Factor of Safety
An appropriate factor of safety should be applied to Breaking Load figures to suit each application before choosing or specifying a particular product. For many industrial and safety related applications, and for some yachting applications, a factor of safety greater than two (2) should be used or may be required by law or other regulations. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that an appropriate factor of safety is used, and it should allow for safety implications, service life, fatigue (as may be caused by wave action, wind stresses or repetitive cyclical loading), type of load, exposure to ultraviolet light, corrosion and stress corrosion (such as in high humidity or chlorine environments). Note that a ‘safe working load’ is not specified as this is dependent on the factor of safety, which must be determined by the user relative to each application.
Useful Life
The useful life of any product is determined by the above factors and must be assessed in each application, and thus no guarantee can be provided for product life, load capacity or any other factor due to the variability in usage. In some jurisdictions government regulations require the replacement of rigging components within certain periods of time, usually every three to five years. You must ascertain whether any such regulations affect you. While every precaution is taken in the product design and manufacturing processes to minimize the effects of corrosion and stress corrosion, there are also preventative as well as corrective treatments that can be carried out after installation. Contact your local representative for further assistance and advice.
Product Information Amendments
All catalog information is subject to specification changes during a product’s life-cycle. Any alterations will be posted on the website – www.ronstan.com, which should be considered the most up to date source of product information.