ss downrigger wire

scott craven

scott craven

Well-Known Member
Ok, maybe i was misguided, but i thought stainless wire was not
supposed to rust ??
Just checked my spool and the last 20 or 30 feet are pretty rusty
wire was changed last year.
any ideas ?
 
Yeah,thats what I thought too.Was out in the shop last night cleaning the boat up and I noticed that most of the stainless fasteners were showing surface rust.I power wash the boat every time I bring it in.Downrigger wire is okay though.Anyone know if all this is from offshore manufacturing?Or is there different grades of stainless?I'd like to know also.DAN
 
I bought new SS rigger wire last year and wondered why some of the manufacturers wire was twice the price. The sales guy said that there is a big difference in quality in grades and from what I have seen on other stainless hardware like Dan mentioned, the sales guy is bang on. I wanted to buy some SS cup holders and I was told by the parts manager not to buy them as they were of poor quality and would start to rust within a yr. I guess quality is not of the utmost importance in some manufacturing.
 
Yes, there are lots of different grades of ss but I am not sure if you get a choice when you buy downrigger wire. But it is a common misconception that ss does not rust. SS contains nontheless iron which naturally rusts. The only thing that protects ss from rusting under ideal conditions is a protective surface layer of nickel, chrom and other mixed in alloys. Is this layer damaged, the steel part below will rust. Damaging the protective layer can happen many ways: one way is touching ss with carbon (plain) steel tools or so (plyers, screw drivers, etc). These carbon steel tool leave fine particles on the ss surface and this will start a galvanic reaction between the steel dust and the ss surface eating away the protective layer until the naked steel is exposed to corrosion...
 
Wow great explanation Chris73. Were did you learn that?
GLG
 
It sounds like Chris73 knows a lot about stainless..... thanks Chris.
I found that to stop metal or stainless from rusting you need to spray the stainless steel with a clear coat of lacquar. A couple of coats is all that is needed.This will stop the metal from rusting for a while but this will wear off so you might have to respray it next year. Hope that helps.... Steve.
 
I've tried just about every trick in the book with several types of SS wire. Problem is, SS is about the worst thing you can make wire out of, if it's not rusting on you, it will just randomly break and fray on you. You can either:

Change it often (About every month if you fish hard)

Or get any sort of Braided line, Dynema (Scotty Stuff), or 200lb Tuff Line works as well. I got away from the stainless crap, and no, you can't play with little brass swivels and whatnot with braided, nor can you play with your black box, but I can count the number of balls that have broken off in a year on one hand with fingers left over.. Forget it with stainless.
 
We can't keep buying all this cheap sh**t out of China.It's cheaper but poor qiuality in almost evrything.We are losing good manufacturers and when most of them are gone the bass turds are going to jack up the prices.I'm tellin ya,their out to screw us
 
Until this year I would easily get 2 plus years out of the stainless downrigger cables. I changed both cables last year, but they both broke this year with no warning. I also noticed that there was a considerable amount of rust them which was not the case previously. It has to be the quality of ss wire and it probably comes from offshore. Unfortunately when one of the cables breaks you loose a lot more than the cable. With lead at $2 per pound, plus other gear, it sure is expensive when the cable breaks. I will be switching to some kind of braided line for next year.
 
Great explanation Chris,makes perfect sense when its put in a common sense form.So any ideas on how to stop the rust?Or once it starts that's it.Kinda reminds me of the old chevy cam shafts,I was sure they were made of hard black mud.DAN
 
Out of curiosity, what brand of wire are you using, or does the rust problem apply to all wire out there.
Broken strands I have had, but never rust.
 
Stainless Steel will rust when water gets trapped around it. Hang a stainless bolt on a string beside your boat, it will last forever. STick a stainless fastener in wood, where the water can get around it, it will corrode away. The water in the strands of the stainless wire does just that to you, if you unravel some, you sill see a lot going on on the inside of it.
 
Ive had it with SS wire. lost a 6-8 balls this year which is a joke and this was with new line and not hanging up any balls. Just random breaks, frayed lines not fixed fast enough ect It adds up 20$ a ball,10$clip,5$ snap swivle. 35*8 =280$ in lost gear plus left a bunch of crap on the bottom. Braided for sure next year shoulda listened to dirtdog earlier this year but was cheap and saved 20$ [xx(]
 
The key is to rinse your wire soon after each saltwater use - we all know that saltwater is the perfect conductor for galvanic reactions. Then dry the wire drum in the sun or where it is heated. That way you should minimize your rust. Minimize the use of brass or other metal crimp-ons and other fittings - use plastic as much as possible for stoppers etc... I usually get rust only after my 3rd year of usage and I fish quite often in saltwater. But I also do not chase the cheapest deal on ebay or so when I buy wire...
 
I know Cannon downriggers are not the most popular,but after 3 seasons my cable is in great shape. It has some type of coating, as well its thinner than my Scotty wire.
 
I wash my line after every use and I still have a little rust showing. Not much, but some. I think that this is just one of the many costs you have to put up with when you are saltwater fishing.A cost yes, but in comparison to all the other costs of fishing it is minimal. Like Chris said, you get what you pay for.
See you on the water[8D]
Mikiki
 
Yes it is a Cannon brand. I recently ordered some from the U.S. Its good stuff.
 
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