Rust in new Sta Loks -- disassembly?

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Really? I thought Sta-loks were quite a good idea and have several on my boat.



Or was that just a friendly dig ;-) because we are taking our football and going home leaving the EU to sink into its own swamp. Does anyone know someone who can drain a swamp btw?



If I was going off shore a couple of sta-loks and a spare length of wire could easily be used to repair a broken halyard.



Pete

You repair your halyards with terminals?🤪

[Pete7]

My sta-loks are on the guard rails which terminate at the push and pull pits, but if I was 1000 miles from land then I would use anything available. So spare sta-loks and a long length of wire would be good to have on board.

Pete

[captmikem]

Sealing Sta locks (or any rigging terminal) with man made sealants is very hard and does not seem to last.

Beeswax is an excellent sealant, gets into every crack and keeps stuff out. Just warm the fitting and wire with a hair dryer and melt the beeswax on the wire and let it run down into the fitting. It lasts quite a while but I tend to redo it every two or three years.

M

[freynolds]

I'd clean them up and reassemble and check again in a year. Removal can potentially do damage. If you screw on the bottom to whack, don't whack too hard...you can compress the threads and then it won't screw on normally. If the top slides with a light whack, then OK. Otherwise, leave it. Definitely don't grab the wires and twist hard - that can mess up the wires and it will never come apart. Reassemble, clean/polish, call it good.

[jmschmidt]

I've heard that wire that has come into use with the outer strands flattened is known for surface rust accumulation at the bottom of the stay and on top of the terminal. That's because some manufactures make the stuff by running the wire through a machine like a rotary swage which uniformly flattens the outer strands. Unfortunately the die in the machine is made of steel and it pounds minute particles of steel onto the surface of the wire. It apparently cleans off easily.

[CarinaPDX]

You might consider using Wichinox or similar product. Welding suppliers sell a passivating acid for treating stainless after polishing or welding, and this should end the rusting - although it might be a problem if the cones are made from a different metal. West recently discontinued Wichinox so it may be off the market now - the welders' version is very strong and may be hard to find as well - talk to a welding shop. This is admittedly an extreme solution and must be done with care but should stop the rusting in its tracks. Proceed with caution...


Greg

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Slight thread drift, but why use silicone anyway? There is no way you could get a waterproof seal on a piece of multi strand wire going into a compression or sta-lok fitting. I suspect the best you could do is a blob of lanolin on the first couple of inches of wire.

Pete

Originally Posted by captmikem

Sealing Sta locks (or any rigging terminal) with man made sealants is very hard and does not seem to last.

Beeswax is an excellent sealant, gets into every crack and keeps stuff out. Just warm the fitting and wire with a hair dryer and melt the beeswax on the wire and let it run down into the fitting. It lasts quite a while but I tend to redo it every two or three years.

M

Well Sta Lok seems to think that no sealant is required so that was the way I assembled mine - no problems so far after nine years.

Fitting Instructions - Marinex Australia Sta-lok

[CarlF]

I had similar rust in my new Stalocks. As others have commented, it comes back less and less with each cleaning.

I did push a bit of Lanacote in the top with my finger. I doubt it makes any difference but seemed unlikely to hurt.

For the worst ones, clean with Spotless Stainless. This will help pull the iron out. It will look new (just be sure to rinse very well with a hose or it leaves a stain and you have to do it again).

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Well Sta Lok seems to think that no sealant is required so that was the way I assembled mine - no problems so far after nine years.

Fitting Instructions - Marinex Australia Sta-lok

Me too, so I am not sure what is gained with silicone.

Pete

[sainted]

The reason one uses sealant in a stayloc fitting is to prevent water from accumulating in the fitting. The sealant doesn't really stick to the wire and fitting, it just fills the the cavity so there's no room for water.

On the other hand, I don't know why anyone would use silicon on a boat. It doesn't adhere to anything and it prevents any other adhesive from adhering anywhere it's touched. Awful stuff.

I filled the staylocs on my rig with 4200 when I replaced my standing rigging. No problems so far three years on.

[Jim Cate]

When I did my first Sta Lok re-rig, back in the late 80's, Sta Lok DID recommend putting a glob of household silicone sealant in the body before final assembly. I guess they have had a change of regime or sumpin. They said that it should squeeze out around the wire entry if you put enough in. Worked then, probably would work now, but one should follow the current directions.

Jim

[Compass790]

U can use ss pickling paste to clean up & passivate the rust & I use 242 Loctite on norsemans, sta-loks & Hi -mods with no problems but not a huge sample size

[Dougtiff]

Pete 7 hit the nail on the head, no matter how much goop you put in the fitting, there is no way it can seal thru the wire, best not to apply any goop, and the plus side is the fitting can be disassembled and inspected if one wishes, when i swage fittings, i do not put any goop in the swage first because it is impossible to completely seal the unit, it only traps moisture, so the same thing with norseman type fittings.

[leftbrainstuff]

Clear silicone is truly evil stuff. It's corrosive, expands and shrinks and degrades in UV light. It will react with any contaminants.

You need to strip those Staloks, clean them chemically, replace the wire and fill them with 3M 4000 or similar.

You may also have started with contaminated wire. Grinding dust, floor grit and any other particulate will provide a nucleation site for either galvanic or crevice corrosion.

How did you cut your wire? Dirty blades, vice jaws or dragging the ends in dirt or grit will lead to similar outcomes. The rule with stainless fabrication is you should be able eat of it, the tools and the workspace.

We rerigged 3 years ago with Staloks and Alps wire (korean) and we have no deterioration. Apart from brake dust while we were in Berkeley marina. It's located next to I80. Simply removed with soapy water and scotchbrite.

We bought our wire on the drum and demanded lot and batch spec info and load test of the same. A little more expensive but I wont buy chain or wire without.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by Dougtiff

Pete 7 hit the nail on the head, no matter how much goop you put in the fitting, there is no way it can seal thru the wire, best not to apply any goop, and the plus side is the fitting can be disassembled and inspected if one wishes, when i swage fittings, i do not put any goop in the swage first because it is impossible to completely seal the unit, it only traps moisture, so the same thing with norseman type fittings.

The correct goop works fine. You see that with the squeeze out. Without goop you are guaranteed to have water ingress. Particularly around the highly loaded cone and wire which cannot be inspected after assembly.