Worn holes in stanchions - ideas for a plastic insert?

MoodySabre

MoodySabre

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 Oct 2006
Messages
17,770
Location
Bradwell and Leigh-on-Sea
Visit site
The ali stanchions are getting very worn holes at the top. Plenty of meat for taking weight but the inside of the holes has worn from the guardwires. I don't want to replace them all but need a plastic insert to stop further wear. I made some for a dinghy shroud cover but they won't stay in place (although, come to think of it, I haven't tried a wrap of self-amalgmating tape each side)

This must be a common issue. Any ideas?

TIA
 
Not sure what diameter the holes might be in your stanchions but when I had to get some used ones the previous owner had had to cut through the plastic insert at the top in order to get his guard wires out! I used some short pieces of PVC covered copper heating oil pipe (I think it was 10mm but you can get 8mm I think). Just slipped this over the guard wire and pushed it into the hole in the stanchion. Been there ever since - about 18 years!

Your local plumber/heating engineer will surely have an offcut for free!
 
My stanchions have a stainless steel tube inserted and welded through the stanchions where the wire guard wires pass through.

I think plastic will ware quickly.
 
MoodySabre said:
The ali stanchions are getting very worn holes at the top. Plenty of meat for taking weight but the inside of the holes has worn from the guardwires. I don't want to replace them all but need a plastic insert to stop further wear. I made some for a dinghy shroud cover but they won't stay in place (although, come to think of it, I haven't tried a wrap of self-amalgmating tape each side)

This must be a common issue. Any ideas?

TIA
Click to expand...

When I replaced the guard wire on a previous boat, I used rubber grommets in each of the stanchion holes. Easy to pass the wire through the fitted grommets when replacing the wire but you can cut the grommets from OD to ID and fit them with the wire in position in the stanchion. Never had a problem with them afterwards.
 
We had the same problem. We used a short length of PVC piping with a wrap of insulating tape at each end. Holds the pipe in the hole nicely although your idea of self amalgamating tape sounds better, thanks.

cheers
 
Rogershaw said:
I think plastic will ware quickly.
Click to expand...

It seems to wear pretty well when the wires are coated. Just sayin'.

However, once the bare wires rub on the stanchions for a while, they sharpen the edges. This is the main reason for Dyneema lifeline failures; not that the Dyneema was chafe prone, but that the stanchion holes had been sharpened and burred by running bare wire.

So now we want to seal the SS in plastic tubing to reduce wear, and use air tight tape to keep it in place, which may lead to corrosion in the most vulnerable area. Ironic.

I think if most (non-racers) considered all of the facts, most would stay with coated lines and change them every 15 years. Quite safe if they are changed once in a while. Better grip, easier on the hands, and certainly less admaging to fall against.
 
Last edited:
Recently there was an article in the Westerly Owners Association magazine on how a member had sleeved the hole for the guard wires with stainless steel tube. Sorry I cannot be any more helpful as the magazine is on the boat.
 
I'm assuming these are Aluminium stanchions - if so I had the same problem but DON'T assume it's strong enough - one of my stanchions snapped at the centre hole. It had a winter cover on over the stanchions(with a wooden beam along the top to prevent chafe). All the holes had worn a lot. Since then I have replaced all my stanchions and added a short 4" length of nylon tubing secured at one end with amalgamating tape on the wire. I cut the nylon tubing in a spiral so it could be wound on and not 'escape if a straight cut. No problem since.
 
I sail on a boat with Al stanchions and s/s guardwires. Wear is definitely a perenial issue and corrosions is probably a significant factor. And as PetiteFleur says they do snap occasionally and have to be re-welded. Presumably though you don't have the issue of a good few 100 Kgs of rail meat hanging off the wires.
 
The plastic water tubing used for central heating installations is very hard-wearing. The pipe I used was slightly over-sized in diameter, so a strip about 2 mm wide needed to be cut along the length of each insert. However, each insert needed to be compressed with pliers so as to close the gap made when inserting into the stanchion top. After insertion, its elasticity expanded the insert so that it gripped the stanchion well.
They have been there about five years now.
 
Anyone might have 100's of kg against the wires if they or single crew get thrown against the guardwires in lumpy conditions, alloy stanchions and / or bases are simply not up to the job; yes I am a qualified engineer and have done a bit of sailing, so the answer really is ' get proper stainless stanchions and fittings, and ensure they have sleeved tubes for the bare not plastic covered stainless guardwires '.

While at it, get decent pelican hooks on at least the pushpit ends of the wires, these not only help vastly in MOB situations they help every time one operates a dinghy alongside - no need for cheapo lashings on guardwires now that quadrantal error with RDF is no longer a factor.
 
Last edited:
Appledore said:
Not sure what diameter the holes might be in your stanchions but when I had to get some used ones the previous owner had had to cut through the plastic insert at the top in order to get his guard wires out! I used some short pieces of PVC covered copper heating oil pipe (I think it was 10mm but you can get 8mm I think). Just slipped this over the guard wire and pushed it into the hole in the stanchion. Been there ever since - about 18 years!

Your local plumber/heating engineer will surely have an offcut for free!
Click to expand...

Any galvanic corrosion?
I had considered this type of tubing as a solution but thought the better of it as I assumed that the wire would deteriorate in an area where it couldn't be seen.
 
Last edited:
View attachment 66787
Daydream believer has made me some ali sleeves, sized to fit over the wire and with a split so they close up when whacked into the holes. He has even made some fibreglass inserts that can can be epoxied in to stop the sleeve moving and gave me a slotted piece of metal to get them in with. there are different sizes for various size holes.

What a helpful guy. Thanks again.
 
I used a plastic tube insert that extended out either side by about 5mm and then some heat shrink (5:1 ratio, with glue) on each end. not perfect but has done the job. you need to get exactly the right size heat shrink with the right ratio to ensure it grips both tube and wire.

Yoda
 
Yesterday I received, from Jimmy Green Marine, a pack of stanchion anti chafe inserts. Not cheap ( to buy from Australia ) but made for the job. Contoured to fit and neat to look at.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top