winches - plasma rope or wire cable?

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Originally Posted by Yorkshire_Jon

2. You don't need to be careful when spooling back onto the drum, just let it pull itself on.

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The very next winch I get that has the plasma spooled over into the side of the drum between the gearbox and the end flange or the motor mount and the end flange because some operator has listened to that bit of advice I am going to unmount said winch complete with rope buy an airline ticket for it and me and then I am going to hit you in the joy department with it...

the reason plasma is not on real winches is because its easily damaged and weighs a bit. nothing to do with operator training, its simple economics, drop coolant, fuel or brake fluid on it and you can cactus the rope quite quickly, drag it over one sharp rock and its gone as well.

Of course all this talk of plasma not being used on real winches is a little disingenuous seeing as what industry it came from and where it's primary use is ;)

(and I still use wire for the reasons Frank mentioned above, and BTW, how much weight does a drum full of plasma/spectra save over wire on, say, a low mount ? Not being smart, it's a genuine Q )

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Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

The very next winch I get that has the plasma spooled over into the side of the drum between the gearbox and the end flange or the motor mount and the end flange because some operator has listened to that bit of advice I am going to unmount said winch complete with rope buy an airline ticket for it and me and then I am going to hit you in the joy department with it...

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Ok, so maybe I should have said its easier to spool back on than wire because it doesn't birds nest and kink, rather than say just let it pull itself on. On reflection not the best use of English:)

However, if some operator (should read muppet) allows a rope to get tangled in the workings of the winch then they don't deserve to own it.

Still stand by the basis of what I said though.

Sent using Forum Runner

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Originally Posted by rick130

Of course all this talk of plasma not being used on real winches is a little disingenuous seeing as what industry it came from and where it's primary use is ;)

(and I still use wire for the reasons Frank mentioned above, and BTW, how much weight does a drum full of plasma/spectra save over wire on, say, a low mount ? Not being smart, it's a genuine Q )

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depends on the drum, cable size length ETC but length for length up to 20KG

if you keep winding the drum to capacity on both cables (and I dont reccomend this) about 5-10KG

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Originally Posted by rick130

Of course all this talk of plasma not being used on real winches is a little disingenuous seeing as what industry it came from and where it's primary use is ;)

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yeah shipping lines, where its tendancy to float and flex is a great advantage. not many sharp edges on the water though.

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Originally Posted by Yorkshire_Jon

Ok, so maybe I should have said its easier to spool back on than wire because it doesn't birds nest and kink, rather than say just let it pull itself on. On reflection not the best use of English:)

However, if some operator (should read muppet) allows a rope to get tangled in the workings of the winch then they don't deserve to own it.

Still stand by the basis of what I said though.

Sent using Forum Runner

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The reason wire rope kinks and gets broken wires standing proud is because 4WD winches have too small a drum and snatch blocks are too small as well, plus the fact that they are dangerously overloaded, Regards Frank.

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Originally Posted by Tank

The reason wire rope kinks and gets broken wires standing proud is because 4WD winches have too small a drum and snatch blocks are too small as well, plus the fact that they are dangerously overloaded, Regards Frank.

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That and the fact that SWR is "live" and needs to be properly unwound to get the radial tension out of it or it will kink.
I've never seen anybody mention "Reverse Reeving" in any of the "How to winch your bogged Fourby Out" videos or magazine articles, and I'm amazed at how many I see it happen to.
When I explain to then that SWR should only go from left to right, or right to left depending on the rope Lay I usually get told to go away, sometimes Politely, more often, not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tank

The reason wire rope kinks and gets broken wires standing proud is because 4WD winches have too small a drum and snatch blocks are too small as well, plus the fact that they are dangerously overloaded, Regards Frank.

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Originally Posted by Hymie

That and the fact that SWR is "live" and needs to be properly unwound to get the radial tension out of it or it will kink.
I've never seen anybody mention "Reverse Reeving" in any of the "How to winch your bogged Fourby Out" videos or magazine articles, and I'm amazed at how many I see it happen to.
When I explain to then that SWR should only go from left to right, or right to left depending on the rope Lay I usually get told to go away, sometimes Politely, more often, not.

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So for the casual user, synthetic rope may be a better option (if abrasion and cleanliness are looked after)

Plasma or dyneema which ever you want to call it has much less kinetic energy than wire therefore much safer if it breaks, which is why it is used so much in the comps. (mandatory in some I believe)

Also it does not get kinks and flat spots nor does it have a memory so it doesn't coil up when unwound with no tension on it or have sharp little strands sticking out to get under unwary finger nails.

Being a hydrocarbon byproduct it melts and burns and is not as abrasion proof as wire.

i run wire simply because that is what I have, might look at it when I get my winch back together depends on cost as I already have the wire to go back on.

The primary consideration here is that the cheaper winches have the brake inside the drum and so overheat the rope. Only the warn and tigerz that I know of do have external brakes in either the gearbox or external to the drum.