[TowerTalk] Tower Painting Question

[Doug Rehman]

I am in the process of putting a 50 year old three leg windmill tower
(Aeromotor) up. It doesn't have any rust problem, although there is some
light surface on the upper section. I am using a stainless steel brush to
clean up the sections. I plan on two coats of paint before putting it up.
The first coat is a zinc rich primer from Tractor Supply. The second coat is
a heavy enamel tractor paint (low gloss black to make the tower less
unsightly to the XYL).

The tower is made out of angle stock. Before I paint it, I plan on taping
off all of the areas where it bolts together to preserve a good electrical
connection. Would the use of conductive paste on these areas be suitable for
long term rust prevention? The use of cold galvanizing paint does not seem
like a good idea; on the sample piece I tried it on, the coating exhibited
up to about 100 ohms over a couple of inch lead spacing.

I realize that the ideal would be to have the entire tower regalvanized, but
that is way overkill for the very good condition it is in. If not for
painting it black, I wouldn't be painting it all (aside from touching up the
small amount of light surface rust.)

Doug
K4DDR