Hobie MirageDrive PSA+Question

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by ProfessorLongArms

Sooooo before going out yesterday, I checked the tension on my MD180 like I always do, and noticed all of my cables were a bit loose. I tightened them all down to where I'd been recommended by Andy and noticed that they almost all ran close to the bottom of their respective bolts. I guess the cables are showing a bit of stretch, or perhaps that's just where they originally were.....

Anyway, On the water yesterday, 3 miles from shore, my drive popped loose. One of the locknuts on a chain cable just walked right off and into the ocean.

Your PSA: Get an extra cable or two with lock nuts, some extra cardi-pins for your fins, find a small wrench that fits it, and put them in a ziplock bag that lives with a kit that always goes out with you. That would have been one hell of a paddle in an outback against wind and current.

My question: This one's been on my mind quit a bit lately. My outback is going on 3 years old, and it seems like a pretty common milestone is the breaking of a cable in the middle from flexing back and forth. Is there a telltale sign (perhaps such as all of your cables getting loose at once) where you know that break is on the way? Has anyone on here ever gone so far as to just proactively replace their cables, or at least keep a full set on hand?

Yes, I keep an old set of cables in a ziplock with the appropriate wrench. I have never had the misfortune of needing to use it on the water. The wrench is all rusty now -- failed to give it a protective coat of grease prior to zipping in the bag. One of the signs of wear is stretched wires as you described(the nuts have little thread to tighten down on). Another is irregular diameter of wires. Sometimes the outer coating wears off, sometimes the diameter changes because the wire breaks inside of the outer coating as in the photo.