Originally Posted by
skidder
If metal cable can snap at 34F that's a pretty poor quality metal alloy the manufacturer used. I'd expect that at below -300F, but none of us would be around if temps regularly got that cold here on Earth!
Well, even steel can only be bent back and forth so many times.
As for the sheathing, if it's old enough and/or has been in the sun a lot, the elastomers will bake out of the plastic and it gets brittle. That's just the nature of plastics.