Hello again.
I am going to guess that you are getting occasional kinking of the (hard drawn?) wire as it is let off vertically for say a downstream intermediate drawing and annealing operation. Hard drawn wire should be all right. One important thing is to have sufficient height to the closing position (guide die) above the coil. Another of course is to have the coil properly centered.
It is really difficult for me to visualize exactly what you have but I presume that there is some sort of overhead smooth guide cone made of steel rod with a ceramic or carbide oversize guide die at the center and a pulley above that to guide the wire away. There may be some sort of tension device between the oversize guide die and the pulley and there are probably two secondary guides (pigtail design or dies) to prevent the wire from jumping off the pulley.
The whole pay off should also be fenced and interlocked to prevent someone from being caught in the pay off wire when the machine is running.
When the hard wire comes up the stem, it should always look like a proper helix but remember that the stems must not be damaged or bent as there cannot be any jerking action. As the coil then proceeds in air towards the guide cone above, the helix needs to collapse naturally (smoothly) so that kinking does not occur.
That is about all I can say from afar and without drawings or pictures.
Regards,
Peter J. Stewart-Hay
Principal
Stewart-Hay Associates
www.Stewart-Hay.com
519 641- 3212
