What sort of wire for mousing?

Its what is done on aircraft.

Seajet being a second-generation aircraft engineer, I assumed that's where his technique came from. Pulling back against the direction of rotation is, as you say, very much the aircraft-mechanic way of doing things, and not one I've seen much of on boats. We tend to be happy enough with a wire routing that will stop the part moving very far.

Pete
 
I don't mean to sound like a pedantic so and so, but do you mean "bob-stay" when you say "chain water stay"?

All of the boat documentation I have calls the line from end of bowsprit to waterline on bow the 'waterstay'. It calls the two lines from end of bowsprit to gunwhales 'bobstays'.
 
Why not white? UV degradation or a poorer grade of plastic?

UV degradation, accordign to my 'Best In Show' moorings contractor.

And to give 'Seajet' one in the eye, I came close to an uncommanded encounter with terra firma when wire locking - supervised, double-checked and signed off by military professionals - holding a plug into a Puma helo's hydraulic reservoir gave way and all the juice screamed out, under 3000psi pressure, leaving no stabilisation or powered flying controls. :eek:

And I've seen, in the Harbour Office at Fowey, wire-locking on a mooring's shackle still intact and attached, but the shackle pin fully unwound, loose and dangling. :eek:

Cable ties of the standard specified above have proven reliable in service. However, there's no 'fit and forget'. All such arrangements require regular, critical inspection.
 
And I've seen, in the Harbour Office at Fowey, wire-locking on a mooring's shackle still intact and attached, but the shackle pin fully unwound, loose and dangling. :eek:

Did you ever reach a conclusion on wire composition? I still don't understand the need for a highly corrosion resistant, electropositive and expensive material like Monel in this application. If the anode (the shackle) is large and the cathode (the wire) is small, all the theory says that any metal that is electropositive should be OK.

This is the aluminium rivet in a steel sheet v. a steel rivet in an aluminium sheet argument. The aluminium rivet would be gone in days but the steel one would last indefinitely because it is being protected by a far larger area of anode.

Is a 300 series stainless no good? or copper? or a low alloy steel?

It evidently isn't a strength issue or cable ties would be useless
 
as I understand it corrosion of the shackle is not an issue should it corrode a bit it's no big deal - BUT corrosion of the mouse wire is a big issue, if the mouse wire fails then the security has gone and that is a big issue. SO if there is any corrosion of the mouse wire it would fail long before the shackle so to prevent that we use monel wire and feel a little safer, but the shackle and the siezing must be checked regularly. And yes wire should be applied so it prevents the pin from coming undone. Cable ties in certain areas can be OK but they are dont resist abrasion and tend to age and become brittle when used outside.
 
Marsupial - not sure if you are replying to me. The point is that if the shackle is corroding it is protecting the wire, provided that is more noble. So why Monel? There are plenty of cheaper options that are more noble.

I'm certainly not saying that Monel doesn't work, just inquiring why a material nearly as expensive as gold is seen as necessary.
 
Lady C,


slightly disingenuous I think.

If you are/were a pro' military flyer, you should know that the Puma reservoir and Fowey mooring examples simply won't happen if the wire locking is properly done ( unless the reservoir blew apart, which is another matter ).

Nothing is that idiot-proof, if it's done incorrectly there will be problems.

I still suspect you might have had something to say if you'd been presented with a Puma, " Ok Sir we've sorted you out a good one; we've removed all the wire locking and fitted ty-wraps " !

Cable ties have their uses, tieing cables for instance, but will only ever be a poor second to proper wire-locking, to be used as a last resort, not by the lazy.

BTW I trained as a fitter on Hunters, Hawks & Harriers before going into general engineering training, and wire-locked a lot of cameras & things hanging under fast jets;I certainly don't feel anything in my eye...
 
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Marsupial - not sure if you are replying to me. The point is that if the shackle is corroding it is protecting the wire, provided that is more noble. So why Monel? There are plenty of cheaper options that are more noble.

I'm certainly not saying that Monel doesn't work, just inquiring why a material nearly as expensive as gold is seen as necessary.

Vyv

Iam sure your right, we seem to agree, and Im sure the stuff we buy as "monel" is a cheaper alternative :-) abit like the "stainless steel" propshaft on my boat the original dissolved and was declared "some sort of mild steel" by the scrapper.
 
Someone suggested that I should 'mouse' my shackles. Where do I get this mousing wire from? Is it special, or can I use any old wire?

I use stainless steel wire. Mine is from the days when I was involved in its manufacture but you can get it easily from a welding shop. What you want is 0.8mm diameter 316 or 317 type mig welding wire. If you would like it thicker, its available in 1mm and 1.2mm as well
 
Did you ever reach a conclusion on wire composition? I still don't understand the need for a highly corrosion resistant, electropositive and expensive material like Monel in this application.... Is a 300 series stainless no good? or copper? or a low alloy steel? ...

I have used copper wire, stripped from common electrical cable, to mouse both galvanised and stainless shackles. I also use copper to bind the stainless braided brake line fitting onto the alloy brake calliper of my motorbike.

All these applications are in salty environments and appear to be quite robust.
 
Lady C,


slightly disingenuous I think.

If you are/were a pro' military flyer, you should know that the Puma reservoir and Fowey mooring examples simply won't happen if the wire locking is properly done ( unless the reservoir blew apart, which is another matter ).

Nothing is that idiot-proof, if it's done incorrectly there will be problems.

I still suspect you might have had something to say if you'd been presented with a Puma, " Ok Sir we've sorted you out a good one; we've removed all the wire locking and fitted ty-wraps " !

Cable ties have their uses, tieing cables for instance, but will only ever be a poor second to proper wire-locking, to be used as a last resort, not by the lazy.

BTW I trained as a fitter on Hunters, Hawks & Harriers before going into general engineering training, and wire-locked a lot of cameras & things hanging under fast jets;I certainly don't feel anything in my eye...


:D

That recalls the exchange between the wizened 'Squabbling Bleeder' and the hairy-hars'd Chief Techician running the desk where aircraft are signed in and out, and any faults - and the rectification work done - are recorded in the Eng Bible, the Form700.

S/Bleeder - "What's this, Chief? I snagged that myself last week..."

Chiefie - "Ground tested, found serviceable, sur..."

S/Bleeder - "Nope. Air tested, found unserviceable. You go fly it...."

It is well-known in mil aviation circles that the serviceability record of RAF jets dropped markedly after the engineers were no longer expected to accompany air tests after major component changes, and that the 'up time' of Red Arrows airframes is exemplary - in part because each airframe has a designated airframes fitter who flies to shows in 'his/her' aircraft, in his RED coveralls, with 'his/her' designated pilot.

There's a lesson there, somewhere...

:D
 
nobody uses string or fishing line etc? after all, you're only stopping the pin from turning so it's not load bearing at all. It seems to tick all the boxes - strong, weather resistant, won't rip clothes or ruin sails. Maybe not as abrasion resistant as wire but for most shackles this wouldn't be an issue.
 
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