what brand and model is this?

 

Ariens Model 932100

 

On this model they used this configuration so water does not go into the cable housing. If the cable was mounted from the bottom water would be easier to enter the cable and rust or freeze. But that's just my thought.

 

yup maybe but the operation is hard to understand. The cable housing does the work, not the steel core. It's not easy to figure out, at least for me.

 

 

Thanks for that but unless I'm missing something, it's stating that the outer sheath "must be securely anchored at both ends to a stable surface such as a vehicle's frame or control panel". They are describing the inner cable as transmitting the pulling/pushing force to cause the motion.

In my case one end of the sheath is NOT securely anchored but is attached to a lever and actually transmits force causing the auger lever to move. Proper operation depends on the sheath NOT being anchored.

It really seems like an odd use of a sheathed cable.

 

It is anchored at the lever, correct?

 

yes the outer shell of the cable is mounted to the lever but that's not a stable fixed anchor point, it moves. The inner steel cable is fixed to a spring which is anchored to the stable frame of the snowblower.

The point is that the outer sheath (hose) is moving with the lever, which is odd.

 

yes the housing is mounted to the lever but that's not a stable fixed anchor point, it moves. The inner steel cable is fixed to a spring which is anchored to the stable frame of the snowblower.

The point is that the outer sheath (hose) is moving with the lever, which is odd.

agree. sounds like the cable may be rusted to the inside of sheath. have you tried lubricating the cable ? I don't know this machine but Honda's have boots on both sides of the cable endings that you can pull and spray cable lube down the holes.

 

It works perfectly fine, I'm not having any trouble with it. My post is for educational purposes.

I don't understand the design concept of how it works and was hoping someone familiar with this type of cable setup would chime in.

In my experience the inner steel cable typically provides all the motion to a lever. The cable on this Ariens uses the inner steel cable to make the hose of the cable move, which then causes the auger lever to move. It's the HOSE of the cable that transmits motion to the lever, which I find very odd.

 

I've never seen this configuration either but many of us have seen how the sheath behaves when it's supposed to be anchored but isn't (sliding along the cable instead of the cable performing its function). I'm guessing that the cable and sheath are anchored similarly at the control end, so your inputs push and pull on the sheath instead of the more common setup? OR: If your control lever pulls on the cable against that spring while the sheath is anchored, THAT would exert an opposite force on the unanchored end of the sheath. Interesting!

 

You are hitting on the point of my confusion, the handle that I squeeze with my hand to engage the auger pulls on the steel cable but NOT on the sheath! The sheath is not moving at the handle squeeze end, but IS moving to control the auger lever that enters the belly pan. That is why this is so hard to understand.

I think Newton's third law of motion is in there somewhere

 

Ok Let's give @ForaFrank a chance to answer my first post

 

@hack_man That's an excellent question. You've correctly identified a clever bit of mechanical engineering that works in the opposite way we normally expect. You're right on track with Newton's third law. Think of the cable and its outer sheath not as two separate parts, but as a single system. When you pull the inner cable at the handle, that force travels to the other end. But since the inner cable is anchored to the frame down there, it can't actually move at that anchor point.

For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. The "reaction" is that the outer sheath is forced to slide over the stationary inner cable, but in the opposite direction of your pull. It’s a bit like pulling yourself along a fixed rope; the rope doesn't move, you do. In this case, your handle pulls the "rope" (inner cable), which is fixed to the "wall" (the chassis), causing the sheath to move and actuate the lever. It's an elegant, if initially baffling, solution. As another user noted, this design is often used to orient the cable opening downwards, discouraging water and ice from getting inside.