questions about winch line

[wagger]

I just got a ramsey 9.5 from a buddy (for free). It comes w/out any cable because we broke it awile back. He tried to replace it with synthetic cable. The syn. cable wound up just fine, but the next time he tried to use it he found the first layer of cable melted to the drum. obviously it got to hot. My question are since I have to replace the cable anyway, is there a way to overcome the heat/ melting and use syn. cable. If not can I buy cable from a local crane supply or should I send off to ramsey?
Thank You the only winch I have ever used is a small 2500 lbs. for pulling cars on my trailer.
Wagger

[gsmikie]

what made the drum get so hot ?????

[wagger]

I do not know why the drum got hot. I assumed some heat was to be expected.
Wagger

[ChiefTawny]

my synthetic rope has a black protective sleeve over the first 20-25'. so that length is the first layer on the drum. but ive never heard of a drum getting hot enough to melt the rope! maybe its just hardware store rope!:eek:

[jeepsr4ever]

What happens is that the brake is in the drum and this causes the drum to get extremely hot and crystallize the synthetic rope. To avoid the heat a heat sheild is sometimes used but its still a gamble. I would look to other styles of synthetic rope. One brand that can take the heat would be X-line from Offroadonly.com.

[rockjeep44]

Something is definitely not right here. Either the rope he used was a cheap knockoff of good synthetic winch rope or the winch malfunctioned and got way too hot. Either way I recommend getting to the bottom of it. I love my winch rope. I'd never go back to cable.

[scumby]

Something is definitely not right here. Either the rope he used was a cheap knockoff of good synthetic winch rope or the winch malfunctioned and got way too hot. Either way I recommend getting to the bottom of it. I love my winch rope. I'd never go back to cable.

i agree on both counts. check to make sure that while you are winching in that the rope is spooling from the bottom if not you are working against the brake creating heat.

if it is reeling in correctly powering out does the same thing i believe (working against the brake).

another good reason for the old reliable 8274's, brake is external of the case of the winch not internal to the drum.

third note, correct me if i'm wrong but i thought the black protective cover was for the hook end of the rope. it's used to prevent chafing of the line while winching over a hill or if need be wrapped around something.

what type of fairlead are you using? synthetic or aluminum? i had a synthetic one but under a heavy load and at an angle \----- it gave enough for the line to touch the metal of the winch plate and get cut in two. luckily they are very easy to splice back together (unlike steel cable) and now i carry the instructions in my jeep.

[ChiefTawny]

third note, correct me if i'm wrong but i thought the black protective cover was for the hook end of the rope. it's used to prevent chafing of the line while winching over a hill or if need be wrapped around something.

my rope has the cover at the beginning and the end to protect against chafing.

[Brad W.]

It should have a different formula line &/or a sleeve on the first 20ft or so to handle the heat. After that, it should have a chafing sheath of varying length to place on rub spots.