[RE-wrenches] pole mounts

Wed Jul 27 15:48:46 PDT 2011

I had a customer ram a vehicle into a pole mounted tracker at about 10 
mph. It bent the tilt actuator pretty good, but the 6" pole and footing 
were unscathed. Once I found a pole mount listing at a 10 degree angle, 
turns out the DIYers hadn't set it in concrete.
Another situation we had 6" poles about 12 ft out of the ground, and in 
high winds they rocked back and forth a few inches. We added guy cables 
and anchors, and all is well.
Biggest problem I've seen is not bringing the concrete up to ground 
level. Dirt against the pipe long term will corrode the pipe 
significantly right at the point of highest stress.

Ray

On 7/27/2011 3:40 PM, Drake wrote:
> I've not personally seen any pole mount pipes that were bent or 
> broken.  Has anyone seen this?  How common is it?  What sort of damage 
> to pole mount arrays is common?
>
>
> At 05:25 PM 7/26/2011, you wrote:
>> I can confirm that quite a bit of water builds up inside the pipe.
>> A few times on rewiring old systems, we used self tapping screws to 
>> attach conduit and combiner boxes to the existing pole, and we've had 
>> water start running out the hole when it was close to the ground. 
>> This was in a dry climate (New Mexico) This was with a rack that 
>> didn't cap the pole, but I was still surprised how much water was in 
>> there. (gallons)
>> Filling with concrete does seem to be a good idea, but I'll point out 
>> its not as easy as it sounds.
>> The concrete just pours out the bottom into the footing, as you keep 
>> filling it from the top. Pouring in a foot of gravel in the bottom 
>> first would help, or filling the pipe after the footing dried some 
>> would do it too.
>>
>> No free lunch,
>>
>> R. Walters
>> ray at solarray.com
>> Solar Engineer
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jul 26, 2011, at 2:08 PM, Dave Palumbo wrote:
>>
>> > Roy,
>> >
>> > I have heard that the small amount of water from condensation will 
>> be absorbed by the concrete itself. Don't know for an absolute fact 
>> that this is true though.
>> >
>> > Dave
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org 
>> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Roy 
>> Rakobitsch
>> > Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 3:17 PM
>> > To: RE-wrenches
>> > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] pole mounts
>> >
>> > I would think that adding concrete partially up the pole would 
>> cause water
>> > and condensation to collect near the bottom and not drain properly. 
>> This
>> > could possibly lead to freezing and the pipe being blown out or 
>> damaged,
>> > even if the top is completely capped. I would think that you should 
>> either
>> > completely fill the pipe, or leave it empty with a good layer of 
>> gravel at
>> > the bottom to allow it to drain properly. I also have no studies to 
>> back
>> > this up, but it was just a thought.
>> >
>> > Roy Rakobitsch
>> > NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
>> > NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
>> > NYSERDA eligible Small Wind installer
>> > Wind/PV Design Engineer
>> > Windsine Inc.
>> > 631-514-4166
>> > www.windsine.org <http://www.windsine.org/>
>> >
>> > On Tue, July 26, 2011 3:05 pm, Dave Palumbo wrote:
>> >> Todd,
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> We add concrete inside of our steel pipe masts, up to grade level, 
>> in the
>> >> interest of having more weight below ground level. I 
>> wouldnâEUR^(TM)t say that
>> >> it made the pipe stronger (that better be strong enough as is) but 
>> more
>> >> weight down low will help keep it rooted in a big wind event.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Dave
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
>> >> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of
>> >> toddcory at finestplanet.com
>> >> Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 2:50 PM
>> >> To: RE-wrenches
>> >> Subject: [RE-wrenches] pole mounts
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Wrenches,
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Fact or fiction: Adding concrete to the inside of a pole mount 
>> pipe makes
>> >> it stronger.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Todd
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Sent from Finest Planet WebMail.
>> >>
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>
> Drake Chamberlin
> ATHENS ELECTRIC
> OH License 44810
> CO license 3773
> NABCEP Certified PV
>
>
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