These ropes are very popular on winches providing far longer service life and better performance than wire rope. Given the willingness to change shape or slightly flatten from Plasma ropes, it is important that several steps are taken to ensure excellent winch performance.
Make sure the winch surfaces, e.g. flanges and barrels, are clean and not rust-corroded. We do not want to abrade the Plasma on the winch during deployment or retrieval.
Installing the Plasma braided rope on the winch under tension is key to preventing rope “diving” between layers, which can retard or inhibit rope deployment and retrieval.
On single drum winches, a layered “crossover” installation may be preferable.
On a split-drum winch, make sure there are enough wraps of Plasma to grip the working side of the drum without slipping; general recommendation is five or more wraps.
On a traction winch, careful consideration must be given to potential friction heat damage. Plasma does work on traction winches.