Electroline/Esmet swageless fittings

[russeasby]

Hi, I am wondering if anyone is familiar with these swageless fittings? Electroline made by Esmet. I recently purchased a boat rigged using these, they look fine and appear to be installed well and there is no indication that they are not up to the task. But I am unfamiliar with this brand and they do not seem to actively market to the yachting industry.

I am hoping someone familiar with these can tell me if they are indeed up to the task of yacht rigging or not. Or if I should be concerned and replace them with one of the better know brands of fittings such as norseman or stalok.

Thanks!

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
Those fittings are generally for 7x wire; is that what is on your boat? They aren't horrid, but are not the easiest to work with. If you have 1x19, let me know; the catalog break strengths and instructions are all for 7x.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[russeasby]

Yes, I have 1x19 wire, I have no documentation on the actual fittings, I did find a set of spare cones on board which include instructions suggesting these fittings (or the cones at least) are meant for 1x19 wire.

I am not located somewhere that access to a qualified rigger is possible (I am in Bocas del Toro Panama) and asking the armchair sailor know it alls on various internet forums yields the usual uninformed (yet still know it all) results. So I am very appreciative of you taking a moment to respond Brion!

I attached a photo of one of the fittings if that is at all helpful. The stainless appears to be 316.

[Brion Toss]

Hi again,
I had a lovely conversation with Craig Pugh, an engineer at Electroline regarding their fittings. They do indeed make them for 1x19, and you can get details on pricing and world-wide distribution by writing to: Kobi Briggs . You can also visit their web site: www.esmet.com.
They didn't have efficiency numbers regarding ultimate strength, but Craig was confident of 90 to 95%, about the same as Sta-Loks.
Being an industrial house, they weren't up on the effects of the corrosive environment that a sailboat might see, especially in the tropics, but some of their clients do add sealant. I expect that you could seal the interior of yours, as with other terminals.
Materials and finish are both very good. Prices are very, very good.
Overall I have a most favorable impression of the company and its products. In the case of your boat, I strongly recommend disassembly of all terminals to check for internal corrosion, and to see if they were assembled correctly.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[russeasby]

Thank you so much Brion for going to all that effort to find out about these fittings for me! I was kind of thinking of taking apart the fittings anyway since I am pulling the mast to replace a couple rotted chainplate knees, so was going to go over the rig while it was down, I will order a pile of new cones from Esmet in preperation for taking apart and and reassembling the fittings. That wont happen for a couple of months, but I will report back, with photos, what I find inside as far as corrosion (or lack of it).

90 to 95% rating seems to make sense from what little I know in my uninformed research: the documention I have for the spare cones claims 100% of rating for IPS, which as I have been able to figure out would probably come to 95ish for SS wire (unless I am completely misunderstanding things which is entirely possible).

Again, thank you so much, as someone who does a lot of long distance ocean sailing, I do not like mysteries on my boat, and certainly not in the rig! Your educated input is of immense value.