[TowerTalk] HDX-5106 Tower Noise

[jcowens1 at comcast.net]

On 26 Feb 2011, Richard Karlquist wrote: 





Message: 1 
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:43:15 -0800 
From: "Richard (Rick) Karlquist" < richard at karlquist.com > 
Subject: [TowerTalk] Cable noise (?) on UST crank up 
To: TowerTalk at contesting.com 
Message-ID: < 4D69C853.8010604 at karlquist.com > 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed 

My UST HDX-5106 makes "popping" or "creaking" noise when 
being raised.  (Mainly raising, only occasional noise is 
heard going down).  It seems to be from the cables being 
stressed, just going by the sound.  I frequently raise the tower to 
a particular point half way up.  Less frequently, I raise 
it all the way up.  The tower is quiet up to half way 
up and starts making noise above that.  By exercising it 
more in the upper elevations, it has gotten less noisy. 
The last 5 or so feet has been problematical, sounding 
like something was going to seriously break down or bind. 
Whatever the noise is (hard to describe, you would have 
to hear it), it seems to be specific to which sections of 
the cables are going over the pulleys.  I am wondering if 
I need to use cable lube to get rid of the noise.  Is 
cable lube actually a lubricant or just a moisture displacement? 
Sometimes the tower makes such loud noises that I stop the motor 
and back down the tower a few inches.  Then I start back up 
and the noise is gone at the height when it just occurred. 
I am afraid to just let the tower work its way through the 
noise because it may be indicative of some serious malfunction. 
Alternately, make the tower sections are binding and it just 
sounds like the cables are being twanged.  However, wind 
speed doesn't seem to affect the problem.  The cables look 
fine visually and aren't rusted.  The pulley bearings are 
an unknown, but it seems like they should be the same at 
any height.  The tower is 15 to 20 years old (guessing, 
I didn't buy it new).  Should I be replacing the pulleys? 
Many comments have been made about cables lasting virtually 
forever, but pulley bearings? 

Can anyone shed any light on this? 

Rick N6RK 



Rick: 



I have the HDX-572 MDPL tower which is probably similar to yours. Firt off, I am pretty sure the pulleys do not have any bearings. I believe  mine are aluminum pulleys with a bronze center that has a bolt going through it. I oil mine generously at least once per year. I am trying to avoid having one of these seize up. The benefits from using wire rope lube on the cables is that is protects them from rust and oxidation, and allows the strands to flex more easily when they go around a radius (pully, drum). I recently replaced the pull-up cable since it has the most weight on it, but the other cables are the originals and around 18 years old now. I currently do not plan on replacing these as they are the same ratings as the pull-up cable and have much lower weight loads on them. They look fine to me, and I keep wire rope lube on them. 



The tower sections have flanges top and bottom that ride on the adjacent tower section with a fairly generous separation space betwen them. As these flanges contact the adjacent tower section when moving, there will be friction at those points. My lowest section used to bind  a little at the upper reaches raising it, and UST recommended  that I use beeswax on areas where it was binding. I did this and it stopped the binding. I have not found the need to re-apply as it lasts for quite a while once it is on there.You can b uy blocks of beeswax at a hobby shop.   



I have never heard any popping noise or any other kind of abnormal noise when raising or lowering my tower. Another advantage of having wire rope lube on the cables is that it will allow them to slip through a hindered or stuck pulley and reduce the risk of it failing until you can get it fixed. Others might provide suggestions as to what this is all about, but you should get that fixed right away. 





John Owens -  N7TK 

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