Vinyl Coated Wire

[Brian Duff]

So we have some old runners from a pearson 365 in the shop, something we changed out for dyneema earlier this spring. Anyway, I am teaching some of the new riggers how to splice wire so I have one strip the cover off this old cable to use for splicing - the vinyl jacket of the wire was completely intact with no cracks or rust showing, however the cable under was totally toast- broken strands galore- anyway...

Never trust coated cable is the lesson I suppose I had been in the habit of saying if the cover was intact the cable was probably okay, but I suppose now we say anything over 5 years is junk....?

whats your rule

[JimL]

Hi Brian; The racing rules Special Regulations have called for uncoated wire since 1999. Water wicks up between wire and cover and corrodes. Nasty environment with nastier results.
Cheers, Jim