rklopp
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2001
- Location
- Redwood City, CA USA
I need to replace a control cable that runs immersed in oil. My Euro-style mill has a spindle lock for undoing the drawbars. There is an interlock switch inside the gearbox to prevent starting the mill with the spindle lock engaged. A cable runs from the switch down to the bottom of the oil sump, and them back up and out through a gland in the side of the gearbox. The cable fatigued off because, being a Euro-style mill, the headstock moves to achieve the Y-axis motion, and the interlock switch moves along with it.
I went up to my elbows in the gear sump and pulled out the broken cable. It seems brittle from age, so I am reluctant to just cut it back and make a new end even though I have enough slack.
Given that I want to replace the cable, what is the right high-flex control cable suitable for continuous oil immersion? The old cable is 16/2 with about a .22" (5.6 mm) OD. McMaster has this. I'd be looking at the 300-V version, probably pairing up the conductors in the 20/4 size. Would this cable it survive submersion? What cable is used inside auto engines?
I need the interlock because I occasionally forget to unlock the spindle, and the drive train has enough torque to overcome the lock and possibly break things when in low gear. (Fortunately, the belt slips if the lock is left engaged when in high gear.)
I went up to my elbows in the gear sump and pulled out the broken cable. It seems brittle from age, so I am reluctant to just cut it back and make a new end even though I have enough slack.
Given that I want to replace the cable, what is the right high-flex control cable suitable for continuous oil immersion? The old cable is 16/2 with about a .22" (5.6 mm) OD. McMaster has this. I'd be looking at the 300-V version, probably pairing up the conductors in the 20/4 size. Would this cable it survive submersion? What cable is used inside auto engines?
I need the interlock because I occasionally forget to unlock the spindle, and the drive train has enough torque to overcome the lock and possibly break things when in low gear. (Fortunately, the belt slips if the lock is left engaged when in high gear.)