Mirage drive cables

For those of you who frequently use a Hobie on the salt here are a couple pics to evaluate the condition of the cables on a Hobie drive. After snapping a cable from the crimped connection to the chain I carefully looked at the coloration of the exposed cables. Some had a brownish tinge which indicates a corrosion that probably worked it's way into the crimp. I have two drives, both from 2012. I replaced four drive cable/chains and two pulley cables. Fairly easy job but not cheap. Drive cable/chain lists at $40.00 and pulley cable at $19.00. I had religiously rinsed and sprayed wd 40 silicone after each use but joining chain to cable via a crimp is a weak spot to begin with.

Thanks for the heads up.
Mine are still going since '08. Keeping fingers crossed.

No kidding I have gone through a bunch of those. I was thinking of spraying it with corrosion X, then after it dries,
seal it with some marine Goop.

No kidding I have gone through a bunch of those. I was thinking of spraying it with corrosion X, then after it dries,
seal it with some marine Goop.

I don't think Goop is going to help---I'd bet that you'd just trap more moisture that way.

Thanks for the heads up.
Mine are still going since '08. Keeping fingers crossed.

If you pedal with no more force than needed to attain a comfortable cruise speed I think even corroded compromised cables will hold for a long time. My breakage occurred with me putting all the force I could muster on a speed test. However, every so often, all of us will exert a lot of force on the water for one reason or another and that's when a break can happen if the cable has been weakened. I think the cable/chain could be changed on the water without much struggle if one carries a spare.

All of mine look corroded like that one as far as I know.  But I haven't had one break on me yet.   I'll give them a look over and see how bad they are.  The sprockets however broke a couple teeth that same way, trying to go fast as I could from a dead stop.

I think if you avoid quick hard starts, you run less chance of a failure. I loaned my son a yak and he broke one of those cables there. I'm sure he leaned into it harder than you should. Common sense would tell you to avoid over stressing the drive system. Kinda like stompin' on the gas. It's hard on everything. But id it's going to fail that's where it happens...

I broke a cable today. I'd recently inspected it, and it looked good--just very slightly tea colored. However, the underside had more obvious rust (can't seem to get a good picture of it, though, even after it broke). It seems to me that if you really want to inspect a cable, you probably need to remove it from the drive.

I have been adding lexel to that joint on my new cables so water cant get trapped in that sheathing, but am not sure if it has helped. Just seems like the weak point in the chains.

I used to see rust on that area on my old drive. A friend got me using Breakfree (gun lubricant/cleaner and when I ran out of it switched to Corrosion X. Spray in a little container and use solder brush to dab it on for less mess application. So far it’s been good

I've been eyeing that rust spot for years wondering when it will break on my drive.  Maybe I should upgrade before then.

Cable connections are the weak point on the drives. I'm not an engineer but think continuous chain around the pulleys would have been bombproof. Probably would need to change from plastic to metal to do that, like a bike gear cog. Same for sprocket teeth.

Cable connections are the weak point on the drives. I'm not an engineer but think continuous chain around the pulleys would have been bombproof. Probably would need to change from plastic to metal to do that, like a bike gear cog. Same for sprocket teeth.

Yes, to all of that. I'm tempted to buy these and give it a try...

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Sprockets-Mirage-sprocket-Sprocket/dp/B0C7Q1YRLH/

Looks good. Not a bad price considering two new fin shafts as well.