Installation Guide

PRIMUS WIND POWER DOCUMENT #0070 REV C
PRIMUS WIND POWER Page 24 of 26
2/4/05
Step 10: Final Adjustment of Guy Wires
First look to see if any of the guy wires are too tight and are causing the tower to bow. A tower
with slightly loose wires is safer than a tower with wires that are too tight. If there are, determine
which wire(s) are too tight (the wires act in pairs) and release the tension on one of the wires. To
relieve tension on a wire, loosen the two cable clamps until the cable can be slid through them.
The tension on the wires should be very light and can be set by pulling the wire by hand. It is easy
to over tighten the guy wires, even by hand. Be sure to re-tighten the cable clamp nuts. Repeat this
for the upper and lower tower sections until the tower is no longer bowed. Use the guy wire tension
test described above.
Now walk a short distance from the tower and look to evaluate whether the tower is straight or
leaning to one side.
At this point focus on the lower section of the tower and adjust the lower cables to get the bottom
section straight (a carpenter’s level held against the tower can be helpful for this). You will
probably need to relax one wire and tighten the wire opposite to it, then check the tower
straightness and repeat the process until the lower tower section is straight.
Once the lower section is straight look to the upper section from the base of the tower to see which
way to adjust the upper cables. Keep in mind that no tension is necessary, except to reduce the
slack in the cables. Just barely taut is ideal. The same procedure of slackening and tightening
should be used on the upper tower section until the tower is straight.
When you are done make sure that all the cable clamps are tight. If the tower is to be lowered, only
unclamp the cables on the gin pole side so that when the tower is re-erected only those cables will
need to be readjusted.
Step 11: Junction Box and Lightning Arrestor Installation
Once the tower is completed a junction box for the wire connections at the base can be attached to
the base. If it is desired a lightning arrestor can be installed in this box as well. For the wire
connections we recommend #8 split bolts available from your local electrical supply store. The
best box to use is a 4x4 in. junction box with 3 holes with ¾ in pipe threads. One hole should hold
a short ¾ in. nipple with a ¾ in female thread to 1 ½ in. (nominal) CPVC pipe adapter. This
adapter will fit into the base of the tower where the gin pole was. The other two holes should hold
the lightning arrestor and a flexible conduit connector to route the wires into the ground.
Generally, direct burial wires are used from the batteries to the tower base. These wires should be
buried from the batteries (or shed / house) out to the tower base then routed into the junction box.
The wires coming out of the junction box should all be trimmed to about 5 in. The turbine wires
and the lightning arrestor should all have about an inch of insulation stripped from their ends and
be connected together with the split bolts. Once connected, they should be thoroughly wrapped
with electrical tape and the lid to the junction box secured. An up-tower junction box may be
required