Changing bearings on rotostay furler

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I am guessing that the bearings in my late 70's rotostay furler fitted to my Centaur are original, and have noticed the mechanism becoming tighter of late. Last weeekend it seized however the lower bearing could be freed by hand. Question - is changing the bearings a reasonably straightforward job ?
Thanks
 
yes.

pm me your email address, and I will send an exploded diagram.

bearings should be obtained from XW rigging at Haslar Marina, Gosport. You may need to replace both race and bearing track - not cheap! but if it has not been apart for a long time, it may just be solidified grease. I much prefer to use Quicksilver general grease with teflon for this job.

Your biggest problem may be seperating the foil from the stainless fitting bolted to the top of the drum - a lot of heat and wacking with a heavy implement ( 2"x4") normally does it!

top bearing really needs to be done by XW and replacement forestay will need to be done by them anyway due to some special bits they add in.
 
My Rotostay bearing just needed a clean out and fresh grease. Remember that the foil is screwed into the drum using a left hand thread! I found that a stillson wrench and an old rag to protect the anodising got it apart.

Good luck!

Neil
 
I've stripped these myself. The top bearing is steel, stainless or otherwise. It could just need lubrication.
 
If it looks like this one, changing the bottom bearing is quite straightforward ..

1-Asfitted.jpg


Undo the four bolts, then the foil with end fitting will come off the top of the drum. Lift off the drum, and you will see the bearings as shown below ...
3-Lowerbearings.jpg


Above the bearing race, the cylindrical part has an allen locking screw,just visible in the picture.
 
cover is stainless, but I think the bearing face is actually titanium. I agree that it is possible to strip the upper bearing and re-grease, but to refit a new bearing in the upper swivel is a workshop job.
 
My original furling gear was Rotostay II on a Westerly Tempest. Both bearings were kaput which are part of the forestay and corrosion above the drum (dissimilar metals) was causing big problems getting things apart.

I was quoted in the region of £700 ( I believe it was slightly more) for refurbishing including new forestay.

As I would still have been left with a system which has bearings as part of the forestay which I consider a design fault(loads the bearings are subjected to under sail) I chose to replace the furling gear.

Fitted Sailspar furling beginning of last year and, so far, a satisfied customer.

Not trying to promote Sailspar just saying you should consider the cost of making your system A1 again may not be so appealing if it leaves you with the original design fault............. possibly look at alternative systems.
 
gandy said:
If it looks like this one, changing the bottom bearing is quite straightforward ..

1-Asfitted.jpg


Undo the four bolts, then the foil with end fitting will come off the top of the drum. Lift off the drum, and you will see the bearings as shown below ...
3-Lowerbearings.jpg


Above the bearing race, the cylindrical part has an allen locking screw,just visible in the picture.
Click to expand...

Hi I am searching for information regarding my seized Rotostay.
The picture of the drum is the same as the one on our westerly Merlin. Firstly can I ask do you know which version this is?
Referring to the second picture showing the bearing, Is the top collar with the grub screw in it threaded by that I mean the collar and the centre boss?
When this is removed can the two collars sandwiching the ball bearings just be lifted off the boss and do I replace the it as a unit or just the balls only.

Thanking you in anticipation.
 
Hi Peabracket
While not knowing your unit. I would assume that the balls and the two 'washers' each side would be a single replacement part. If the parts are siezed then all contact surfaces will be suspect

I am currently sorting a Plastimo furler. The bearings, top and bottom, are steel races. Large diameter for the balls and contact areas.
Found the spare parts on a French bearing site for about €10 each. Not so bad..
 
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