UKC

Hi guys,

Had both sets of my wires for a number of years now and although i always ask my partners to use a nut key and not yank them, a lot of them are starting to get quite bent.

Although making placing them slightly more difficult, does it cause any structural damage to the wire? (There's no visible damage to the wire, cuts/nicks/fraying etc?)

I don't have a problem still using them but i was just wondering from anyone that may know the physics of the wire strength or how it may effect that?

Thanks,
GB

In reply to GingerBread22:
My nuts had two, tight radius, bends in the wires when I bought them....

In reply to scott titt: Left the door open for that one didn't i *sigh*

In reply to GingerBread22: dont worry unless a strand breaks

make sure you push the nut down the wire and inspect the bit hidden by the nut, also you can tweak them straightish again with the nut out the way

other thing I do is untwist the wire a bit to look at inside strands to check for wear/rust on the internal strands

HTH

In reply to gear boy: Thanks,

Thought as much, never really worried unless a strand breaks. I'll give them all a good going over later and have a look!

In reply to GingerBread22:

Bending metal results in something called work hardening. Work hardening actually increases tensile strength so until a strand of the cable snaps you actually have a stronger nut in terms of the load it will take in a climbing fall. Sadly every time you work harden a metal it makes it more brittle so snapping is an inevitability in the end. This means don't worry about bent wires, but don't bend them just to make them stronger. A kink in the cable is different because in a fall it would be straightened out and this would produce more work hardening which could be the straw that broke the camels nut and result in a broken strand (or more) and so a failed placement under load. Remove kinks from cables slowly before climbing with them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_hardening

In reply to GingerBread22:

Nothing to worry about unless a) you don't trust them pyscologically or b) they really are a pain to place

In reply to GingerBread22: Having to take every wire out with a nut key would really wind me up! It's almost as bad as trying not to scratch your nuts because it makes them look bad... (Of course I mean wires )

Unless the cables are severely bent, I can't imagine it makes placing them that difficult. I wouldn't worry about it at all personally, not until the wires start to fray.

In reply to Mike Nolan: Not every wire, i just mean ones that are stuck that need a good pull, instead of giving it a good pull, using a nut key does protect the wire.

In reply to GingerBread22:

Not to mention the rock.

In reply to GrahamD: Yep +1!