Rudder cable maintenance

[alcladrv]

I've noticed that the rudder cables exiting the aft fuselage look like they might be getting some rust on them. Are the cables stainless steel or regular steel? Should the cables be primed or given a thin coat of grease or oil to prevent rust? Do the cables typically get painted as part of a good paint job?

Thanks for your info and help,

Mike

[jarhead]

Aircraft Spruce sells a product called Par-Al-Ketone. Nasty stuff (you'll pay an extra HAZMAT shipping charge from Spruce), but it's great for lubricating & preserving control cables. Be sure to slightly "untwist" the cable, so the strands just slightly open up. You want the P-A-K to get into the cable, not just sit on the surface. This way, the cable is protected internally and externally from corrosion.

I'm sure Corrosion-X, ACF-50, or Boeshield would work too, but I'm most familiar with the P-A-K for this application.

[coffeeguy]

I was about to install the rudder cables in my 14 tail, but it's November here in Illinois and I was wondering if I should just wait until spring. We pull two cars into our garage, the tail is in the 3rd stall. They frequently come in with road salt, wet, etc. It is one of the reasons that I don't heat my garage, the colder temps will inhibit rusting everything in there. I was just wondering if this is a problem or I'm being paranoid.

[Vlad]

Nothing will happen to them Jeff. Install as you wish. When you start flying the cable ends will be well lubricated with engine oil.

[coffeeguy]

Thanks Vlad!

I appreciate the feedback. I'll keep building.

[rightrudder]

Vlad is spot on.

Couldn't hurt to apply some light machine oil to the cable now, and wipe off the excess.