Home Lat Pulldown machine issues

[jhemsone]

Hello, I made a Lat Pulldown machine at home. I used 3/16" vinyl coated metal cable and after a while the coating cracked and the cable was all kinked. Does anyone know why this would happen? Should I use 1/4" or 5/16" or do I need to lube the vinyl so the hot temps don't dry it out? I see a lot of people using the 3/16" just fine. Thanks for any help.

[EricAtl]

Hello, I made a Lat Pulldown machine at home. I used 3/16" vinyl coated metal cable and after a while the coating cracked and the cable was all kinked. Does anyone know why this would happen? Should I use 1/4" or 5/16" or do I need to lube the vinyl so the hot temps don't dry it out? I see a lot of people using the 3/16" just fine. Thanks for any help.

Don’t know for sure. But I think people with the spud cable pulley have had the same issue. How large are your pulleys, smaller ones make a tighter turn and probably more stress on the cable.

[xdoomhammerx]

Hello, I made a Lat Pulldown machine at home. I used 3/16" vinyl coated metal cable and after a while the coating cracked and the cable was all kinked. Does anyone know why this would happen? Should I use 1/4" or 5/16" or do I need to lube the vinyl so the hot temps don't dry it out? I see a lot of people using the 3/16" just fine. Thanks for any help.

The pulleys you use need to be 2½ inches in diameter or more. Less than that and your cable will flay.

[Mech6]

The pulleys you use need to be 2½ inches in diameter or more. Less than that and your cable will flay.

Hello, I made a Lat Pulldown machine at home. I used 3/16" vinyl coated metal cable and after a while the coating cracked and the cable was all kinked. Does anyone know why this would happen? Should I use 1/4" or 5/16" or do I need to lube the vinyl so the hot temps don't dry it out? I see a lot of people using the 3/16" just fine. Thanks for any help.

First off is is 3/16" coated to 1/4" or 1/8" coated to 3/16"? Also, even more important, is it 7x7 or 7x19 construction? 7x7 cable is what is sold at home depot and the like, and it's only good for rigging and such. It is NOT what you need. You need 7x19 because it's more flexible. Even so, with 3/16" 7x19 cable, the minimum pulley diameter is 3.5". For 1/4" it's 5". For 7x7 cable, it's quite a bit more.

[sera310]

Eric & XDoom are correct, IMO--the diameter of the pulley makes a big difference in how smoothly the system operates. I u-sized the pulleys on my homemade pulley systems & noticed a huge improvement in how the cable glides through the pulleys. I got the bigger 1s from Grainger, I think it was.

[Greybird2]

First off is is 3/16" coated to 1/4" or 1/8" coated to 3/16"? Also, even more important, is it 7x7 or 7x19 construction? 7x7 cable is what is sold at home depot and the like, and it's only good for rigging and such. It is NOT what you need. You need 7x19 because it's more flexible. Even so, with 3/16" 7x19 cable, the minimum pulley diameter is 3.5". For 1/4" it's 5". For 7x7 cable, it's quite a bit more.

Mech6. Thanks for posting that. I wrote it down on spare parts box. I have used the Home Depot cable with terrible results. I ended up getting the right cable from Atlantis after first buying 3/16 coated to 1/4. (all 6 machines I have with cable have 3.5 inch pulleys.)7x7, 7x19 can be confusing.