Checked out a dry dock job in Port Angeles last week and got an earful from an old timer about band brakes

I was down at the dry dock in Port Angeles last Thursday helping swap out a thrust bearing on a tug. This old diver with maybe 30 years in the trade walks up and starts telling me how half the guys out here don't bother greasing their band brake linkages anymore. He said he saw a compressor line snap on a dive bell two years ago because someone skipped a basic pre-dive check on the brake assembly. I guess it's easy to overlook when you're focused on the underwater work. But honestly, that stuff can lock up on you mid-descent if you're not careful. Has anyone else run into this kind of thing with their surface gear being neglected?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade78028d ago

...but I gotta say, I've seen it swing the other way too many times to just write off what that old timer said. Sure, sealed linkages are better, but not every boat out there is running top shelf gear, especially in a working port like Port Angeles. I've pulled apart brake setups where the factory coating was gone after a couple seasons of salt spray and nobody had touched them since, and they were rough as hell. Grease can definitely trap grit if you're sloppy with it, but a thin coat on the right spots and keeping the shields clean has saved me more headaches than leaving things bone dry ever did. That compressor line snap might not have been just one thing, but I've seen enough dry, sticky linkages bind up and throw off the whole brake feel to think it doesn't help.

sama8028d ago

Old timer told me the same thing about a boat in Bellingham last year, but I pushed back on it. Look, those band brake linkages are usually sealed up tight unless you're running cheap aftermarket parts. Grease can actually trap grit and moisture in there, causing more wear than just leaving them dry. How many times have we seen a greased fitting collect sand and seize up worse than a dry one? The real problem is people not checking the brake pad thickness or the cable tension before a dive, not a little bit of dry metal on metal. I've pulled bell brake systems apart that haven't seen grease in five years and they were smooth as glass because the coating held up. Maybe that diver was just making conversation or had a run-in with some bad maintenance habits, but I wouldn't rush to blame the grease job on that compressor line snap.