Swageless Backstay Insulators , replacements

[Douglas]

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 ?

[Brion Toss]

Hi there,
I've forwarded your letter to Navtec, and I'm hoping we'll have a definitive answer here soon.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Matthew Sebring]

While this isn't a reply to your question I am posting it here because your question inspired mine. Is there any general consensus on which is the best mechanical insulator? I've installed both the Norseman and the Hi-Mod and am partial to the Hi-Mod because I like the theory behind the ball and socket but would like other opinions.

[Brion Toss]

Hi again,
The estimable Ty Goss, Navtec's premier techie, wrote me the following:

Brion,

Life expectancy from UV breakdown is a tough one to pin down. I know there are Norseman Gibb swageless insulators that have been used in service over 20 years. However the amount of UV damage can very greatly depending on the climate the boat spends its life. In this case since there is a large refit going on and one would assume the boat is going to continue traveling to warm sunny climates and no major refit plans would be scheduled for another 10 years, we would recommend that the insulators be swapped out for new ones. There could very well be more life left in the existing ones but the prudent and safe recommendation would be to replace them. The steel swageless bodies, if they pass inspection, could be reused but they are a small part of the cost for new insulators so not much would be saved by keeping them in service.

Regards,

Ty Goss
Navtec sales
351 New Whitfield St
Guilford, CT 06437
ph#203-458-3163 ext#106
fax#203-458-9291


As for my preference, it's Hayn.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Douglas]

Thank You , Brion and Ty , as I always try to follow Brion's advice, "to build in a reserve of neglect", on my boat !

This BCC has been in S E Asian waters since 2002 and I am always amazed at how fast plastic and rubber deteriorates over here.

I first noticed this when my onboard rubber bands, were deteriorating alarmingly quickly , not to mention dodger polycarbonate windows , but the gortex thread is holding up very well , phew !

I do have a few more SS deteriorated parts to add to your collection for display purposes , and hope to pass them to you Brion , at the 2014 or 2015 P T Wooden Boat Show .

You can not know , how much your advice and Spar Talk Forum , has helped me repair my BCC after that Asian Tsunami damage of 2004 ,,,, another T Y ,,, and a second , Phew !

[Cayo Quemado]

I regularly run across different SSB antenna configurations, plastic holders that clip over the wires, (not my favorite since they always stay wet), stand-offs on the backstay all the way to the mast-head, and my favorite, for occasional use, the retractable wire raised on a spare halyard.

Then last week a client came by for a rigging inspection whose backstay insulators had pulled apart due to a lightning strike. The threads in the plastic part had melted, then re-congealed around the stainless piece. (I've never cut these open and am not sure of their interior configuration) Dumb luck prevented the mast from going overboard as the failure was not initially apparent.

Is this a common, or common enough occurrence to steer clear of Backstay insulators altogether? If the fairly expensive mechanical insulators aren't even able to be re-used does it make more sense to recommend swage insulators, especially if all upper terminations are swaged?

I have faith in a well installed mechanical terminal but does the possibility of UV degradation or lighting strike resulting in a rig failure mean we should consider an SSB antenna to be an inappropriate addition to the standing rigging?

I haven't read anything like all of the threads here and I hope this isn't something that everyone is sick of talking about.

Tom Gensemer
Izabal, Guatemala