mike dziobak wrote: > I would say no. PE nalgene bottles that I have filled with near boiling > H2O on winter camping trips seem to become brittle and break after only a > short period of use. I have some training as a chemist but I don't see how > "cooking" a nylon bolt would keep in flexible unless nylon becomes work > hardened over time and cooking it anneals it. Time for me to chine in: the "cooking" Tord refers to is boiling in water, really, and it is the water that does the job, not the heat, although heating hastens the hydration. Nylon embrittles with time as it dries out. Because it is a polyamide, and amide groups are attracted to water, "rehydrating" the nylon seems to prolong its lifetime. I would not have known about this effect, except that a buddy has some nylon bolt-on blades for his gas-powered weed eater, which the manual says should be stored in water so they will remain supple. The soaking reduces blade failure in use. Most of us have experienced the stretching of nylon cordage used for tent and tarp tie-outs as it gets wet. This is a variant of the same effect. Soaking in water won't help rotomoulded boats ... they will die no matter how wet they get! -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Dec 05 2006 - 00:55:46 PST
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