[TowerTalk] Fiberglass life expectancy

[Rudy Bakalov]

The plan is to buy fiberglass tubes from MGS4U, a site selling to hams, and apply my own primer and paint. They claim their fiberglass already has the UV additives.

The idea is to have a X arms support for wire antennas on top of my 95' tower. The QTH is VE3 with -20F cold winters and 90F sunny summers.

Can you recommend specific marine grade primer and paint?

Rudy N2WQ

Sent using a tiny keyboard.  Please excuse brevity, typos, or inappropriate autocorrect.


> On Jul 30, 2017, at 9:05 AM, Patrick Greenlee <patrick_g at windstream.net> wrote:
> 
> Not all fiberglass (AKA GRP Glass Reinforced Plastic) is created equal.  Some is made with Acrylic resins, some with various epoxy resins and so forth.  Some have UV stabilizer(s) in the mix and some don't. Comparing anecdotal "evidence" of environmental robustness is essentially futile unless the nitty gritty of the chemistry is also known.  It is like saying, I have a bag of stuff and it is pretty heavy and when exposed to the weather in Minot, ND during a really cold winter it didn't catch fire.  Now compare that to your bag of stuff in a meaningful way.
> 
> Painting fiberglass?  Is it contaminated with mold release?  If yes, then what kind, silicone, water soluble, or what. Many variables to consider when painting fiberglass. Clean is good. Lightly abraded to foster tooth is good.  Well proven coatings successfully employed on fiberglass boats with exposure to sunlight and foot traffic are good candidates for fiberglass coatings exposed to the weather in many ham applications.
> 
> Patrick        NJ5G
> 
> 
> 
>> On 7/30/2017 12:41 AM, Wes Stewart wrote:
>> I was thinking about building an LPD antenna and purchased some Strongwell 2" square fiberglass tubing about 7 years ago.  I never finished the project and the tubing has been kicking around the yard in the AZ sun since then.  I see no signs of degradation and it had no treatment whatsoever.
>> 
>> Contrast that to the fiberglass military mast sections that turn to hazardous waste in a year or so.
>> 
>> Wes  N7WS
>> 
>> 
>>> On 7/28/2017 6:27 PM, Rudy Bakalov via TowerTalk wrote:
>>> Hi folks,
>>> 
>>> Does anyone have first hand experience to share? What can I expect from primed and painted UV resistant fiberglass?
>>> 
>>> Thanks!
>>> 
>>> Rudy N2WQ
>>> 
>>> Sent using a tiny keyboard.  Please excuse brevity, typos, or inappropriate autocorrect.
>>> 
>> 
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