Synthetic Winch Line Trick?

[Kcrkolby]

Hey Everyone,

I am looking at adding an aluminum bumper and winch to my rig and have an odd question. The thought process started with my compound bow. As a bow hunter, my bow travels with me through rough terrain and the stings need to stay in top shape. To make sure water, dirt, ect. doesn't get between the strands, and for internal strands to not fray I use WAX on the strings.
Now to my question, I am looking at getting synthetic rope on my winch and was wondering if anyone has ever WAXED their rope. The though in my head is the same concept of a bow string; the wax will protect the rope from debris getting in the rope, keeps water out when stored/in use, and would prolong the life of the rope.

So, Has anyone thought of this and tried it?
If you have tried it, what wax have you used?

 

[4xFar Adventures]

What material is the bow string made from? I've never heard of this for a synthetic winch line and would not recommend you try it. I think it would have the opposite effect and just collect more grit. It could melt in the sun and get all over your gloves and other equipment. Dyneema was originally designed for a maritime environment. It floats on water and doesn't absorb water like a natural fiber. When in use, it's under tons of pressure and will squeeze most of the water out.

A steel cable does need occasional lubrication with either silicone spray or a white lithium grease. WD-40 will get tacky and attract dirt. Just lightly spray a clean rag and run it along the cable. This will help prevent corrosion from forming and allow the strands to slide around each other when winching.

The best way to prolong the life of your synthetic line is to wash it in a bucket of water. No soap or other cleaners, just warm water. I let the whole thing soak for a few minutes at first, take it out of the bucket. I usually do this in the bath tub. Your driveway will just add more grit. Start with one end in the bucket and birdcage it multiple times (push it together to expand the 12 strands). After you've run the entire length through the bucket, dump and replace the water and repeat until the water is pretty clean. I do this about once/year. But, occasionally a few extra times if it's been really dirty or has been in a lot of sand.

 

[Kcrkolby]

What material is the bow string made from? I've never heard of this for a synthetic winch line and would not recommend you try it. I think it would have the opposite effect and just collect more grit. It could melt in the sun and get all over your gloves and other equipment. Dyneema was originally designed for a maritime environment. It floats on water and doesn't absorb water like a natural fiber. When in use, it's under tons of pressure and will squeeze most of the water out.

A steel cable does need occasional lubrication with either silicone spray or a white lithium grease. WD-40 will get tacky and attract dirt. Just lightly spray a clean rag and run it along the cable. This will help prevent corrosion from forming and allow the strands to slide around each other when winching.

The best way to prolong the life of your synthetic line is to wash it in a bucket of water. No soap or other cleaners, just warm water. I let the whole thing soak for a few minutes at first, take it out of the bucket. I usually do this in the bath tub. Your driveway will just add more grit. Start with one end in the bucket and birdcage it multiple times (push it together to expand the 12 strands). After you've run the entire length through the bucket, dump and replace the water and repeat until the water is pretty clean. I do this about once/year. But, occasionally a few extra times if it's been really dirty or has been in a lot of sand.

Bow strings are made of a mixture of mixture of Vectran and Dyneema, very similar to synthetic winch line. I haven't tried it but when i was waxing my bow strings it got me thinking about my potential winch line. I can't see why it would work for one and not the other....

Thoughts?

Thank you for the input!

 

[BCBrian]

The wax will hold onto dirt and when you re spool the winch line it will push the dirt into the fibers.

 

[SAC-CA-Runner]

So then what do you guys do if you use your synthetic winch line in a sandy situation? Get home, unspool your line and wash it? Or do you wait? I just ask because I used it twice in Pismo which of course is SANDY! Haven't used it since but I need to respool with some tension soon, but figured I'd ask what others are doing? Once a year like Disco mentioned above?

 

[4xFar Adventures]

So then what do you guys do if you use your synthetic winch line in a sandy situation? Get home, unspool your line and wash it? Or do you wait? I just ask because I used it twice in Pismo which of course is SANDY! Haven't used it since but I need to respool with some tension soon, but figured I'd ask what others are doing? Once a year like Disco mentioned above?

I assume you have a chafe guard on your line. I would at least slide that along the line to get any sand it may have trapped out from under it. Doing that is a lot easier if the line has a little tension. When it's slack it tends to bunch up and is a pita to deal with. I've actually used the street sign post in the corner of my front yard to allow me to create a double line pull. The winch isn't used, but it gets enough line out and under enough tension to slide the chafe guard.

 

[4xFar Adventures]

So I did some research and called Samson about waxing a synthetic rope that would be used for winching. Their recommendation is to NOT wax the rope. At the factory, the rope is coated with a water based urethane. This coating is to add further protection from abrasion, uv damage, and includes the dye to color the rope.

I was told rope used for bow strings is not coated, and thus, doesn't have the same properties as the rope we install on our winches. In addition to the uses of wax in the pic @Kcrkolby posted, it may also help it glide along the pulleys in a compound bow.

 

[Kcrkolby]

So I did some research and called Samson about waxing a synthetic rope that would be used for winching. Their recommendation is to NOT wax the rope. At the factory, the rope is coated with a water based urethane. This coating is to add further protection from abrasion, uv damage, and includes the dye to color the rope.

I was told rope used for bow strings is not coated, and thus, doesn't have the same properties as the rope we install on our winches. In addition to the uses of wax in the pic @Kcrkolby posted, it may also help it glide along the pulleys in a compound bow.

Thanks for looking into that! I appreciate it.

 

[Sgt12XU]

So, decades ago when I was humping weapons through the desert as a grunt...I learned lubrication in a particulate environment is not good. Every grain of sand and dirt just decided it had stick to my rifle and machine gun because I slapped CLP in the action.

So, if you've ever dropped surfboard wax in the sand...you know that wax on your winch rope is a disaster. All the dirt and sand in the world will stick to your line and embed itself forever. Avoid the wax brother.

 

[Kcrkolby]

So, decades ago when I was humping weapons through the desert as a grunt...I learned lubrication in a particulate environment is not good. Every grain of sand and dirt just decided it had stick to my rifle and machine gun because I slapped CLP in the action.

So, if you've ever dropped surfboard wax in the sand...you know that wax on your winch rope is a disaster. All the dirt and sand in the world will stick to your line and embed itself forever. Avoid the wax brother.

Good Point!

 

[ELY-9999]

My new WARN VR10-S got all kinds of dark grey / black on my hands while spooling during install, but it washed off easily. I'm thinking it was more like Graphite than grease, oil or wax.

But here's my dilemma; when using a snatch block the pin needs to be lubricated (mine even has a grease zerk) so what kind of lube to use, because we know some of it will eventually end up on the synthetic winch line. I'm thinking disassembly of the snatch block, lude it with graphite, plug the zerk and reassemble.

Wish there was a better way because that Graphite is really messy and gets on everything, however it does wash off easily and any oil based lube will degrade the strength of a synthetic winch line. What to do...

 

[4xFar Adventures]

It's more than likely just the dye from the rope. I have a 6' length of Dyneema I use to practice tying knots. Even after 5 years I still get a little blue on the hands to this day when I handle it.

You could check with the manufacturer of the pulley block for the appropriate lube to use, but if you already have a grease gun to lube u joints in your driveshaft, I bet that will work just fine. Something like a molly grease or NLGI #2.

You don't really have to worry about the grease degrading your synthetic line. However, it will attract and hold a lot more dirt and grit, and abrasion is a big killer of any synthetic line.

Samson has done strength retention tests with sea water, hydraulic fluid, gasoline, ammonium hydroxide, and bleach among some other fluids. After a 6 month immersion in these fluids, HMPE rope retained 100% of its strength. Only the bleach immersion brought the strength down to 91%.

 

[ELY-9999]

[QUOTE="
Samson has done strength retention tests with sea water, hydraulic fluid, gasoline, ammonium hydroxide, and bleach among some other fluids. After a 6 month immersion in these fluids, HMPE rope retained 100% of its strength. Only the bleach immersion brought the strength down to 91%.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the information +4xFar my winch is not a Samson, at least I don't think so. It is what came stock on my WARN VR10-S so not sure if the same standards apply.

 

[4xFar Adventures]

AmSteel Blue, Dyneema, HMPE are pretty much the same and those standards should apply across the board for synthetic rope.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

Good morning - I stumbled on this thread from Google and I registered on this site to respond; sorry if digging up an old thread is bad juju. I just spooled my winch with a 3/8" Amsteel synthetic line. I've got a lot of experience with using Amsteel for suspensions in hammock camping, but zero with using it for winching. I was looking for a way to protect the exposed end of my winch line where it connects to the winch hook. I've got a an abrasion sleeve, but there's still some rope at the end that will be exposed to rocks and debris while driving.

Bubba Rope uses this "Gator-ize" coating for abrasion protection. I was wondering how closely that resembles plasti-dip. Now, I know that's a really cheap solution, and people seem to use it for just about everything... but it might actually work. I'm not terribly concerned about affecting the rope in some way. I've (unsuccessfully) tried dyeing dyneema straps, and @ELY-9999 above referenced Samson's tests on it; the stuff is highly resistant to chemicals. But I'm worried about flying rocks and stuff potentially cutting strands in that vulnerable area around the eye.

The expensive route is to get a Factor 55 rope guard... but that seems excessive. It's a nice piece of gear, but it's like $300 between the hook and the guard.

 

[Boostpowered]

Dont do it. buy a quality winch line that has a protective sleeve that covers the whole rope, to wash the rope un spool and put it in a bucket of soapy water, let it sit for a while then wring it our and spray it off and respool it.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

Dont do it. buy a quality winch line that has a protective sleeve that covers the whole rope, to wash the rope un spool and put it in a bucket of soapy water, let it sit for a while then wring it our and spray it off and respool it.

Just to be clear - I'm talking about how to protect this little spot right here:

I've got a sleeve that covers around 3' - 4' of the hook end of the rope (shown in the photo). The answer might be, "just send it and don't worry about it." But I'm still a little worried about it.

 

[Boostpowered]

Just to be clear - I'm talking about how to protect this little spot right here:

I've got a sleeve that covers around 3' - 4' of the hook end of the rope (shown in the photo). The answer might be, "just send it and don't worry about it." But I'm still a little worried about it.

I think this is what your looking for then, shackel mount. There are a few mfg they all cover that area and cleans up the look alot.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

Yeah, I've seen those. I guess I'll need to do some splicing to install one of those if I go that way.

 

[Boostpowered]

Yeah, I've seen those. I guess I'll need to do some splicing to install one of those if I go that way.

There are ones you have to splice then ther are ones you just stick the loop in the hole and install a pin with a circlip there is also one you put the loop in and secure it with the shackle. Mine is the second option no splicing.