Just weeks ago, a fellow Corsair 24 owner dismasted due to a seizing wire failure. More than once I’ve had stainless seizing wire fail while twisting it up, and more than once I’ve found cracked wires during inspections. I switched to monel wire 15 years ago and haven’t had a failure since.
To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in
Subscribe to Practical Sailor
Get full access to Practical Sailor - over 4,000 articles - for just $34.
Subscribe today and save 42% off the annual rate.
Monel is higher on the galvanic series than most other materials. Consequently, it can cause accelerated corrosion in many applications. This should be considered before flatly recommending it as an alternative to other materials.
Sounds like it’s a hard material to beat for many applications. Question about rivets: what about using aluminum riviets on aluminum spars?
This always generates questions. Aluminum is slightly less likely to corrode. However, it can still corrode if the alloy is different from the spar, if the spar is anodized, or if the pin is still inside the rivet (the head of the rivet will be). I’ve seen aluminum rivets eaten away. There were some on the boom of my F-24, they were badly damaged, and drilled them out and replaced them with monel. Fortunately, it was a low-load application, because aluminum rivets are also much weaker.
For me the bottom line is that all of the spar manufacturers recommend monel. It is backed up by long experience with small boats, such as Hobie cats that live on the beach.
Superb. Excellent thorough comprehensive coverage. Articles like this one are the reason I continue to renew.
When I started sailing I was advised to use monel wire on galvanized shackles because it caused less corrosion than stainless wire. It has worked well for many years. I use stainless seizing wire on stainless parts, but perhaps monel would be preferable there too. When monel became hard to find at marine chandleries I discovered that it is used in airplanes and aeronautical suppliers carry it. Thanks for another informative article.
Dave Kallgren
Beagle, NorSea 27
The only rigging wire failures I have seen were primarily the result of over twisting and using the twisting process to pull the wire passes tight. For repetition and as the big take-away, snug each pass separately with you fingers or lightly with the pliers, and twist the finishing pigtail lightly. Standard aircraft safety wiring guidance is not more than 10 twists per inch, and about 5-6 twists to secure the pigtail. Bend to avoid snags.