treating wire rope

[Alastairdent]

SB Elbrich is a sailing barge, so we have quite a lot of metres of wire rope on board. All of it requiring protection from rust.

I tried treating the leeboard hoisting ropes with the old standby, boiled linseed oil. This hasn't lasted at all. Ditto engine oil, and a protective silicon oil.

Recently, I sprayed a small length of cable with a bicycle frame protection substance ('Framesaver'). It is like a very runny waxoyl.

It has dried to a slightly waxy coating, and so far seems to be lasting. A couple of months of mixed sunshine, wind and rain haven't shifted it.

Does anyone have any recommendations for protective substances that can be applied to the wire ropes in situ?

 

[ccscott49]

Waxoyl is excellent, you can get the black, thicker stuff, but of course copenhagen tar and turpentine is also great and traditional, especially if you serve the wire.

 

[Peterduck]

Shell produce a liquid intended for mothballing machinery and naval ships. It comes in a range of grades, of which I have only used the lightest, grade SDC. This is a thin liquid when applied, which dries to a grease. The beauty of it is that, being so thin, it gets into the very core of wire rope. The heavier grades dry into a bituminous kind of substance. Alternatively, road asphalters use a bituminous emulsion to prime a new roadbed so that asphalt will stick to it. This is a thin brown liquid which is sprayed onto the road from a tanker truck. Once it has been applied, the emulsion breaks down and you are left with bitumen which has penetrated into the rope. I was able to buy a couple of gallons of this for a couple of dollars, so it is very cheap.
Peter.

 

[Alastairdent]

Peterduck, could you give me the full name of these mothballing products? They sound very interesting. We'd need the greasy thin stuff, as most of the halyards and leeboard ropes have to run round winches.

 

[Bergman]

Me too pleae.

 

[SteveA]

I think the stuff you're looking for is Shell Ensis Fluid.
Regards

 

[ccscott49]

Sorry, got the wrong end of the stick, thought you meant standing wire rigging!

 

[Alastairdent]

We have standing rigging as well - but it is the halyards and leeboard wire ropes that really rust fast.

 

[Peterduck]

Sorry Alastair, another 'Senior's Moment'. Steve A. has it correctly; Ensis it is. You'd have to talk to their Industrial Products people. The heavier grades are more durable in an external environment than the lighter ones. They would still have lubricating properties. Shell have 'Bumph' which they can send to you to help you select the correct grade for your needs. From memory there are about five or six grades to choose from. The minimum amount that I have seen is a five-gallon drum, which cost me $20 many years ago.
Peter.
Peter.

 

[ccscott49]

we use a similar stuff here on the rig, for our main cables. Winches, draworks etc.

 

[AndrewF]

Having in the past had to treat up to 16 mooring wires and 4 cranes on various ships. The main thing is to look at greasing running rigging as an on going thing. And include it as part of the regular planned maintenace. Obviously the more the wire is used the more regularly the protection has to be replaced. Most of the oil companies supply a form of grease for wire ropes.