Rust in new Sta Loks -- disassembly?

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by 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.

+1

This is what we did and no issues 3 years later. This is just basic engineering good practice.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

+1

This is what we did and no issues 3 years later. This is just basic engineering good practice.

If it so basic, any idea why the manufacturer does not call for it?

I do note Jim's reply upthread that Sta Lok had called for it in the past - but perhaps they found it did more harm than good????

[JPA Cate]

Wotname:

If it did any harm, it was not visible on taking apart. We had some wire bleed down, and so there was rust at the top of one of the lowers' bottom sta-lok on I-1. I made a fuss about it, and so, we took it apart and had a look. All was well inside, no visible rust inside the fitting. It's only an "n" of one, but it confirmed my trust in them as rigging fittings. I'd be heaps happier with Sta-Loks on this boat than the aging Norsemen ones.

Ann

[Ryban]

I need to mention that the Sta Lok terminals were generously donated by the company, and I'm very happy with how easy it was to do the job myself. I talked with my contact at Sta Lok, and they said they don't have an official position on whether sealant should be used or not, but that if it is used, it needs to be PH neutral.

Back to my fittings - I'm still unable to make much progress getting the fitting off the wire. I think the issue is the silicone between the wire and the fitting is making it exceptionally difficult for the fitting to slide up the wire.

I tried a few things. I wrapped the open fitting in a rag soaked with mineral spirits, as I know mineral spirits will at least soften the silicone. I also tried spraying some penetrating oil into the fitting. Finally, I tried heating up the fitting with a torch, but not excessively so.

After each of these attempts, I screwed on the bottom of the fitting 3 or 4 turns, and gave it a few whacks towards the wire, but no luck so far.

I should point out that I haven't come up with a real good way to grip the wire without damaging it, so most of that whacking energy is probably going into moving my hand that's gripping the wire.

[paulgretton]

Similar rust stains on new rigging with swaged ends. It is my wire causing problem. Wipe over with oxalic or lemon juice cleans it off.

[double u]

there seems to be a very wide spectrum of quality of 1x19 wire:
the other day a customer brought in his own wire for us to swage some terminal or other onto: the wire was much shinier than our's that by comparison had a slight "grey haze" on it that I hadn't noticed before. Mind you we never had complaints about it getting "rusty", maybe that was/is just residue from the dies or machines.
Anyway, I was by the different looks of the two wires...

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Ryban

I need to mention that the Sta Lok terminals were generously donated by the company, and I'm very happy with how easy it was to do the job myself. I talked with my contact at Sta Lok, and they said they don't have an official position on whether sealant should be used or not, but that if it is used, it needs to be PH neutral.

Back to my fittings - I'm still unable to make much progress getting the fitting off the wire. I think the issue is the silicone between the wire and the fitting is making it exceptionally difficult for the fitting to slide up the wire.

I tried a few things. I wrapped the open fitting in a rag soaked with mineral spirits, as I know mineral spirits will at least soften the silicone. I also tried spraying some penetrating oil into the fitting. Finally, I tried heating up the fitting with a torch, but not excessively so.

After each of these attempts, I screwed on the bottom of the fitting 3 or 4 turns, and gave it a few whacks towards the wire, but no luck so far.

I should point out that I haven't come up with a real good way to grip the wire without damaging it, so most of that whacking energy is probably going into moving my hand that's gripping the wire.

I'm not sure I understand the problem.

You first post shows you have unscrewed the socket from the body and withdrawn the socket and wire from the body.

Are you having trouble sliding the socket along the wire or removing the wedge for the wire?

Both should be straightforward but .....

The wedge should come out once you pry a few of the outer strands away form the wedge - a flat screwdriver is handy here . Do always use a new wedge when refitting - they are a one use only component; and ensue a strand does not end up in the slot in the wedge when reassembling.

Sliding the socket along the wire should also be trouble free. If stuck, maybe clamp the wire between two pieces of soft wood and use a suitable sized 12 point socket as a drift; placed at the end of the Sta Lok socket and whack it with a hammer . Also you should be able to rotate the socket around the wire by turning the socket in the same direction as the outer twist of the wire. Clamp the fitting on the far end of the wire so it can't rotate.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by paulgretton

Similar rust stains on new rigging with swaged ends. It is my wire causing problem. Wipe over with oxalic or lemon juice cleans it off.

Paulgretton, welcome aboard CF.

[Schapera]

Forgive me if this sounds stupid but why would you ask here before asking STALOK?

[Ryban]

Well, this is a 6-year old thread you've dug up.

Sometimes you just want to hear what other people's thoughts are, too.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Ryban

I'm attaching two photos to clarify.

This is by far the worst of the bunch, and the one that caught my attention, so it's the one I inspected today.

Opening it wasn't a problem, but I can't get the top part to slide up the wire, which will be necessary to thoroughly inspect, clean, and re-seal the wire inside the terminal.

I've read of people screwing the bottom part of the fitting back on a few turns, and giving it a whack towards the wire with a hammer. The other option is to put the wire in a vice or a pair of vice-grips, and twist the top part of the terminal in the direction the wire is wound.

It is possible to remove the ferrel and re-twist the wire. This allows removal of the nut. I’ve done this on my 20mm forestay. My data says to assemble with 3M5200. It’s really messy but a permanent waterproofing. None of ours have ever been a problem. Future disassembly requires heat to break down the cross linked bonds. Are you sure the material in the cable is premium good stuff?