Concerto
Well-known member
+1
Used S3i for my guard wire,s including side gates, last year. 9.7m long and cost about £400.
Can I replace guardrails myself?
- Thread starter tudorsailor
- Start date
+1
Used S3i for my guard wire,s including side gates, last year. 9.7m long and cost about £400.
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
My boat has standard aluminium stanchions and the swaged studs just fit through.
Plevier
Active member
Yes - on my boat anyway. Only just.
vyv_cox
Well-known member
My guardwires have had Sta-lok fittings on each end since before I bought the boat 20 years ago. I have replaced several stanchions when they became bent, by removing one fitting and pulling the wire through. I have always been able to re-use the wedges, so a very low cost repair in the event of stanchion damage compared with new wires and end fittings, plus the hassle of having it done. In the past fortnight I have bought 20 metres of plastic coated 4 mm wire and four new wedges, from Baseline, for £80 delivered. Biting the bullet now and buying the Sta-loks would be a useful long-term saving.
merlin3688
New member
Standard swage stud for 4mm wire requires a hole in the stanchion of about 7.5mm, most stanchions will take this but best to check first. Clearly if using 5mm wire then the stanchion hole needs to be bigger.
neil1967
Well-known member
Some really useful info here. In practical terms what is the difference between 4mm and 5mm guardwire? I can't imagine breaking 4mm wire, so why use 5mm?
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
GHA
Well-known member
Ludd
New member
I've had dyneema for the last five years. I keep a 3 metre length kicking about on deck,gets used for tying down odds and ends,then once a year I fit it befween two lengths of three strand nylon, moor on a pontoon with it and give the engine loads of welly. When it breaks, I'll replace it all.
The five years have been in high UV conditions. I use a carter's knot to tension them.
The five years have been in high UV conditions. I use a carter's knot to tension them.
LadyInBed
Well-known member
When I did mine I bought a length of wire a bit longer than two wire lengths with a swaged fitting on each end and two sta-lok fittings to put on the wire ends when I cut the wire to length.
Now I would probably use dyneema.
Now I would probably use dyneema.
PuffTheMagicDragon
Active member
Unfortunately it is not just the UV. The 'Achlle's Heel' of Dyneema lifelines is abrasion, especially where it passes through the stanchions. This is aggravated through heavy use, e.g., during racing. This is why ISAF had second thoughts about it. Boats that do not get much use do not have that problem.
The halyard of my main is a form of Dyneema (8mm Liros Regatta 2000) but the lifelines remain stainless (uncovered, of course) .
GHA
Well-known member
Many types of dyneema - I've given some 5mm marlow d12 max sk99 a very nasty life for a while with short strops added to mooring warps through the fairleads and on the springs rubbing on a stainless cleat supporting the toe rail on a heavy steel boat for a couple of months through some very nasty storms and it barely noticed the chafe - amazing stuff. From memory ISAF was from one member of the committee regarding one incident quite a long time ago with unknown dyneema, could be wrong.
D12 has an anti chafe and anti uv coating. Properly spliced 5mm, even if it chafes 3/4 of the way through (extremely unlikely) you'll still have nearly a tonne of capacity - the pull/push pit will be bent and twisted long before it goes.
Downside is it ain't cheap for quality like D12 max - but at least you save on all the terminations.
Must be couple of years since I replaced mine to D12, wouldn't hesitate again knowing the stuff, nice r on the hands, just nicer all round.
PuffTheMagicDragon
Active member
Must be couple of years since I replaced mine to D12, wouldn't hesitate again knowing the stuff, nice r on the hands, just nicer all round.
I won't argue with anyone's solution. At the end of the day we all take decisions with which we are comfortable.
GHA
Well-known member
Yep - which is why I adore trying to break things in addition to reading forumsI won't argue with anyone's solution. At the end of the day we all take decisions with which we are comfortable.
LadyInBed
Well-known member
If I used Dyneema I would put it in a sleeve.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
If you were putting 6mm dynema through a 6mm hole how would you get a sleeve around it? Are the holes in your rail 8mm? mine are not. Or would you go down to 4mm dynema? If so would that be more likely to suffer from abrasion elsewhere along the rail. IE from a sheet rubbing past a single point
superheat6k
Well-known member
We use these for large electrical cables to properly affix the lugs and they have dies from 4 to 70mm2 rated at 8 tonnes. At less than £20 they should go in hold baggage OK.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-8T-Hy...e98c5f1&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=332046441820
For a few quid more there are sets that range from 16 to 300mm2 rated at 16 tonnes, but the smallest die might be too big for small swage terminals.
Bear in mind the dies are marked in Cross Sectional Area mm2, not mm diameters, so you would need to work out what die to use - if the die is too small it will form small flats where the die pair meet, so start slightly too large then reduce to get the size right, but you might waste a swage finding this out, or use some copper tube of the same diameter as the swage to work this out.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-8T-Hy...e98c5f1&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=332046441820
For a few quid more there are sets that range from 16 to 300mm2 rated at 16 tonnes, but the smallest die might be too big for small swage terminals.
Bear in mind the dies are marked in Cross Sectional Area mm2, not mm diameters, so you would need to work out what die to use - if the die is too small it will form small flats where the die pair meet, so start slightly too large then reduce to get the size right, but you might waste a swage finding this out, or use some copper tube of the same diameter as the swage to work this out.
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fergie_mac66
Active member
You could get one of these.
http://www.gsproducts.co.uk/steel-wire-rope-hydraulic-crimping-and-swaging-crimping-tool/
http://www.gsproducts.co.uk/steel-wire-rope-hydraulic-crimping-and-swaging-crimping-tool/
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
I have a very similar one that i initially bought for making battery cables etc. I recently used it to modify my guardwires when i fitted gates and it made a very nice job.
Edit : For stainless fittings i found Premier fittings were the cheapest http://premierfittings.co.uk/ for guardwire try Craig Bond (posts on here as Merlin3688) http://www.cbrigging.co.uk/index.php
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LadyInBed
Well-known member
I'm fairly sure my holes are a bit bigger than 6mm, but I have 7 and 8mm drill bits.
The beauty of sleeving is that you can sleeve as much of the length as you wish, so it will protect from abrasion elsewhere along the rail.