[TowerTalk] K0XG ROTATION SYSTEM ADVIC E

[Richard Thorne]

Bill,

I purchased and refurbished a used rotating tower a year and a half ago.

For what ever reason I ended up having a few bearings stick (and they 
were new) a few months after installation.  I realized I had a problem 
when the guy wires were bouncing around.  I determined that a couple of 
the bearings were sticking.  I replaced them with free wheeling 
bearings, problem solved.

I purchased 18 bearings (I have 3 sets of rings) on ebay so I didn't 
have any recourse but to replace the 2 bad bearings.  I purchased the 
replacements and a couple spares from a local bearing company.

Mine is an original Dick Weber design which uses 6 cam followers per 
ring set, 3 on each ring.

I would suggest replacing them before they go up it's a lot easier on 
the ground, hi hi.

Rich - N5ZC



On 2/27/2017 1:24 PM, Bill via TowerTalk wrote:
> About a year ago I bought a Rohn 55 rotation system from K0XG.  After over a year I finally got granted a permit to put the tower up.  The tower is scheduled to go up in 3 or 4 weeks and I was checking the rotating rings and was in the process of using the grease gun on the fittings when I found several of the bearings in the rings were not rotating like the others.  Of the total of 12 bearings, 3 were not moving as they should.  9 were able to be rotated by hand, but the 3 were tight.  I used the grease gun on all the fittings including the three bulky ones.  I am now able to rotate the three by gripping with pliers with not much effort, but can not do it by hand.
>
> Is this an issue?  I called Richard at K0XG systems but have no heard back from him yet.
>
> The three bearings do not appear to be damaged in any way and look just like the others that rotate freely.
>
> My thinking on this is it may not be an issue.  With 1100 pounds of torque on each of the guys (5/16 EHS), plus the weight of the tower and antennas (another 1000 lbs) the sheer weight will "force" the sticky bearings to rotate.
>
> Has anyone had an issue similar to this?  Anybody with advice, including how difficult is it to replace these bearings, brand, where to find them etc.?
>
> Thanks in advance for the help, and with a little luck KH7XS should be back on the air by mid April.
>
> Bill K4XS/KH7XS
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>