500' Reel

• Category: Cables & Drums
  
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• 1/8-Inch 7×19 Galvanized Garage Door Aircraft Cable – 500-Foot Reel

  Fabricate replacement garage-door lift cables in the exact lengths required with this 500-foot reel of 1/8-inch galvanized aircraft cable.

  The cable features flexible 7×19 construction, consisting of seven strands with nineteen individual wires in each strand. This construction allows the cable to bend repeatedly around compatible cable drums, pulleys, and sheaves while maintaining the strength required for properly engineered garage-door lifting systems.

  The galvanized steel finish provides corrosion resistance for normal residential and commercial overhead-door environments. This bulk reel is intended for professional garage-door installers, repair companies, maintenance departments, and cable fabricators equipped to cut, terminate, and inspect wire-rope assemblies correctly.

  Product Features

  • 1/8-inch galvanized steel aircraft cable
  • Flexible 7×19 wire-rope construction
  • Supplied on one continuous 500-foot reel
  • Suitable for fabricating compatible garage-door lift cables
  • Galvanized finish helps resist rust and corrosion
  • Flexible construction for use around properly sized drums and pulleys
  • Can be cut to the exact cable length required
  • Suitable for residential and compatible commercial overhead doors
  • Intended for use with properly sized cable stops, sleeves, loops, and fittings
  • Bulk professional-service quantity
  • Product number 294

  Specifications

  • Product type: Bulk galvanized aircraft cable
  • Cable diameter: 1/8 inch
  • Decimal diameter: 0.125 inch
  • Approximate metric diameter: 3.18 mm
  • Cable construction: 7×19
  • Material: Steel
  • Finish: Galvanized
  • Reel length: 500 feet
  • Minimum breaking strength: Approximately 2,000 lb
  • Product number: 294
  • Quantity: One continuous reel

  The minimum breaking strength is not the cable’s allowable working load. Actual working capacity depends on the complete installation, required safety factor, cable terminations, drum size, bending cycles, condition, and door-system engineering.

  What 7×19 Construction Means

  The 7×19 designation describes the cable’s internal construction:

  • Seven primary strands
  • Nineteen individual wires in each strand
  • Approximately 133 individual wires in the complete cable

  Using many smaller wires produces a cable that is more flexible than common 7×7 construction.

  This flexibility is beneficial in garage-door systems where the cable must repeatedly wind around cable drums or travel over compatible pulleys. The correct drum and pulley diameters must still be used to limit bending fatigue and premature cable failure.

  Garage Door Applications

  This bulk cable may be used to fabricate compatible cable assemblies for:

  • Residential sectional garage doors
  • Commercial sectional overhead doors
  • Standard-lift garage-door systems
  • High-lift garage-door systems
  • Vertical-lift door systems
  • Extension-spring safety cables
  • Counterbalance and specialty door systems
  • Replacement lift-cable inventory
  • Custom-length garage-door cable assemblies

  The cable diameter, construction, length, and termination style must match the requirements of the specific door system.

  This is bulk cable, not a universal finished replacement cable.

  How Garage Door Lift Cables Work

  Garage-door lift cables connect the bottom fixtures or other lifting points of the door to the counterbalance system.

  In a torsion-spring system, the lift cables typically travel from the bottom brackets to cable drums mounted on the torsion shaft. As the shaft rotates, the cables wind onto or unwind from the drum grooves, transferring lifting force between the spring system and the garage door.

  For proper operation, both lift cables must be:

  • The correct diameter and construction
  • Cut to equal and accurate lengths
  • Fitted with compatible end terminations
  • Properly routed through the drum grooves
  • Installed with equal tension
  • Free from kinks, broken wires, crushing, and corrosion

  Unequal cable lengths or incorrect routing can cause the garage door to rise unevenly, bind in the tracks, or leave the cables improperly seated on the drums.

  Minimum Breaking Strength

  Comparable 1/8-inch 7×19 galvanized aircraft cable is commonly rated at approximately 2,000 lb minimum breaking strength.

  Minimum breaking strength represents the approximate force at which a new, properly manufactured cable may fail under controlled testing. It must not be treated as the normal or allowable operating load.

  The safe capacity of the finished cable assembly may be significantly reduced by:

  • Cable stops and swaged fittings
  • Loops and termination methods
  • Sharp bends
  • Small cable drums or pulleys
  • Repeated bending cycles
  • Shock or dynamic loading
  • Kinks and crushed strands
  • Corrosion and abrasion
  • Improperly installed fittings
  • Manufacturing tolerances
  • Required safety factors

  The complete garage-door system—not the cable alone—must be properly selected for the door weight and operating configuration.

  Cable Termination Requirements

  Bulk cable must be cut and fitted with the correct terminations before installation.

  Depending on the garage-door system, required components may include:

  • Cable stops
  • Aluminum sleeves
  • Copper sleeves
  • Swaged loops
  • Thimbles
  • Puck ends
  • Clevis fittings
  • Manufacturer-specific cable attachments
  • Bottom-bracket connection hardware

  All fittings and sleeves must be specifically sized for 1/8-inch cable.

  Incorrectly sized sleeves, inadequate crimping, or damaged fittings can substantially reduce the strength of the completed cable assembly.

  Cutting and Fabrication

  Use professional wire-rope cutting and swaging equipment.

  Recommended fabrication procedure:

  1. Determine the exact finished cable length required.
  2. Verify the required termination style at each end.
  3. Secure the cable on both sides of the intended cut.
  4. Cut the cable with a wire-rope or aircraft-cable cutter.
  5. Inspect the cut end for separated or damaged strands.
  6. Install the correct cable stop, sleeve, loop, or fitting.
  7. Swage the fitting using the proper die and tool.
  8. Inspect the completed termination.
  9. Confirm both lift cables are equal in finished length.
  10. Test the completed door system before returning it to service.

  Do not use ordinary pliers or dull bolt cutters. Crushing the cable during cutting can distort the strands and interfere with proper fitting installation.

  Compatibility

  Before ordering, confirm:

  1. The required cable diameter is 1/8 inch.
  2. The required cable construction is 7×19.
  3. The cable drums are designed for 1/8-inch cable.
  4. Pulley and sheave grooves match the cable diameter.
  5. The bottom fixtures accept the intended cable termination.
  6. The cable strength is suitable for the engineered door system.
  7. The required finished cable length can be fabricated from the reel.
  8. Galvanized cable is suitable for the installation environment.
  9. The installer has the proper cutting and swaging equipment.

  Do not replace a larger-diameter cable with 1/8-inch cable simply because it fits the existing drum groove.

  Inspection and Replacement

  Inspect installed garage-door cables regularly for:

  • Broken individual wires
  • Fraying or strand separation
  • Rust and corrosion
  • Flattened or crushed sections
  • Kinks and sharp bends
  • Abrasion
  • Reduced cable diameter
  • Loose or slipping cable stops
  • Cracked or damaged sleeves
  • Unequal cable tension
  • Cable jumping from drum grooves

  Replace damaged cable assemblies immediately.

  Do not straighten and reuse a severely kinked cable. Do not attempt to repair fraying with tape, clamps, or makeshift fittings.

  When one lift cable has failed or is severely worn, inspect the cable on the opposite side. Replacing both lift cables as a matched pair is often appropriate to maintain equal length and condition.

  Package Contents

  • One 500-foot reel of 1/8-inch 7×19 galvanized aircraft cable

  Cable stops, sleeves, thimbles, bottom brackets, cable drums, pulleys, cutters, swaging tools, and other installation hardware are not included unless specifically stated.

  Important Use Notice

  The term “aircraft cable” describes a category and construction of wire rope. This product is being offered for compatible garage-door and overhead-door applications.

  It is not represented as certified for aircraft flight controls, personnel lifting, fall protection, elevators, cranes, or overhead suspension of people.

  Use only in an application for which the complete cable system has been properly designed and approved.

  Installation and Safety

  Garage-door lift cables operate under substantial tension and may be connected to torsion springs, extension springs, cable drums, counterweights, and other stored-energy components.

  A cable, fitting, spring, or garage door can release or move suddenly if serviced incorrectly. This may result in severe injury, death, or property damage.

  Cable fabrication and installation should be performed only by a trained garage-door technician with the correct cutting, swaging, measuring, and spring-service equipment.

  Never loosen, cut, or disconnect a lift cable while the garage-door counterbalance system remains under uncontrolled tension.

  1/8-Inch 7×19 Galvanized Garage Door Aircraft Cable – 500-Foot Reel

  Flexible 1/8-inch galvanized 7×19 aircraft cable for fabricating residential and commercial garage-door lift cables. Supplied on a continuous 500-foot reel with approximately 2,000 lb minimum breaking strength.