Engo synthetic winch line melted

Hi all,
I don't post often here, but had an interesting new development happened with my truck.

I have an old Pelfrybuilt bumper with an Engo SR9 winch mounted to it. Well, I'm doing my annual deep clean on my truck and go to pull out the winch line to rinse it off real good like I do every year. Turns out that sometime between now and last summer when I did this the last 1/3 of the line melted and fused together.

I understand that this can happen when someone overworks their winch and/ or it was not respooled properly before using it. I haven't used my winch in the last year, so it somehow all melted just by the heat of the sun/ engine/ ???.

I guess this post is just a PSA , but thought it was really weird. Guess I get to go buy a new winch line now...

 

Wow. Melted and you haven't used it.

Heat from the sun or engine should melt the exterior rope first. Interior, it's a pretty good bet the heat came from the drum. Can you tell if its melted in one spot or completely around the drum?

Do you know what brand of rope was used?

 

Melted completely around the drum. It's the stock rope that came with the winch. It's not very high quality- never really liked it much but never had a reason to replace it until now. I guess good news I still have 50+' of line?

The last time I used the winch was 2 winters ago, and it was about 10 degrees outside.

Is it possible I forgot to clean it out last summer and it melted during my last use? I mean, I guess. But I know I did a deep clean last summer like I do every summer on my vehicles and that includes cleaning the winch line on the taco.

I'm in complete agreement. This is strange and shouldn't happen- it is exactly what happens when you overwork a loose winch line. Seen it before. But I've driven the truck on very long drives thru some very hot areas in the last year. Idk..

 

Some synthetic winch lines come with a protective heat sleeve for the first winding around the drum. My Harbor Freight 12K Apex synthetic line has this.

Your line did not?

This topic reminds me I need to go exercise my wench today.

 

If it got hot enough to melt the line around the drum, it got hot enough to degrade the strength of the rest of the line. I wouldn't use it for anything winching/recovery related.

Heat and UV will damage uhmwpe line. This winch probably has the brake in the center of the drum, like a lot of winches. That's not an issue for a winch with a steel line, temperatures that would weaken a steel winch cable would only be reached if the truck was on fire. But sustaining a couple hundred degrees for a period of time will weaken synthetic line drastically. Try running the winch and use an IR thermometer to see if the drum is heating up while you spin it forward and backwards. If it is, the brake may be dragging. A kevlar line qrap may help. But repeated use will still eventually heat up and degrade the synthetic line. Potentially. Probably.

 

I gotta wonder is it possible someone used the truck for a recovery melted the line and never said a word?.

Not the first time that happened I heard of.