Abstract: The mechanisms of rain-wind induced vibration of stay cables are still not entirely clarified, and many measures have been adopted to control such vibration. Dampers installed at the end of stay cables are one of the most common measures. Based on the analytical models of rain-wind induced vibrations of continuous stay cables established by the authors, an analytical model which studies the effectiveness of dampers to rain-wind induced vibrations is presented. The method to handle the Dirac function in the Finite Difference Method is firstly investigated, and the analysis of free oscillation is carried out. Based on the quasi-moving rivulet model and the real-moving rivulet model, the responses of the cable with dampers are analyzed, and also the influences of the orientation of dampers and the sag of the cable are investigated.