Installation Guide

PRIMUS WIND POWER DOCUMENT 0228 REV A
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lighter wind conditions. If a long distance between the tower and batteries is necessary, using a
large wire size will help to address this issue. The person laying out your power system should be
aware of these considerations when the system is in the planning stages.
Please refer to the section on “Tower, Base and Anchor Layout”. The amount of space available
to assemble and raise the tower may also affect where your tower can be placed.
Step 2: Mast Tubing and Hardware Selection
Due to the high cost of shipping and the widespread availability of the tubing or pipe used for our
towers these materials are not provided by Primus Wind Power. These materials are readily
available through most fence suppliers or plumbing companies and will cost much less when
purchased locally than if they were shipped from our factory.
The AIR wind module is designed to be mounted on a 1.875 in. outside diameter pole. This is
the same outside diameter as 1 ½ in. steel water pipe where the “1 ½” is a nominal size indicating
an outside diameter that is actually 1.875 in.. Whether the pipe is “schedule 20”, or “schedule
40”, the outside diameter will be the same and the schedule number will determine the wall
thickness of the pipe. If the pipe is lighter than “schedule 20”, it is referred to as “tubing”, and
the actual outside diameter and wall thickness is usually specified.
The design of this tower kit allows pipe (or tubing) of various different wall thickness to be used
depending on the severity of the wind at your site location.
Use the following table to determine the acceptable pipe size(s) for your tower and wind severity.
In most locations structural steel tubing with a wall thickness of .065 inches is sufficient for the
conditions and preferable in terms of cost and ease of assembly. Electrical conduit must be
avoided for use in your tower assembly, since it is generally not designed for strength.
Use the following table for Pipe / Tubing wall thickness guidelines:
Maximum
Wind Speed
90 mph.
100 mph.
120 mph.
Recommended
Wall Thickness
.065 inch (1.65 mm)
.090 inch ( 2.3 mm)
.140 inch ( 3.6 mm)
Pipe
Schedule
“Tubing”
Schedule 20
Schedule 40
Although the design of this tower kit will allow different wall thicknesses of pipe to be used in
the same tower, we recommend that the same thickness pipe be used for both the upper and lower
sections.