Stray cable strands

In article said:

My FD cable is completely frayed at the end. It spreads out
and either pokes my leg or scratches the paint. Any tricks
on getting it to behave?

Can you temporarily get it looking "pretty good" with
judicious twisting of the ends with a pair of pliers, and
hold it in that position? If so, you can apply some
SuperGlue or the like and let it set for a minute. The cable
should be reasonably clean/non-greasy for this to work. Just
don't glue the pliers to the cable!

Art

"trg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My FD cable is completely frayed at the end. It spreads
out and either

pokes

Quoted message said:

my leg or scratches the paint. Any tricks on getting it to
behave? The

cable

Quoted message said:

itself is in good shape, so I don't want to replace it,
and the end is too far gone to put a terminator on it.

Thanks

A NEW front derailleur cable is only a couple of bucks. Buy
one, install

it, put the mouse condom on the end and Voila! Perfection.

Don't be cheap.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Trg
My FD cable is completely frayed at the end. It spreads out
and either pokes my leg or scratches the paint. Any tricks
on getting it to behave? The cable itself is in good shape,
so I don't want to replace it, and the end is too far gone
to put a terminator on it.

Thanks

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is to silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass, then put the caps on the ends.

When you crimp the caps onto bare cable, the crushing of the cable destroys the set of the cable. When the end pops off, the cable is already frayed.

Now if you don't have any silver solder or do not want to do this, using small diameter heat shrink tubing works well instead of capping.

Weisse Luft said:

Trg said:

My FD cable is completely frayed at the end. It
spreads out and

either > pokes my leg or scratches the paint. Any tricks
on getting it to behave? > The cable itself is in good
shape, so I don't want to replace it, and > the end is
too far gone to put a terminator on
it. > Thanks

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is to
silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass, then put
the caps on the ends.

When you crimp the caps onto bare cable, the crushing of
the cable destroys the set of the cable. When the end pops
off, the cable is already frayed.

Now if you don't have any silver solder or do not want to
do this, using small diameter heat shrink tubing works
well instead of capping.

I've never had problems with strayed ends. I I took it to a
shop to get the crankset/BB replaced and they f'ed it up.
Being careful and using the terminator cap has always been
good enough for me.

Weisse Luft said:

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is to
silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass, then put
the caps on the ends.

Does silver solder work with stainless steel cables? I
tried regular rosin core tin/lead solder and was unable to
get it to work.
--
Rick Onanian

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Rick Onanian
On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 19:31:29 GMT, Weisse Luft

Quoted message said:

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is to
silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass, then put
the caps on the ends.

Does silver solder work with stainless steel cables? I
tried regular rosin core tin/lead solder and was unable to
get it to work.
--
Rick Onanian

No, not even the "silver bearing" solders and their zinc chloride fluxes are adequate for stainless.

I use a cadmium free, 60% AG, 30% Cu, 10%Sn. The flux is a paste and has flurorides which can be nasty. I use a MAPP torch as regular propane isn't enough.

Rick Onanian said:

Weisse Luft usenet- said:

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is to
silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass, then put
the caps on the ends.

Does silver solder work with stainless steel cables? I
tried regular rosin core tin/lead solder and was unable to
get it to work.
--
Rick Onanian

both solders work - you just need to stay away from rosin
flux. use a stainless steel flux like HCl/ZnCl solution.
dirt cheap at your local hardware store.

flush thoroughly with baking soda solution after use to
neutralize the acid.

Weisse Luft said:

Rick Onanian said:

Weisse Luft usenet- said:

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is
to silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass,
then put the caps on the ends.

Does silver solder work with stainless steel cables? I
tried regular rosin core tin/lead solder and was
unable to get it to work.
--
Rick Onanian

No, not even the "silver bearing" solders and their zinc
chloride fluxes are adequate for stainless.

I use a cadmium free, 60% AG, 30% Cu, 10%Sn. The flux is a
paste and has flurorides which can be nasty. I use a MAPP
torch as regular propane isn't enough.

that's hard core! it'll definitely work, but but in general,
using a hot torch like mapp in this application is not a
good idea - it can easily overheat & soften the stainless
steel ruining its ability to bear any significant load.
irrelevant for the end of a cable i know, but some people
get carried away...

i use an electric soldering iron & "la.co n-3 all purpose
flux - for soft soldering of stainless steels, chrome &
copper"... works fine for me.

Weisse Luft said:

Rick Onanian said:

Weisse Luft usenet- said:

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is
to silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass,
then put the caps on the ends.

Does silver solder work with stainless steel cables? I
tried regular rosin core tin/lead solder and was unable
to get it to work.
--
Rick Onanian

No, not even the "silver bearing" solders and their zinc
chloride fluxes are adequate for stainless.

I use a cadmium free, 60% AG, 30% Cu, 10%Sn. The flux is a
paste and has flurorides which can be nasty. I use a MAPP
torch as regular propane isn't enough.

Dear Weisse,

While I admire the truly technical explanations from you and
Jim Beam of how to properly solder the ends of stainless
steel bicycle cables with increasingly dangerous fluxes and
ever more powerful torches, I'm worried that Homer Simpson
may top you both by explaining the advantages of welding
cable ends with Springfield's handy nuclear reactor on his
lunch break.

Apprehensively,

Montgomery Burns

Quoted message said:

No, not even the "silver bearing" solders and their zinc
chloride fluxes are adequate for stainless.

I use a cadmium free, 60% AG, 30% Cu, 10%Sn. The flux is a
paste and has flurorides which can be nasty. I use a MAPP
torch as regular propane isn't enough.

Acid flux and plumber's solder work just fine on stainless
cables with a regular propane torch. Phil Brown

I strongly recommend practicing on some scrap cable if you
have not done this before. On a stranded cable, the flame
tends to overheat the wires on the near side, while the
other side may still be too cold to produce good flow. You
need a soft flame, slowly applied, and you have to have
the experience to recognize the proper conditions when
they are reached.

Leo Lichtman said:

I strongly recommend practicing on some scrap cable if you
have not done this before.

If you give 'em scraps, the strays will never leave
you alone.

Bill "always on topic" S.

S o r n i said:

Leo Lichtman said:

I strongly recommend practicing on some scrap cable if
you have not done this before.

If you give 'em scraps, the strays will never leave
you alone.

Bill "always on topic" S.

Dear Bill,

Your post here is clearly the top dog in the other thread.

Admiringly,

Carl Fogel

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 17:07:01 -0400 Rick Onanian <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Weisse Luft usenet- said:

Replace the cable. The best method to prevent this is to
silver solder the cable ends into a solid mass, then put
the caps on the ends.

Does silver solder work with stainless steel cables? I
tried regular rosin core tin/lead solder and was unable to
get it to work.

Silver solder will stick nicely to stainless, with the right
flux, but it's way overkill. Regular tin/lead solder will
also stick and at a much lower temperature, but again you
need the right flux. The rosin isn't enough.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney [email hidden] Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

(clip) scrap cable (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^ If you give 'em
scraps, the strays will never leave you alone.
^^^^^^^^^^^ Your post here is clearly the top dog in
the other thread. ^^^^^^^^^^^ I'm trying to be
serious here, and you guys keep making PUN of me.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My FD cable is completely frayed at the end. It spreads
out and either pokes my leg or scratches the paint. Any
tricks on getting it to behave?

Can you temporarily get it looking "pretty good" with
judicious twisting of the ends with a pair of pliers, and
hold it in that position? If so, you can

apply some SuperGlue or the like and let it set for a
minute. The cable should be reasonably clean/non-greasy for
this to work. Just don't glue the pliers to the cable!

Art

What I've found works pretty good is a drop of Quik JB Weld.
Have to cut it off if you need to pull the cable through the
housing at a later date, but it's easy to re-apply. Steve

On 10 Jul 2004 01:09:40 GMT, [email hidden] (Phil Brown)

Quoted message said:

Acid flux and plumber's solder work just fine on stainless
cables with a regular propane torch.

Was in Lowes today and bought some acid flux core
solder. Yay me!
--
Rick Onanian

On 10 Jul 2004 01:09:40 GMT, [email hidden] (Phil Brown)

Quoted message said:

Acid flux and plumber's solder work just fine on stainless
cables with a

If you do it again, do you have acid reflux?
--
Rick Onanian