Repairing a Cable

[TimKridel]

One of the cables on my Weider machine lost about a foot of its sheath. I inspected the exposed steel cable, and it's fine. The braid isn't frayed.

I'm concerned about the exposed section wearing down the nylon pulleys. Any suggestions for replacing the missing sheath? Would electrical or duct tape hold up? Or is there a better material?

Thanks!

[paulinkansas]

I'm concerned about the exposed section wearing down the nylon pulleys. Any suggestions for replacing the missing sheath? Would electrical or duct tape hold up? Or is there a better material?

Thanks!

I would try electrical tape. Wrap it down a foot, then back up a foot, then back down and then up until you reach the thickness of the sheath.

I do a lot of field expedient repairs. I welded a bush hog with 3 12 volt car batteries, jumper cables and vice grip pliers.

[Duplicitous]

You can wrap it, but it's going to negatively impact the smoothness on a machine that is already not very smooth to begin with. Ideally, you would replace it with a gym-quality cable, but you could also go the cheap route and make one from cable sold at your local hardware store.