled at this QTH 5 years ago.

73/Jon AA1K