What Is the Slingmax® Helix™ High-Performance Roundsling?
Do you want a narrower lifting sling without sacrificing strength and durability? Read the full article to learn about Slingmax’s new high-performance lifting sling: the Helix™ High-Performance Synthetic Roundsling.
Transcript
Introducing the Helix™ High-Performance Roundsling from Slingmax®
– For the same capacity, Twin-Path® sling rated at 50,000 pounds vertical. The Twin-Path® is five inches wide where the Helix™ is just over an inch and a half wide.
– If you’re in the heavy lift industry, then you know Slingmax®. Slingmax® slings are lightweight and have been used for some of the heaviest lifts out there. But a common complaint is that a Twin-Path® sling is just too wide for some pick points. Well, not anymore.
Introducing the Helix™, a high-performance roundsling designed for narrow lift points.
What Is the Slingmax® Helix™ Sling?
– I’m Greg D’elia, I’m the Vice President of Engineering Quality for Slingmax® Rigging Solutions.
So the Helix™ Sling is an all new synthetic fiber, high-performance roundsling from Slingmax®. It’s different from your typical roundsling in several ways, mostly because of the braided HMPE cover. It conforms to the diameter of the sling, allowing for a much more compact profile, which lets the sling fit into areas where your typical roundsling won’t fit.
It uses the same K-Spec® High-Performance Core Yarn that Slingmax® has been using for decades, and it’s exclusive to the Slingmax® authorized dealers.
The Helix™ Sling was created because of a call from the users to have a sling that could fit into more narrow lifting points. A lot of times there are trunnions built into an object that were designed for a wire rope, which is much smaller in diameter. The Helix™, it can directly fit into those more narrow fittings.
What Are the Features of the Helix™ Roundsling?
You can see here we have 50,000 pound rated capacity slings. These are only about an inch and a half in diameter. When you look at the Twin-Path® sling, that’s five inches wide, so it’s just a lot easier to fit into smaller areas. You can see up here we had to actually daisy chain a second shackle in order to fit both Twin-Paths into the lifting point. If you were to just jam those slings in that shackle, you’d have a possibility of cover on cover abrasion where you could have tears in the sling. But the Helix™, we were able to eliminate the extra hardware and this saves time, complexity, you just don’t have to have as many shackles, hooks, master rings, et cetera.
The outer cover is a braided HMPE high-performance cover, so it’s going to be very abrasion resistant, will glide over hardware so you don’t have snags and things like that, and since it is braided rather than woven, it’ll actually constrict to meet the diameter of the core yarn underneath.
There’s a great deal of flexibility for custom solutions. These slings are equipped with our Spider Sleeve abrasion protection. We can also make an eye and eye sling where there’s an eye on each end of it with a jacket protecting the the center, you can add Maxijacket coating to protect from abrasion.
Sometimes a customer will want two or four of the Helix™ Slings inside a master link. They could be made directly in that master link right at manufacturing, so it’s integrated in the hardware right from the start.
One of the other features is the Rifle Cover® technology. The interaction between the K-Spec® Core Yarn and the Rifle Cover® imparts a twist that evens out the load sharing, giving about 17% more strength and much more consistent break results. And that’s a patented feature on both the Helix™ Sling and the Twin-Path® sling.
You can use it in all the normal sling configurations that you’re used to. Vertical, choker, basket, it’s the same exact way that you would rig any other roundsling.
How To Get Slingmax® Helix™ Slings?
All the existing Slingmax® dealers, like Mazzella, can make the Helix™ Sling on their existing roundsling machine that they have in place. With very short notice, they can make a Helix™ Sling to any length and capacity that you need for your job. You have a crane that’s sitting there that’s costing you thousands of dollars a day. You need new rigging, call your Slingmax® dealer and they can get you Helix™ Sling.
How Does the Slingmax® Helix™ Sling Compare to Other Rigging Solutions?
So you don’t have the same D/d concerns that you would have with a rope sling. You can use a Helix™ Sling with comparable rated fittings, and if you don’t have a rating, you can use it down to a 1/1 D/d. If you look at other types of rigging, like say wire rope, synthetic rope, you have to have a much larger D over d. You might have to use wide body shackles, things like that.
Now it has some advantages compared to your typical rope sling. On a rope sling, you need to actually splice the sling back on itself to make an endless sling or splice eyes into it. Those splices require a minimum length, so a lot of times they have to get a sling that’s much longer than what they actually want.
We can make a Helix™ Sling as short as you want, down to about three feet, or as long as you want. You’re not constricted by the requirements of splicing.
When you look at your typical synthetic rope sling, there is no outer cover. The actual load-bearing core yarns are exposed to the elements. As soon as you start getting any kind of abrasion or damage on the outside, you’re taking away from load-bearing core yarn. And the Helix™ Sling, this outer cover does not contribute to the strength of the sling. All of the load-bearing core yarns are protected underneath, so if you have abrasion on the outside, you’re not taking away from the strength of the sling.
It’s 1/10th of the weight of steel. As soon as you start getting into larger capacities, the steel rigging can be very prohibitive to carry around. A lot of times you’ll actually need to lift the rigging with say, a forklift or a smaller hoist just to get it in place. With the Helix™ Sling, you can easily just throw it over your shoulder, bring it to the job site. It’s much easier on your body, on your back. You’re not picking up really heavy rigging.
Really, a web sling is kind of a throwaway item. As soon as there’s any kind of abrasion or cutting into the outside of it, you’re losing a lot of strength right away. The Helix™, you have an outer jacket that’s not contributing to the break strength of the rigging, so you have that opportunity to inspect it, protect it before you lose any kind of strength.
Web slings, polyester roundslings, they stretch a lot more. The Helix™ will stretch less than 1% under load, similar to steel rigging.
How Do Helix™ High-Performance Roundslings Compare to Twin-Path® High-Performance Roundslings?
So the only disadvantages of the Helix™ Slings compared to Twin-Path® Slings, one, repairability. Since it is a braided jacket, we don’t really have any area to be able to sew on a patch. If you do cut the cover, it’s very likely that that’s it for that sling. We do have a number of protections that you can add to the sling to help avoid any kind of damage.
The Twin-Path® slings also have the Check-Fast® Inspection system where the Helix™ does not. So on a Twin-Path® sling, if your sling is severely overloaded, the Check-Fast® Inspection system will let you know. That is not a feature that’s available on the Helix™ Sling.
What Is the Helix™ High-Performance Roundsling’s Maximum Capacity?
The Helix™ is available in a maximum vertical capacity of 200,000 lbs. However, we’re constantly working on pushing the envelope and getting the slings to be larger capacities. As part of our engineering system, we have to make sure that we do real world break tests before we release it to the public, so stay tuned for even larger Helix™ Slings in the near future.
What Are Some Best Practices When Using the Slingmax® Helix™ Sling?
Typical to other types of synthetic rigging, you want to use fittings that don’t have any kind of sharp edges on them. If you are rigging over an edge, you always want to use approved engineered cut protection like the CornerMax® pad or CornerMax® sleeve.
You never want to drag slings on the ground, pull them out from under a load.
The Helix™ Sling should be inspected daily before use, do a once-over-hand-over-hand inspection. We want to make sure there’s no tears or cuts in the jacket, any kind of heat damage, chemical damage.
Who Would Benefit Most From the Helix™ High-Performance Roundsling?
The industries that would really benefit from this are things like power generation. A lot of turbines are designed with constricted lifting points. Construction, if they want to simplify their rigging plan to eliminate some larger shackles. In a marine application, it’s neutrally buoyant, so it’s not going to sink like wire rope would, and it’s completely unaffected by seawater. And manufacturing, doing repetitive rigging. You want to keep things as simple, light as possible.
Some bad applications would be high-temperature environments above like 180 degrees Fahrenheit. In those situations, the synthetic core yarn will lose strength.
If you can’t avoid dragging the sling across really rough surfaces, you’re going to have abrasion wear that’s going to affect the sling.
What Is the Cost of a Helix™ High-Performance Roundsling?
The Helix™ Sling is a little bit less expensive than the Twin-Path® sling, but it is going to be more expensive than your typical nylon, steel type rigging.
If you take care of the Helix™ Sling, it’s going to give you years of use. It’s not going to be a short-term throwaway item. If you protect it from abrasion and cutting, then you can really use these slings for a very long time, and in the long run, it’s going to be less expensive.
People can order Helix™ Slings from Mazzella, which is a Slingmax® authorized dealer. Tell them the capacity and length that you want, any kind of special configurations, and they can make a sling that’s right for your application.
Why Consider Trying the Slingmax® Helix™ Roundling
Really, the Helix™ Sling has been a product that I’ve been the most excited about in several years. The customers were saying to us, “Hey, we love Twin-Path® slings, but sometimes it’s just too wide for the space that we have available.” We listened to them and we said, “Hey, let’s see what we can do to get the slings more narrow for the same capacity,” and the customers have really liked it.
– If you’re looking for the lightweight ease of use that comes with Slingmax® slings, as well as the durability, quality, and reputation, but you have an application that requires a narrow profile, then the Helix™ might be the sling for you. Mazzella is a Slingmax® certified manufacturer who can help you determine the right sling for your application. Whatever your lifting needs, Mazzella is here to help, from slings, rigging hardware, wire rope, overhead cranes, lifting devices, inspections, service, and training, we are your one stop lifting shop.
If you found this video useful, informative, entertaining, or you just feel like being friendly, then hit that like button so we can get this information out to everyone who needs it. Subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss a video. If you have a question, drop it in the comments so we can get you an answer. Remember, safe rigging is smart rigging. My name is Ben, stay safe out there.
Do you want a narrower lifting sling without sacrificing strength and durability?
Riggers come across this scenario constantly: they have a great synthetic lifting sling, but it’s too wide to fit in a trunnion, or other constricted lifting points, creating unnecessary downtime for workers.
Thankfully, Slingmax® has a new product out: the Helix™ High-Performance Synthetic Roundsling. And even though their patented Twin-Path® sling is one of the best synthetic lifting slings on the market, they are simply too wide for certain applications.
We understand that investing in a new lifting sling can be a tough choice to make.
Thankfully, Mazzella has been a proud Slingmax manufacturing dealer for years now—with three manufacturing facilities in Cleveland, Granite City, and Virginia Beach—and we want to help you find the right Slingmax product for your application. Our article will cover all there is to know about the new Helix Roundsling, including:
What Is the Helix Roundsling?
Designed by Slingmax Rigging Solutions, the Helix Sling is an all-new synthetic fiber, high-performance roundsling.
Like other Slingmax products, such as the Twin-Path sling, the Helix Sling Core is made from K-Spec® Core Fiber, an incredibly durable, strong, yet light weight material that is three times stronger than nylon or polyester fibers.
Additionally, the outer protective jacket of the Helix sling is made from braided HMPE fiber, offering riggers and operators excellent abrasion and chemical resistance, protecting the internal load bearing core fibers —making it a great fit for a wide range of industries and work environments.
Helix slings are currently available in a vertical rated capacity up to 200,000 lbs., but Slingmax is working on increasing catalog capacities. If you do need to go beyond that, then you would probably have to switch to a Twin Path Sling, where the capacities go up to 800,000 lbs.
The Helix slings can be used in any hitch configuration: vertical, basket, and choker.
What are the Benefits of a Helix Roundsling?
A Smaller Profile
One of the biggest benefits of a Helix Roundsling is its smaller profile and narrow diameter. With the ability to fit into narrower lifting points, it eliminates the need for extra hardware and makes the rigging process simpler and more efficient.
This new design opens the door for synthetic roundslings to be used in applications that were once impossible.
Rifled Cover® Technology
The braided HMPE Helix jacket features Rifled Cover Technology, a patented technology which allows for an increased strength-to-weight ratio. It also allows for repeatability in the manufacturing process.
Rifled Cover Technology helically twists the core fiber during the fabrication process, increasing the strength of load bearing core fibers by 17%.
Fast Turn Around Time
All existing Slingmax dealers, like Mazzella, can make the Helix sling on their existing roundsling machines. So, even with very short notice, distributors can make a Helix sling to any length and capacity within a few hours.
Many Customization Offerings
One of the advantages of the Helix Sling is the vast number of customized solutions available to buyers.
They can be equipped with any of Slingmax’s cut or abrasion protection offerings, including the new Spider Sleeve (abrasion protection), or the CornerMax® Sleeve (cut protection).
They can even be constructed in an eye-and-eye configuration, where there’s an eye on each end of the sling with a jacket protecting the center. A maxi-jacket coating protects the Helix from abrasion.
What are the Best Applications for a Helix Roundsling?
Helix slings are ideal for any application where you have a constricted area to do your lifting, or the sling needs a smaller diameter to fit into more narrow hardware.
For example, if you have a trunnion on a load that was designed for wire rope, you can use a Helix, where other synthetic slings may not work. If you have a low headroom situation where a rope sling is going to be too long, the Helix becomes a great alternative.
What Industries Could Use Helix Roundslings?
Light weight, quick turnaround time, great for heavy lifts, multiple customization options—it’s no wonder the Helix can be used in so many applications and industries
They can be used in power generation plants and clean energy projects to lift heavy turbines and motors that are designed with constricted lifting points.
They can be used in construction to simplify rigging operations, remove larger shackles, and improve worker safety and efficiency.
You could also see Helix slings in general manufacturing and assembly line environments where repetitive rigging is common, and you want to keep things as simple and ergonomic as possible.
Helix slings are also great for marine applications because they are neutrally buoyant, so they won’t sink like a wire rope lifting sling would. The Helix sling is also completely unaffected by seawater. You could have it out in water for years, and the fiber will still hold strong.
How Does the Helix Compare to Other Lifting Slings?
If you’re looking at Helix slings compared to other roundslings on the market, they may appear to be very similar. But there are some key differences that are going to make the Helix a great choice.
When you look at your typical synthetic rope sling, there is no outer cover, leaving the load-bearing core yarns more exposed to the elements and to the load itself. As soon as you get any kind of abrasion or damage on the outside load-bearing fibers, you’ve compromised the sling and its rated capacity.
With the Helix sling, all of the load-bearing core yarns are protected underneath. So, if you have abrasion on the outside, you haven’t compromised the overall strength of the sling.
Since it is a roundsling, and you’re not constricted by splicing requirements, like a synthetic rope sling, Helix slings can be made to lengths as short as three feet. Helix slings are also made with small individual strands inside the load-bearing core yarns that give you a better D/d performance compared to a typical wire rope sling.
Additionally, the Helix is made with high-performance K-Spec core yarn, so it will stretch less than 1% under load—a similar rating to a wire rope lifting sling. You won’t see the kind of bouncing or shifting that you normally see with nylon or polyester slings.
What Best Practices Should You Follow for the Helix?
The best practices for a Helix sling are no different than any other synthetic lifting sling.
You will want to:
- Use fittings with no sharp edges
- Avoid dragging the sling on the ground
- Always use engineered cut or abrasion protection
- Avoid excessive heat environments
And just like other synthetic liftings sling, it would be smart to pair the Helix with some type of sling protection, including the new Spider Sleeve.
Are There Negatives to Using a Helix Roundsling?
One of the few negatives of a Helix sling is its lack of repairability. Unlike other Slingmax products, Helix’s have braided jackets that don’t have an area for a patch to be sewn on.
Helix’s also do not use the check fast inspection system that other Slingmax products carry.
And like any other synthetic lifting sling, Helix slings won’t be a great option in high-heat environments (anything above 180°F).
Where Can You Buy a Helix Roundsling?
It can be hard to determine if a new product is right for your organization. You may be happy with the lifting sling you already have. You may also may not want to take the risk of investing in a product that you know nothing about.
We hope this article cleared up some concerns you may have and laid out the best applications and use cases for the Helix sling.
Even though it’s a new product, the Helix is made with the same high-performance material and undergoes the thorough break test and qualities manufacturing processes that Slingmax has used for decades.
With three manufacturing locations, Mazzella is proud to be one of the largest Slingmax distributors in the country. Contact one of our team members today if you want to purchase a Helix sling for your organization. Furthermore, subscribe to the Lifting & Rigging Channel to see our upcoming collaborative videos with Slingmax.
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