[TowerTalk] Help with Fulton winch

[Dave Hachadorian]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff" <jdraughn1 at cox.net>
To: <TowerTalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 2:33 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Help with Fulton winch


>I have a Fulton 554 (replaced by 1550)hand winch on a 
>Tristao 40 foot tower.
>
> It has worked fine until this weekend. It has been a long 
> time since I used
> the winch
>
> but decided to make a few contacts this weekend.
>
>
>
> Well, I cranked it up without making sure it would come 
> down. Guess you
> figured out the rest.
>
> I should have tried a couple of feet and then brought it 
> back down to make
> sure.
>
>
>
> At any rate it's up near full height. I went to crank it 
> down and normally
> it just starts
>
> coming down as the handle is cranked counter clockwise, 
> however now the
> handle just un screws.
-------------------------------------
Brake winches require a certain minimum tension in order to 
work properly, or the handle will just unscrew. Try adding 
to the cable tension by pulling sideways on it. If you have 
any ropes hanging off the tower, try pulling down on them to 
add to the tension.

If the clutch pack has gotten corroded together, maybe you 
could bang on the housing to free the clutch. If you somehow 
can take the strain off the cable, you can disassemble the 
clutch plates and clean it all up. Do not lubricate the 
clutch.

The way those winches work is that unscrewing the handle 
removes pressure on the clutch, then the clutch is supposed 
to slip, tightening up the handle again. If the clutch 
doesn't slip, because tension is too low or the plates are 
frozen, the handle simple unscrews.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ