Maintaining Your Insulated Booms: Part 1 – Understanding the Extent of Damage

In this four-part series, Utility Pros will summarize and share four Tech Tips produced by our Product Support Team. Tech Tips cover the most common questions our Terex Services Team receives regarding repairs and replacements and is meant to provide service personnel with information to make their jobs easier. In this series, we cover tips related to maintaining insulated booms, including:

Damage classification and measurement,
Correctly taking photos of the damage,
Performing maintenance on the caulking or sealant at the fiberglass to steel joint, and

Repairing gel damage or refinishing the fiberglass boom.

Maintenance of insulated booms on bucket trucks and digger derricks is critical to preserving the integrity of the insulating qualities of the machine. While insulated equipment is required to be dielectrically tested annually, daily, and periodic inspections of fiberglass components should be performed as directed by the manufacturer.

Damage is Discovered – What Are the Types?

Damage that may affect the integrity of a fiberglass boom can be classified as one of three types. The first, is contamination of the fiberglass which affects the insulating properties. Second is structural damage, is classified according to the type of damage—cuts, bruises, or overloads. The Third is wear that occurs where there is contact with other components, such as at boom rests or at fiberglass to steel joints which can lead to structural damage if not corrected. We will not discuss contamination issues in this article.

Is the Damage Minor or Major?

Before measuring the depth of the wear, cut, or gouge, or the diameter of the bruise, be sure to identify the location of the damage. Location is important because some areas of the boom must support greater amounts of weight than others, and therefore affects whether the damage is considered Minor or Major.

In both cases, the first step is determining if the damage is repairable. Each manufacturer provides information specific to the type and shape of its boom designs. Terex Utilities provides two charts for equipment it manufactures, which breaks the damage into Minor Damage and Major Damage. The severity of the damage will determine the course of action. Major damage must be reported to the manufacturer for analysis to determine if it can be repaired. Examples include overload damage, complete penetration of the wall, large bruises, or Major Damage within 24 inches of previously repaired Major Damage.

Terex Utilities regularly distributes Tech Tips to provide service personnel with information to make their jobs easier. Tech Tip 23 walks you through how to determine the exact location of the damage on the fiberglass boom, measure the damage and how to classify the extent of the fiberglass damage.

Visit Tech Tip 23.

Maintaining Your Insulated Booms: Part 1 – Understanding the Extent of Damage

Damage is Discovered – What Are the Types?

Is the Damage Minor or Major?

Related Posts

Maintaining Your Insulated Booms: Part 2 - Photographing Major Fiberglass Damage

Maintaining Your Insulated Booms: Part 3 – Maintenance of Fiberglass to Steel Joint

Maintaining Your Insulated Booms: Part 4 – Repairing and Refinishing Fiberglass Booms