[TowerTalk] Tower maintenance person wanted - MN

Fri May 13 17:38:55 EDT 2016

Gear Box Oil chg on UST TX-472:

Assuming this is what you are asking about.
- Gearbox has Allen Wrench compatible plugs when twr is Vert or Horizontal that will drain the gearbox oil. Easiest draining is w/ the tower horizontal since the drain plug is easily accessible. However, I have a shortened Allen wrench that I use to drain the box w/ twr vrt. You have to be creative to catch the oil. However, I re-fill w/ twr vert. Pull the side Allen wrench plug and fill from the top until the oil level starts to run out the side hole.
I put the plugs back in w/ plumbers tape to ensure a good seal.
- Gear Box Oil: I use Mobil Synthetic Gear & Bearing Oil - SHC634, ISO VG 460 .. . .avail at any auto store; I change the oil annually.

73,
Alan K9MBQ

-----Original Message-----
>From: Drax Felton <draxfelton at gmail.com>
>Sent: May 13, 2016 4:04 PM
>To: Bob K6UJ <k6uj at pacbell.net>, towertalk at contesting.com
>Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower maintenance person wanted - MN
>
>Could you post a procedure of how this is done?   Where to open it, drain hole, etc?
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>On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 12:50 PM -0700, "Bob K6UJ" <k6uj at pacbell.net> wrote:
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>I would like to add something to the list of maintenance items.  The 
>reduction gear used
>for the motorized winch on the US Towers is a worm drive unit.  The lube 
>in these worm drive
>gear boxes should be changed periodically.  Because of the sliding 
>contact with the worm gears,
>the lube becomes contaminated.  I had never thought of the gearbox and 
>never changed the lube
>on my US Tower HDX589 tower since I had it installed 12 years ago. It 
>was giving a high pitched
>squeal and the case was getting hot.  Anyway, I drained the old lube, 
>(looked like dirty motor oil
>when you change the oil in your car) and filled the box up again, ran it 
>for awhile to flush out any
>remaining crapola, drained it again, then put in fresh lube.  Hub City, 
>says for our usage, they recommend
>doing this every 5 years or sooner depending on how much we run the 
>gearbox.   I plan to
>change mine every two years now.  Its easy to do.
>
>73,
>Bob
>K6UJ
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>On 5/13/16 11:44 AM, Alan Swinger wrote:
>> Thanks all. - Alan
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Fred Hurd 
>>> Sent: May 13, 2016 12:51 PM
>>> To: K7LXC at aol.com
>>> Cc: towertalk at contesting.com, awswinger at earthlink.net
>>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower maintenance person wanted - MN
>>>
>>> Hello Awsinger - I totally agree with Steve (K7LXC) regrarding the need to replace cables on a  crank-up tower. I have used the same cables on my US Tower TX-472 crank-up for well over ten years and they are in great shape because I lubricate them twice a year with Pre-Lube 6 Preservative Cable Lubricant (which you can buy from Steve).
>>> You do need to grease the motor drive system periodically to keep smooth operation especially during tower raising and also don’t forget the thrust bearing at the top of the tower. You don’t need to replace the cables unless upon close inspection you see one or more of the problems as indicated in Steve’s email.
>>>
>>> Best 73, Fred (W4PKU)
>>>> On May 13, 2016, at 12:24 PM, K7LXC--- via TowerTalk  wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I am also looking for someone who can change the cables on  my US Tower
>>>> TX-472 MDPL in Charlottesville, VA sometime in the next few weeks.  Will pay
>>>> a reasonable fee and tvl costs.
>>>>
>>>>     I guess the obvious question is why do you think  the cables need
>>>> changing? In the crank-up chapter in my UP THE TOWER book, I  list 3 reasons why
>>>> you would need to have them changed.
>>>>
>>>>     1.  Excessive broken strands. With 7x19 cables  such as the ones
>>>> typically used in crank-ups, that would be 6 broken  strands.
>>>>
>>>>     2.  Serious rust. Cancerous rust - not surface  rust.
>>>>
>>>>     3.  Damage. That would be a kink or flattened  part of a cable.
>>>>
>>>>     In my over 25 years of tower work, I've only seen  one crank-up tower
>>>> that I would have recommended on having a cable change.
>>>>
>>>>     Tower manufacturers are insurance driven  enterprises. US Tower says
>>>> you need to change the cables and pulleys every 2  years. This is a 'weasel
>>>> clause' - that is, if you don't do that and something  happens to your
>>>> crank-up, UST can weasel out of any responsibility. They are  very risk averse.
>>>>
>>>>     This is NOT an exception to the LXC Prime Directive  to "DO what the
>>>> manufacturer says." That's because UST is NOT the  manufacturer of the wire
>>>> rope cables.
>>>>
>>>>     I doubt that your cables are in such serious shape  that they need
>>>> replacing and I just wince at things people do or money they  spend that they
>>>> don't have to.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Steve     K7LXC
>>>> TOWER TECH -
>>>> Professional tower services for amateurs
>>>> US Tower factory authorized installer
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>
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