[TowerTalk] US Towers cabling replacement

[jknodel M Knodel]

I am planning on installing a US Towers HDX later this year or perhaps first 
part of next year.  I live right on the coast, literally about a mile from 
the beach.  Needless to say, corrosion is a problem with everything.  How 
long do you think a brand new UST tower would be able to go before having to 
replace the cabling in this environment?  I am hoping to be on the coast 
only for the next 7-8 years before moving.  Thanks for any thoughts.

Jon, N7XW


**********************ORIGINAL MESSAGE***********************************
From: "Dick Green WC1M" <wc1m at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Action against US Tower?
To: "'JC Smith'" <jc-smith at comcast.net>,	"'Rick Tavan N6XI'"
	<rtavan at gmail.com>, <towertalk at contesting.com>
Message-ID: <BAY103-DAV5CBDB5CAED8CFD9339D148D950 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

When I first bought my 72' crankup in 1997, someone at U.S. Tower fed me
that line about legal liability being the reason they don't have
documentation. Later, when speaking with the president, Bruce, on a
different problem, I asked about instructions for replacing the cables. He
told me he had an army of engineers and lawyers working on a comprehensive
use and installation manual for my tower. He said it was going to have
multicolor diagrams showing the cable routing. Never materialized. I don't
know if he out-and-out lied to me or if the lawyers killed the project.

Another thing they do to avoid liability is say that the tower must be
installed by a professional. They used to have a loose network of installers
who knew how to install and maintain the tower. Don't know if they still do.
If you install it yourself and claim injury or damage occurred due to lack
of documentation, they would probably point to disclaimers saying the tower
is designed to be installed only by professionals.

I can sympathize with wanting to limit their liability on installation
issues where injury or damage may occur, but there are other categories
where instructions would be very helpful and there's virtually no risk of
damage or injury. One is the bottom rotation of the tubular towers. I spent
hours trying to figure out why mine was binding. It turned out to be a
simple but understandable installation mistake. A sketch of the rotor
connection to the tower would have prevented a lot of frustration.

While my 72' rotating motorized tubular tower has performed almost
flawlessly for almost 9 years (there's a stupid design flaw in the pull-down
cable system that prevents a perfect score), I would not buy another U.S.
Tower product unless they provided installation documentation.

As for cable life, it's highly dependent on the environment in which the
tower has been installed. From the stories told on this reflector,
installations near salt water expose the cable to a lot of corrosion and the
cable will have to be replaced frequently. There are anecdotes about cables
lasting 30 years in other environments. Frequent and careful inspection of
the cable is warranted in all environments.

73, Dick WC1M