[TowerTalk] dxengineering U-bolts froze??

[Lyle Hornbaker]

Yep. Galling is the term for what you saw. It is most likely to happen in stainless steel and really is a function of the material but there are ways you can reduce the likelihood of galling. I actually haven't seen it in fasteners but I was in the submarine service in the Navy and we had stainless steel valves with caps that were prone to galling.

The key is to make sure that you are careful during installation as you usually start galling on the installation and only make it worse during removal. Don't over torque. Use slower speeds (no high speed impact wrenches!). ALWAYS use an anti-seize lubricant. If you continue to have problems, choosing fasteners where the bolts and nuts are made of different alloys can help. Here is a quick internet site that explains a bit more. http://www.estainlesssteel.com/gallingofstainless.html

73
Lyle - KI4WKT

 From Lat 36.98135 N
Long -76.63769 W




________________________________
From: "Dubovsky, George" <George.Dubovsky at andrew.com>
To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics. <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Tue, April 13, 2010 8:45:56 AM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] dxengineering U-bolts froze??

Bob,

It's called "galling" and most stainless alloys are prone to it. It's just like the parts weld together. The cure is to always lubricate stainless fasteners during assembly. I carry a brush-top can of Never-Seez whenever I'm doing tower work, but any light grease will work just fine.

73,

geo - n4ua

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Bob AD5VJ
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 8:38 AM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] dxengineering U-bolts froze??

I like dxengineering parts; however, I installed my new th6dx this last
weekend with the help of the Azle Ham Club here locally. After taking down
my Hornet Tribander I was disassembling the Hornet from the mounting plate
that I bought from dxengineering.

I bought it with the recommended stainless steel U-bolt clamps they sell
when I put the Hornet up. It was up less than a year on the tower. While I
was loosening a couple of the U-bolt from the mast, the nut holding a couple
of the U-bolts became very hard to take off until I had to place the
assembly in a vice to get enough torque on my wrench to finally get the nut
off along with using a spray lubricant.

The threads are ruined on the nut and the U-bolt since it seemed to cross
thread as it came loose for no apparent reason.

I would have hated to have been trying this on top of the tower hanging from
a strap trying to get it apart.

Has anyone else had a problem like this, I remember it wasn't hard to
tighten when I assembled it as it went on very easily, just taking it off
was very difficult.

73,
Bob AD5VJ


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