Opinions on galvanized wire w/o Serving

[Jak Mang]

I recently saw a 1930s era schooner with galvanized standing rigging. The owner claimed the wire was under a year old, but it was not served and showed a lot of rust. How long can this wire be left unprotected before there is permanent damage? Can the wire be cleaned and then served to protect it or will the rust continue?

Thanks,
-jak

[osteoderm]

In my experience, escpecially here in the tropics, rust is a cancer which must be completely cut away; a surface claening and a cover-up will generally not suffice. i would also doubt the quality of the galvanising on the wire, if indeed it is showing that much staining after a single season.
Others on this forum will likely know better than i, but my own suspicion is that the quality/availability of properly galvanized wire for marine duty cannot be as good as it once was, what with the current demand for such now so low.
i have patched service on 20-yr-old galvanized rigging aboard several traditional boats, and been consistantly surprised at the excellent condition of the underlaying wire. Likewise, i have also been shocked at how quickly such wire degrades if left exposed, especially where close to deck level.

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
Galvanized wire is stronger, stretches less, fatigues less quickly, etc. , but as was pointed out above it's just hard to get in good quality any more. Was the wire you saw 7x19? This is far more readily available than 7x7 or 1x19 in galvanized, and it corrodes exponentially faster. But even with good galvanizing, service is the way to go.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss