Sounding Reel Breakaway Kit for 0.125in Dia. Cable

The Sounding Reel Cable Breakaway kit is a retrofit item which can be installed on any USGS sounding reel. This breakaway kit was designed to make discharge measurements at high flows safer. During periods of high flow, debris in a stream could be caught by the equipment attached at the end of the sounding reel cable in the water. Even after complete payout of cable from the sounding reel, the debris caught on the end of the cable could pull the equipment and the streamgager into the dangerous floodwaters. Standard USGS procedure has always required using cable cutters in the event of a complete cable payout. However, a modification to the cable has been devised to provide a quick release, or breakaway, of the end of the cable from the sounding reel in the event that the cable payout from the reel reaches the end. The Breakaway Cable Kit allows the cable to safely separate from the reel when cable has completely payed out and a load of 500 pounds is applied to the cable. This safety feature is required on all sounding reels operated by the USGS. A technical information sheet that provides installation instructions, is provided with each kit.

The components for this kit allow 0.125" cable to break with a load up to 500 lbs. and has the same installation requirements.

Kit, Breakaway, Cable, .125