[Rhodes22-list] Cable Tie Stay Fasteners

[Bill Effros]

Thanks Fred,

I never thought about the UV problem because originally I wrapped the 
turnbuckles with rigging tape.  Now that they are exposed, the white 
ones could be the problem.  I've got a zillion of those things in every 
imaginable color.  If you said purple works best, that would be no 
problem for me.  I'll be more selective the next time I set up my boat.  
Black it is.

Thanks for validating the idea.  All my turnbuckles will accept the same 
size cable tie.

Bill Effros



Fred Kaiser wrote:

> Bill, we tried your cable tie idea last year on some of Fretless's 
> turnbuckles.  The hole in some of the other turnbuckles is to small to 
> allow the littlest tie to go through the hole.  I have thought of 
> increasing the hole size very slightly so that the tie would fit but 
> haven't tried it yet.  The ties that we were able to insert worked 
> very well none broke and there was no movement by the turnbuckle. And 
> as you say the ties are not in any way supporting the stays. They sure 
> are easier to remove and insert than the cotter rings.  I do suggest 
> that you use the black ties as they have better UV protection than the 
> white ones.  Sun light may be the reason some of yours did break as UV 
> light tends to make the white ones brittle.
>
> Fred Kaiser
> 1991 R22 Fretless
> Swan Creek, MD / Ft Washington PA
>
>
>
> At 10:39 AM 11/22/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>
>> I'm the only one I know of who uses the plastic stay fasteners.
>> Forked cotter pins can hurt you when you walk by.  The cotter rings 
>> jiggle out.  Taping turnbuckles traps water, which rusts rigging 
>> where you can't see it.
>>
>> All of these things have happened to people on this list.
>>
>> I am using little cable ties.  I put the lead through the hole in the 
>> turnbuckle, and then around one arm of the turnbuckle, through the 
>> head of the cable tie, and then I cut off the excess right after the 
>> head.  I wedge the cable tie head between the turnbuckle thread and 
>> one arm of the turnbuckle so the turnbuckle can't turn even if the 
>> loop of the cable tie is sheared.
>>
>> If a cable tie fails, the rig doesn't come down.  The turnbuckle is 
>> holding up the rig, not the cable tie.  All the cable tie must do is 
>> prevent the turnbuckle from turning.  The wedged head, by itself, 
>> will do this.  The loop is a safety.  Any time you see a sheared loop 
>> you replace it.  This can be done in a matter of seconds.
>>
>> Very few of my cable ties have sheared during the 2 or 3 years I have 
>> been doing this.  More than 0.  Less than 5.  The turnbuckle has 
>> never turned from where I set it.  I have never had both the upper 
>> and lower cable tie shear at the same time.
>>
>> I find I am much more willing to retune my rig as the summer 
>> progresses and things stretch out because it is so simple to cut the 
>> existing ties, (with wire cutters) tune the rig -- I always do this 
>> by feel and sound -- and reinsert new cable ties.  I don't use 
>> rigging tape any more because it damaged my turnbuckles.  I plan to 
>> replace all my turnbuckles, and never wrap them.  The new ones should 
>> last a lifetime.
>>
>> Bill Effros
>
>
>
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