Mirage Drive Cables Rusting @Swaged Fittings?

The advantage is for the environment. It is also a very good lube.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I wouldn't let the lack of lube for a couple weeks stop me use the kayak, but it wouldn't hurt to squirt a bit of WD40 on the chains/swages in the meantime. Just make sure it gets rinsed good and proper after use, and for best effect use warm water. WD40 rinses off quite easily, so when the Inox arrives just rinse the drive good and proper, you won't see any contamination issues. I agree with the comment that you should avoid spraying WD40 in sprockets and drums because it is a dispersent that might upset the grease.

Lanox is pretty resilient and hangs on much better than WD40 and I was able to get away with spraying the drive down every 2nd or 3rd trip without ever seeing any rust. Thorough rinsing is the key - if you are diligent with that and use a good lube you shouldn't need to spray each time. Mind you, don't let that comment stop you from doing it.

By the way, a member here posted a pretty clever modification on this forum some time ago that I got curious about and trialed to success. That was to coat the swage with some good marine grease (really rub it in) and then put some quality heat shrink over the top of that to seal it in. That seem to work for me, although after a year of use I decided it was overkill for me because I wasn't having any problems any way.

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Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

I did read that it is environmentally friendly. I'm not sure its much more environmentally friendly than Inox+ or Lanox, though I am entirely prepared to believe it is. I figure you guys would have good reason to recommend the stuff. However, claim is that Inox+ (MX5) and Lanox (MX4) is non-toxic, so I am guessing that stuff is relatively environmentally friendly compared to a lot of lubes on the market. Either way I'll be using the Hobie-multi-lube from here on in, though I'll be paying more attention to the anti-corrosion performance than anything else.

_________________
Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

Would you eat Inox+ or Lanox? The Hobie Multi Lube is an enhanced mineral oil and you could drink / eat it. Our dealer in San Diego has been using it for a few years and loves it.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Seems like cable in this situation is just a bad idea.

An $80 consumable is something I would try to avoid.... even if I could get three years out it.

Can anybody comment on why Hobie doesn't just extend the chain all the way? .... I would not think it would cost that much more because the stainless steel chains I use on my single-speed bikes only cost $12.00 retail for a rather long chain..... also, they would save the cost of the interface between the cable and the chain....

The benefits I see are:

• Repairable: a chain tool, a few spare links....
  .
• Longer lasting: I get about 5,000 miles from a bike chain and those replacements are only because of the misfit between a worn chain and the steel cog on the rear of the bike.
  .
• What you see is what you get: no hidden corrosion because of salt water wicking up under the plastic cover. ..... i.e. vastly-reduced chances of on-the-water surprises.
  

Seems pretty obvious to me - but I'm not an engineer and the physical world is probably a vastly-simpler place to me.....


Tangentially: Does the third cable (the one with no chain attached... that runs up over the wheelie thing in front) fail also?

I'm starting to think of the Mirage Drive in terms of pre-emptive replacements.

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

I have been rocking my Revo since 2010 with the original cables. When I got my used 2013 AI, I went ahead and replaced all the cables and tuned up the drive as I don't know the extent of salt use prior to my taking.

Anywho, I have always taken the cables and put them in a food sealer bag, added a copious amount of Corrosion-X to the bag and then vacuum sealed the bag. With this I left it over night to let the Corrosion-X really permeate metal and all the cable strands.

In doing this, I haven't had to replace a cable due to a breakage yet.

Do you still spray the cables with WD-40 or INOX or something after washing? .... or would that wash off the Corrosion-X?

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

Haha... nope... but I wouldn't eat Kale either. Nor would I eat Hobie Multi-lube for that matter. I'm not doubting Hobie's lube is the most environmentally friendly. Nor am I doubting it as being equally effective as a lube (I'll have a fair idea by the end of summer). But its only been available to Hobie dealers recently, whereas I have years of experience with Inox/Lanox and I feel I can safely recommend them. They certainly perform better and are less toxic than WD40, which is what a lot of people have been recommended to use on Miragedrives

_________________
Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

Do you think there is anything to be gained by submerging/soaking new cables in Lanox for a day or two before installing them?

I'm thinking maybe the stuff would wick up into the cable, dry out, and perhaps reduce the wicking of salt water in use.

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

Pete:
That is actually a very good idea. Wicking in any 'water displacing' (hydrophobic) lubricant into the cable (via vacuum) should certainly help, in addition the lubricating ability helps ease the friction of the individual strands rubbing against each other as the cable flexes (90 % cause of failure). This could conceivably double/triple the life of the cables.
What occurs (because of the friction), is as the cable flexes thru it's motions, some individual strands experience an unfair individual load, having lubricant in the bundle of cables, helps relieve some of that friction, maintaining equal load across all strands (the key to everything).
With the intrusion of salt water into the cable, it is entirely possible the normal lubricity between each strand is compromised (the strands sticking/rusting together). This will greatly shorten the service life of the cable (likely 10 fold). Possibly going with a TIN (titanium Ion Nitrate) coated wire may extend the service life, but likely an expensive process.
Easier to just to soak the cables in some hydrophobic lubricant in a food saver machine (most of us have them in our kitchens) when you get them (or just a vacuum bag and your vacuum cleaner, us wooden boat guys do vacuum impregnation all the time (ie... that's what it's called).), this prevents salt water intrusion into the wire bundle.

Moving forward that's what I plan to do.

great ideas.
FE

Well, the stuff arrived today.... and either I ordered wrong or they shipped wrong but what I have is INOX MX3 instead of MX4/Lanox.

Everything I have read indicates that Lanox is better for marine use..... But, reading between the lines, I gather the benefit is mainly in greater persistence and if I am diligent about spraying with MX3 it should be good enough.

Anybody disagree?

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

Yep, I do think that is a good idea. I do it myself once a year, every time I service my drive, which I do leading up to my annual expedition to Fraser Isl. The drives spent over a week submerged in salt and rarely rinsed in those trips. Never see rust at the end of them, so yeah, I think this helps

_________________
Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

I am guessing that you qualify as a heavy user.

That being the case, how many years do you use the cables before (I assume...) pre-emptive replacement?

One person's practice of carrying a spare Mirage Drive on long trips is starting to make sense to me.... not that I will ever take a long trip...

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]

I always carry a spare drive when I sail my AI's (The TI's inherently having a spare). With that said, the only drive that has rusting is my spare drive and only on one side (the side that faces up). I wonder if the repeated splashing of sea water then drying might be causing that or the hot sun on it. I hope to make a cover for it to see if it helps. It gets washed off after every trip, but doesn't look good. Other than the rust, it looks almost new.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

After you spray all the SS pieces with INOX, how diligent are you about wiping off the overspray/excess?

Since this is going to be an oft-repeated process, I'm trying to figure out an SOP that takes the least time, but does the job.

One extreme is to slather everything with INOX and then hang the Mirage Drive somewhere where the drips won't hurt anything until the next use - and let the in-use sloshing with salt water take care of excessive built-up on the non-SS parts.

The other extreme being to carefully wipe everything clean....

_________________
2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
eMail: [email protected]