Re: [alfa] SS braided lines

[Richard Welty <rwelty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 06:17:59 -0700 (PDT) drm <cimice2351@domain.elided> wrote:
> Somehow, covering stainless steel with rubber for wear
> resistance, seems pointless.

i've seen a few examples of ss braided lines rubbing on steel components
and failures that resulted from this. the point to my recommendation of using
_plastic_ (not rubber) spiral wrap was so that steel will rub on plastic
which will rub on steel, so the plastic will be what wears first. if you combine
this with reasonable inspections (say, before every track event, assuming
you're doing a couple a year), you shouldn't have any serious wear issues,
or rather, you'll catch them before they become problems.

here is an example of a failure due to wear that had some serious
consequences. at a non-SCCA practice day at lime rock in july a few years
ago, a steel braided fuel line rubbed against a rail in the underbody of an
SCCA GT-1 car until it wore through, spewing fuel all over a hot exhaust.

the car burned down. because it was a non-SCCA day, and in july so it was
hot, the driver was being an idiot, so of course he was wearing a one layer
suit without  his underwear. he also had failed to remove the safety pin from
his fire system (of course), and in the panic, couldn't get his window net open,
so he didn't get out of the car until the window net had melted through.

he lived, but it wasn't a good situation at all.

never confuse the steel braided line with a low-maintenence solution. it's
not, it requires regular inspection for condition. the wrap suggestion is one
i make so that you get a little help between inspections.

richard
-- 
Richard Welty                                         rwelty@domain.elided
Averill Park Networking                                         518-573-7592
    Java, PHP, PostgreSQL, Unix, Linux, IP Network Engineering, Security
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