I put a mark on the cable at the crimp and the crimp is holding. 2 days ago I cut off one of the crimp/bolt on a 40' railing on one side. It took of 2" of cable off and used a new crimp/bolt on the same cable and tighten it good. Today it's loose again. I wonder how many of these bolts I will need to go through until it stays tight.
But I mostly posted this because I never went back to the decks with cable railings after I inspected and I did not know they would stretch. Maybe the code should not allow them. The cables needs to stay tight to keep the opening less than 4".
Your thoughts Glen?
Evening Rick,
1st off not all cables are the same and nor are the fittings.
I strongly recommend either using materials from one of these 2 companies.
I have been doing Cable Railings for over 30 years and these 2 manufacturers do a multitude of different things, but the main thing they do is the quality of the cable they buy and distribute are "Pre Stretched" and as such, eliminates a lot of the continued stretch. Their fitting systems are also way better than all the rest out there IMO. There are a lot of imitation copies, but they are the 2 main stays in the USA. There are a few Sailboat hardware manufacturers that make nice fittings but are a lot longer and harder to work with.
As noted by others, the deck is another issue you will have with pressure treated wood shrinking, I have seen decks and framed lumber shrink about an inch per 15 feet many a times. I had a deck once shrink almost 1.5 inches on 12 feet over 14 weeks after installation of the railing/guard.
If you are sure the wood is not moving on you and it is the cable, I would venture that more than likely the cable is not 1x19 and or not pre stretched.
I am not sure about the fitting you are using, but from what I am seeing posted, the fact that they are left and right threaded and need to be crimped and twisted into the wood to tension and don't machine screw tension like Ultra-Tec or Feeney after being crimped, I would say they are basically a lower quality fitting and that is part of your issues.
I would suggest purchasing one cable package from one of the companies I noted and comparing them to what you did purchase.
1x19 SS cable pre stretched in 1/8" diameter should have no issues under 50 feet
Here is a link to Ultra-Tec engineering on cable tensioning
http://thecableconnection.com/ultra-tec/design/data-on-cable-flex-in-cable-railing