[TowerTalk] Orion 2800 mast clamp redux

[Ken K6MR]

Ah yes.  Water is the one thing that will kill a PP.  I haven't checked lately, but all the internal bearings were still available as of about 15 years ago.  The only one I could never find is the thrust bearing on the bevel gear.

The guy I was building/installing systems for (W6HX) had a cover made special for each tower.  It would exactly fit the inside space of the tower and have an overlapping rain hat on it that fit the mast tightly.  A little tape and goop and never saw one get wet.  After all these things were meant to be mounted horizontally and spin externally at a pretty good rate.  That's also the reason you should never fill a PP with oil.  The seals were not made to keep oil from moving on the longitudinal axis.  If you do you are guaranteed to get oil in the motor.

Ken K6MR