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Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:31 pm
by JGTR
Sod all that

1 x candle (any normal household candle will do, I have even used surf wax but it gets a bit messy as its a bit too soft and makes line look worse).

rub it on centre line once every so often

job done :thumb:

I find its not totally due to the sand etc but the constant moving of the bar, the wax helps it slide, and also keeps the sand out a bit I suppose

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:36 pm
by flyyboyy
I waxed my depower lines easily by just melting the paraffin in a pot (being very careful not to let it get too hot as it will burn) Then I took it off the heat and let it cool a bit so it was liquid but close to starting to skim over, then I dipped as much as I could into the parafin so it soaked into the line.

The reason I was wondering about the lines is that they tend to stick together when setting up. I thought about using the stuff that I put on my catamaran sail http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kite ... ealNglide/ It is fantastic stuff. It is completely colourless and the material is very slippery afterwards and repels water. It's not cheap and it has an activator.

Therefore it would repel sand and weeds etc.

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:52 pm
by FredBGG
Archery bow string wax is great.

Specially designed to avoid line ware.

Comes in a big chapstick.

Break some off into a rag and rub it on to the depower line.
Do it quite aggressively to melt the wax into the inner fibers too.

The result is very nice. Nice slippery wax finish, but does not cause a problem for cleats.

Lines last a very long time this way

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:57 pm
by darippah
FredBGG wrote:Archery bow string wax is great.

Specially designed to avoid line ware.

Comes in a big chapstick.

Break some off into a rag and rub it on to the depower line.
Do it quite aggressively to melt the wax into the inner fibers too.

The result is very nice. Nice slippery wax finish, but does not cause a problem for cleats.

Lines last a very long time this way
sounds like a great idea. anyone else try this?

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:16 pm
by Johnny Rotten
alexeyga wrote:If you really fill like dipping your lines in something - go for the marine grade dry lubricant (SailKote for example). That stuff works great on the flying lines, depower rope and parts of the bridle that work with pulleys. Though it doesn't last that long.

On bars with the old-style strap-n-buckle trimmer it's worth giving these straps a nice wax-rub-job every so often, especially in salty water as these tend to stiffen up and jam.

I tried the sailkote option on my well used (sharpened) north bar, In 36 hours of water use my line was TOAST with some strands frayed to the point of being broken. Useless in my opinion The ski wax so far is over 100 hours on the same bar unmodified. I've meant to take a file to it. but things have been holding up so well I haven't bothered.

Sailkote may help with dirt accumulation, so it MIGHT be useful if put on from new. but if it's the bar that's chewing the lines it's still gunna fray. Wax seems to help no matter what the problem is.


With regards to temperature I looked up some ski wax melting points and you are cutting it pretty close using the really cold stuff as someone mentioned. Melting point of dyneema is around 140-160 C

Short durations of temperatures below that should not provide any decrease in breaking strength.
SOURCE:
http://www.samsonrope.com/site_files/Ta ... imates.pdf

Some of the "cold" ski/snowboard waxes are around 120 C
some of the "warm" ski/snowboard waxes around 75C
Straight up parafin is 50-53C

SOURCE
http://www.jonsskituning.co.uk/content/view/28/41/

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:30 pm
by Baptiste_FR
A little bit of digging an old topic ;-)

I noted some abrasion on my trim rope (Slingshot Gardian and Slingshot sentinel bar). So, last week-end, I decided to put some ski wax on the trim rope (https://www.terrederandonnee.com/fr_ran ... -200g.html).
I melted blue wax (ski wax for cold weather) and put the trim rope in it for a few minutes. While I was at it, I also put all the pigtails (from bar and kite) in the melted wax.

The result is very good and the rope seems now a lot stronger and a little more rigid. The downside of it is, although the added wax is only a few tenth of millimetre, putting back the rope on the bar was quite a challenge. The rope has to go inside some small holes (on the Sentinel bar) and it was not easy.
I did not ride the kite since but so far I'm happy with the result because the rope seems a lot more resistant to abrasion.

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:01 pm
by merl
"Cold" ski wax is very hot when you melt it, so I guess you have to be careful with dyneema which is not so heat tolerant (melting point 140c according to Marlow ropes website). Seems risky! Regular candle wax does not seem to be an issue for depower lines.

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:16 pm
by edt
Be careful applying wax as dyneema degrades at around 140c and if you apply it too hot you ruin your line. I never wax lines but do it for leaders and the chicken line

I use beeswax which catches on fire around 100c so you can't accidentally ruin your line

It's easy to build a q power line set if you want long lasting lines

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:53 pm
by Baptiste_FR
edt wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:16 pm
Be careful applying wax as dyneema degrades at around 140c and if you apply it too hot you ruin your line. I never wax lines but do it for leaders and the chicken line

I use beeswax which catches on fire around 100c so you can't accidentally ruin your line

It's easy to build a q power line set if you want long lasting lines
Yes, I was aware of that and only applied wax on the Trim rope and the pigtail.

Re: waxing kite lines

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:03 pm
by knyfe
Just candle wax rubbing it in on a hot Day works for me.