Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeking suggestions for repairing RH dome
On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 1:18 PM, Rob Ratkowski Photography < ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
I think you all have to decide how much $$ to be spent and how much of a PITA factor it is.
That was my first post on the subject. I'm glad to read that Kim is starting to think my way regarding welding. I've been thinking about it today, and it could probably be done in one long weekend. As one seam is sandblasted, the welder goes to work while another is prepped. Safe scaffolding is going to be biggest hurdle. Finally, a painter follows-up with primer and a couple of topcoats of good exterior grade paint.
Welding! So simple I feel dumb for never having thought about that. I'm pretty sure the dome is made of thick enough steel that welding just might work and there's no way water is ever going to leak through a proper weld. Then, as was said before, all we'd have to worry about would be leaks where the dome joins the roof. I understand that Rodger Fry is already in talks with a company (as Kim suggested) that does commercial roofing. Certainly they could fix the leaks at the base of the dome. Plus I heard from Larry Holmes that he's been in the business of selling industrial coatings for over 30 years and he seemed fairly upbeat about the repairs. When I first saw how badly the dome is leaking I was really down thinking we might not be able to get it up and running again this season. But now things are not looking quite as dark. patrick On 06 Mar 2012, at 19:57, Chuck Hards wrote:
On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 1:18 PM, Rob Ratkowski Photography < ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
I think you all have to decide how much $$ to be spent and how much of a PITA factor it is.
That was my first post on the subject. I'm glad to read that Kim is starting to think my way regarding welding. I've been thinking about it today, and it could probably be done in one long weekend. As one seam is sandblasted, the welder goes to work while another is prepped. Safe scaffolding is going to be biggest hurdle.
Finally, a painter follows-up with primer and a couple of topcoats of good exterior grade paint.
Do we have any welders in the club? I also feel foolish for not having thought of welding, but that's why two (or many) heads are better than one. And Chuck makes a good point: Please, please be safe and erect safe scaffolding and/or tie-off properly. Nothing at SPOC is worth a single tragic accident. Kim -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 12:02 AM To: Utah Astronomy Cc: (S) Grim Bruce Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeking suggestions for repairing RH dome Welding! So simple I feel dumb for never having thought about that. I'm pretty sure the dome is made of thick enough steel that welding just might work and there's no way water is ever going to leak through a proper weld. Then, as was said before, all we'd have to worry about would be leaks where the dome joins the roof. I understand that Rodger Fry is already in talks with a company (as Kim suggested) that does commercial roofing. Certainly they could fix the leaks at the base of the dome. Plus I heard from Larry Holmes that he's been in the business of selling industrial coatings for over 30 years and he seemed fairly upbeat about the repairs. When I first saw how badly the dome is leaking I was really down thinking we might not be able to get it up and running again this season. But now things are not looking quite as dark. patrick On 06 Mar 2012, at 19:57, Chuck Hards wrote:
On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 1:18 PM, Rob Ratkowski Photography < ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
I think you all have to decide how much $$ to be spent and how much of a PITA factor it is.
That was my first post on the subject. I'm glad to read that Kim is starting to think my way regarding welding. I've been thinking about it today, and it could probably be done in one long weekend. As one seam is sandblasted, the welder goes to work while another is prepped. Safe scaffolding is going to be biggest hurdle.
Finally, a painter follows-up with primer and a couple of topcoats of good exterior grade paint.
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
I did much of the original welding of the slit track and brackets back in '74, '75, was it? It was easier for a kid to scramble around up there, and under Bruce's watchful eye I didn't burn up too many rods, or put any holes in the sheet metal. I think Bruce himself and Jerry Montgomery did a lot of welding, too. I have an old "buzz box" welder that still works well. And Bruce is still the King of arc welding. But welding technology has come a long way since then, and this time around I would recommend a wire-feed type. Small, inexpensive units are readily available these days from several dealers. I'm not young anymore and would rather let a more experienced welder do the work if one can be found. I also have a small pneumatic needle scaler for cleaning joints and removing slag and I volunteer it. My portable 6-HP compressor will run it intermittantly for short stints. Welding will take care of all the inter-gore joints, but we'll still need the expertise of the roofing and coating people for the ring base flashing, as well as any leaks around the slit cover. On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 7:35 AM, Kim <kimharch@cut.net> wrote:
Do we have any welders in the club? I also feel foolish for not having thought of welding, but that's why two (or many) heads are better than one. And Chuck makes a good point: Please, please be safe and erect safe scaffolding and/or tie-off properly. Nothing at SPOC is worth a single tragic accident.
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they'd never end... Kim -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 7:46 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeking suggestions for repairing RH dome I did much of the original welding of the slit track and brackets back in '74, '75, was it? It was easier for a kid to scramble around up there, and under Bruce's watchful eye I didn't burn up too many rods, or put any holes in the sheet metal. I think Bruce himself and Jerry Montgomery did a lot of welding, too. I have an old "buzz box" welder that still works well. And Bruce is still the King of arc welding.
Bruce has done much of the welding at SPOC, although he has gotten grief because he is not "certified" (his work speaks for itself).
SPOC funds should be spent 1st, and as always, large expenditures from the general fund need to be approved by the general membership. SPOC is available to all members and, yes, SLAS needs to continue to be active in SL Valley. The Star Party Schedule reflects that continued activity. Do we have any welders in the club? I also feel foolish for not having
thought of welding, but that's why two (or many) heads are better than one. And Chuck makes a good point: Please, please be safe and erect safe scaffolding and/or tie-off properly. Nothing at SPOC is worth a single tragic accident.
Kim
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 12:02 AM To: Utah Astronomy Cc: (S) Grim Bruce Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Seeking suggestions for repairing RH dome
Welding! So simple I feel dumb for never having thought about that.
I'm pretty sure the dome is made of thick enough steel that welding just might work and there's no way water is ever going to leak through a proper weld.
Then, as was said before, all we'd have to worry about would be leaks where the dome joins the roof.
I understand that Rodger Fry is already in talks with a company (as Kim suggested) that does commercial roofing. Certainly they could fix the leaks at the base of the dome.
Plus I heard from Larry Holmes that he's been in the business of selling industrial coatings for over 30 years and he seemed fairly upbeat about the repairs.
When I first saw how badly the dome is leaking I was really down thinking we might not be able to get it up and running again this season. But now things are not looking quite as dark.
patrick
On 06 Mar 2012, at 19:57, Chuck Hards wrote:
On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 1:18 PM, Rob Ratkowski Photography < ratkwski@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
I think you all have to decide how much $$ to be spent and how much of a PITA factor it is.
That was my first post on the subject. I'm glad to read that Kim is starting to think my way regarding welding. I've been thinking about it today, and it could probably be done in one long weekend. As one seam is sandblasted, the welder goes to work while another is prepped. Safe scaffolding is going to be biggest hurdle.
Finally, a painter follows-up with primer and a couple of topcoats of good exterior grade paint.
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Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
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_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
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participants (4)
-
Chuck Hards -
erikhansen＠thebluezone.net -
Kim -
Patrick Wiggins