Swageless Backstay Insulators , replacements
Ahoy All ,,, The time has come to determine if my back stay swageless insulators , need replacing !
The back stay insulators provide an antenna wire for my onboard SSB radio .
They were a Navtec brand with Norseman swageless terminals on each end, or so I think !
They were installed in 1998 on Loos 316 1 X 19 , 9/32" SS wire , so that makes them 14 years old and lived in a heap of tropical U V , since then .
The rest of my standing rigging has Sta-Loc eye terminals , and after polishing them , then inspecting them , then replacing the wedges and formers , installing them on new 1 X 19 SS wire , is my plan .
What I don't know is the life-span of the insulating plastic on these insulated terminals . Should the insulated terminal be replaced every 10 years like the wire and other SS structural fittings onboard as many good surveyors reccommend ? Regardless of the potential to re-use the Norsman end terminals ?
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