Sta-Lok Mechanical Terminals
Capt. Neal®
Recently, I was polishing and inspecting my five-year-old standing
rigging and was shocked to find several cracked wire terminals. I have
a combination of Sta-Lok mechanical terminals and the conventional
rolled/pressed swage type fittings.
The Sta-Loks were all in great shape with very little tarnish and no
cracks or other problems whatsoever. The swage terminals, on the other
hand were in sad condition--rust, corrosion, and cracks! Both types of
terminals have seen average service in subtropical salt water for a
period of a little more than five years. I am so very glad I decided to
clean them up and check them thoroughly because my rigging would
probably have failed while sailing, given a good blow. Fully one half
of the (ten) swage terminals had cracks. Two had serious cracks in the
area where the eye tapers into the sleeve. One of them had only about
one fourth of the circumference of the metal holding. All have toggels
installed. The lower swage on my backstay also had cracks in the same
area but not as severe. One would think one could expect more than five
years service from swage terminals and, as my originals lasted fifteen
years, I am apalled! Could it be that inferior metal is being used of
late?
I would advise everyone who hasn't checked his standing rigging lately
to do so immediately. Especially if he has upgraded within the past five
to seven years. You cannot trust the swage fittings if my experience is
any indication. I am in the process of having new wires made up and
after this week I will have nothing but the superior Sta-Lok mechanical
terminals aboard my vessel. (And to forestall any possible arguments,
the Norseman® brand fittings seem to be just as good a choice)
Fortunately, I was able to salvage about half of the perfectly
servicable Sailbrite® brand 1x19 wire by cutting off the defective swage
fittings and using the slightly longer forward lower shrouds in place of
the shorter aft lower shrouds. The back stay was long enough to cut in
two and was used to replace the two forward lowers. I had to buy new
wire for the backstay but, for safety, this was not a bad idea anyway.
I hope this helps.
Respectfully,
Capt. Neal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You must then know the sea, and know that
you know it, and not forget that it was made
to be sailed over." --- Joshua Slocum
The Terminator
Capt. NealŽ wrote:
> Dear Group,
>
> Recently, I was polishing and inspecting my five-year-old standing
> rigging and was shocked to find several cracked wire terminals. I have
> a combination of Sta-Lok mechanical terminals and the conventional
> rolled/pressed swage type fittings.
>
> The Sta-Loks were all in great shape with very little tarnish and no
> cracks or other problems whatsoever. The swage terminals, on the other
> hand were in sad condition--rust, corrosion, and cracks! Both types of
> terminals have seen average service in subtropical salt water for a
> period of a little more than five years. I am so very glad I decided to
> clean them up and check them thoroughly because my rigging would
> probably have failed while sailing, given a good blow. Fully one half
> of the (ten) swage terminals had cracks. Two had serious cracks in the
> area where the eye tapers into the sleeve. One of them had only about
> one fourth of the circumference of the metal holding. All have toggels
> installed. The lower swage on my backstay also had cracks in the same
> area but not as severe. One would think one could expect more than five
> years service from swage terminals and, as my originals lasted fifteen
> years, I am apalled! Could it be that inferior metal is being used of
> late?
I experienced the same with my original rigging, but I found out the hardway
- after I lost my mast over the side, after the wire pulled out of a swaged
terminal on an upper shroud. My mast snapped in two at the spreader/cross
trees.
I manged to retrieve the wreckage of my mast and rigging. All the swaged
terminals had cracks, the rigging was only three years old. The rigger who
replaced the lot said he was certian that the wrong diameter swaging tool
had been used by the original manufaturer. This had resulted in every swage
being damaged.
The replacement rig is now 20 years old. There are no signs of any cracks,
in fact the terminals are still in the condition they were in on the day
they were swaged.
As a matter of interest Master N. have you inspected the terminals every
year?
captk...@webtv.net
going to keep a boat & it's _the_ boat then Stalocks/Norseman are a
wise investment. If your boat is a stepping stone and there is another
boat on your horizon then saving a few bucks and replacing with swages
is an option == let the next owner do it right!
After a couple of years swages become an increasing worry. With the
mechanical terminals, I worry more about the wire. I have had swaged
fittings break. I have had single strands of 1x19 break (with 18
strands still bearing the load). Maybe I have been lucky but the
strands that broke were Obvious in that they unlayed out of spiral
enough to be easily visually detected. Remenber that if you a replacing
your 302/304 with 316 corrosion resistant you might want to up a wire
size as breaking strengths are not equal. On my Irwin I had a hard time
getting the standard stalock fork/ eye to mate with standard toggles on
the uppers. There ARE more Stalock fittings than are shown in the West
or Defender catalogs and I was able to order Stalock Toggle forks from a
local marine hardware store..
If you have a problem getting stalock eyes to match toggle forks and
keeping pin sizes indenitcal you might want to do what I did and order
the Stalock Toggle Forks. Although I ordered mine from the marine
hardware store here, I have a 1994 catalog from the boat show that
shows these Stalock toggle fittings listed. (I believe the Marine
hardware also used this business as a source.)
(1994 info)
Sailing Services Inc (south).
2560 SW 27th Ave
Miami Fl 33133
(305) 444-4774 mon-fri 9-5 sat 9-3
Sailing Services (warehouse)
80 NW 73rd St,
Miami, 33150
(305) 758-1074
Capt. Neal®
The Terminator wrote in message <6vfkvt$g...@bcalpha.estec.esa.nl>...
Yes, and last year, except for a little surface rust, they all looked
fine, but I was not happy with the swaging job from the begining. The
surface was not smooth, there were ridges and some of the swages were
even a little bent as if they were not rolled straight and true. I
suppose it is possible the incorrect sized tools were used.
Capt. Neal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Capt. Neal®
will get rid of all the remaining swaged fittings (10) by next week when
the rigger comes back from vacation. My rigging is straightforward and
uses a total of 20 of the standard 3/16" eyes with 3/8" pins which fit
my existing hardware to a tee. I even added toggles everywhere to keep
sidestress to a minimum. I am counting on years of reliable service from
my existing and new Sta-Loks. I trust others in this group will benefit
from your experience and expertise in these matters.
Respectfully,
Capt. Neal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
captk...@webtv.net wrote in message
<23865-36...@newsd-153.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
Lonny Hunt
Capt. Neal wrote:
"Dear Group,
Recently, I was polishing and inspecting my ... standing rigging and was
shocked to find ...my rigging would probably fail... while ... given a
good blow. "
We are tired of hearing about your sex life!