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Westinghouse OV-15 4th Generation
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Here it is! In this picture, it has been thoroughly cleaned out (took the whole thing apart outside and scrubbed it down with steel wool, Brillo pads, and lots of dawn soap) The paint is in pretty good shape so I don't think a repainting is necessary for this light. The glass is in perfect shape. None of the screws inside were stuck either! However the slipfitter bolts are obviously troublesome. Two of the four nuts actually were removable but all four threaded rods are rusted so I will attempt to replace them. The hole for the PC socket will be drilled next week or so. You can see I already drilled the two small holes to hold the plastic retaining ring for the PC socket and it is installed in this pic.
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This one is fully encased in the tree. The area around the light is open, but it's got an umbrella of covering around it on all sides but the bottom.
This one will be the easier of the two to get, but it doesn't look as structurally sound lol.
The R37s are my top priority, but if I get those two, I will consider attempting to get a couple gumballs as well. One for me to keep and I'll see if my friend wants to mount the other one in his room. I want to rescue at least one arm but IDK if those screws are able to loosen or not. The poles are from the 1950s so I wouldn't be surprised if they're stuck in place. I might be able to fit a hacksaw between the two halves of the bracket to cut the bolts. Looks like there are two bolts on each side of the arm with one bolt on each side for the underbrace.
Yes it looks like the R37's would have good leaf coverage around them now,I wonder if a rope was tied above the deterioration half way up on the second pole if it could be pulled,crumbling the remaining concrete and bent in half to remove the light and arm from the ground,then it would be a lot easier to cut the bolts clamping the arm.
I read somewhere that alum will eat away steel (but not aluminum) when soaked. Could that be worth trying? I was hoping to salvage one threaded rod to use for size when I went to the hardware store though. The other three I don't care about though.
Also, while we were there, we got a small propane torch and a pair of vice grips. We heated up the part of the casting holding the rods and then I gave the rods a little persuasion with the vice grips and once that initial bind was broken, the rods spun out easily by hand (using a rag of course, since the rods were pretty damn hot lol). So I'll be getting some threaded rods and nuts tomorrow. Gonna get enough threaded rod (either one big one or small ones) for all four locations and then five nuts (one for each one and the extra to use to install the rods by locking two nuts together). I will get stainless. Stainless won't rust if it's cut, right? I always thought galvanized was better than stainless but I've heard some people swear by it and say galvanized isn't all it's cracked up to be so IDK.
When I replaced the threaded rods in my OV-15, I used a hacksaw to cut it into sections. It wasn't too difficult. If you have a vice to clamp the rod in, that would make it very easy. A little advice, purchase 2 threaded rods. Cut from both ends so you can thread the cut end into the fixture and have the not cut end sticking out. I made that mistake the first time. It's not a big deal. It just looks better, and you won't have the sharp edges from the cut.
Edit: sorry Darren, didn't see your reply I see. Maybe I'll try a hack saw and if I'm not feelin' it I'll use the angle grinder.
Yeah steel screws and cast aluminium threads don't really like one another, especially outdoors. The stainless bolts you put in will be a lot better.