On the flying field, the question came up , is there anything you should use , to keep your flying lines
clean and friction free as possible. I know, in the 60's , we would wipe the lines, as we went out to the handle,
with a Kleenex tissue sprinkled with talc powder. I do not seem to see that anymore.
So, is just wiping them with a clean cloth sufficient, or are people using some other sort of chemistry?
I also notice, that hardly anyone uses Solids these days. Is that because they are just a hassle to use,
or are there other reasons? And, if Solids were used, would the recommendations change. Is there any trick to keep Solids working freely.
Talc doesn't stay on the lines and probably does almost nothing, unless the lines get sticky with oil, in which case it makes sludge. Stranded lines should be cleaned with some sort of solvent every few flights. The solvent varies, but I have settled on either lacquer thinner or acetone, with a very occasional pass with alcohol of some variety to remove water-soluble crud. Alcohol tends to attract water, so in general you want to avoid it, but some ionically-bonded crud like bug debris needs that. I use anhydrous IPA if I have to.
To clean, take a CLEAN new paper towel, dribble some lacquer thinner on it until it is saturated, and then run down the lines, keeping them separated. Do it multiple times until the puddle comes out clean. For competition flights, I clean before every flight, for practice, I clean every "turn" which is usually two flights. Before a big contest, I will do one pass using the "flood method", basically cleaning normally, then one pass with continual flushing with lacquer thinner as you clean, keeping the lines in the puddle in your paper towel to contamination is flushed away.
DO NOT use anything with oil or any sort of dry lube. Oil is obvious, it just adds viscous drag and creates sludge with any dust or dirt. Dry lube like graphite or talc is probably OK, not because it lubes anything, but it just falls off otherwise clean lines. Rain-X of other silicone just seems to act like oil and is very hard to remove. Teflon spray seems to be OK but doesn't do very much.
Note I would have thought the using a CLEAN paper towel or rag was obvious, until a multiple Top-5 fly off participant was complaining about his lines sticking, and Ted and I noticed he was using a *filthy* rag that looked like it hadn't been washed since the 60's. Gave him a section of Bounty "Select-a-Size" and my lacquer thinner squirt bottle, and it took about 10 passes before it came out clean.
Almost no one uses solids any more because they tend to stick with any contamination, and lock solid in rainy conditions on occasion. For that, people have all sorts of treatments, none of which even came close to working for me. With hard-point handles, you have almost the same feel with stranded that you used to get with solids and Baron-style handles, so there's less reason to worry about it.
Brett
Topic: How to care for lines (Read 2731 times)