Colnebrook furler parts - any ideas please?

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zambant

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The drum on my Colnebrook furler has splits in it and I am trying to locate a spare for it.

These units have been out of production for years and years but it may be someone knows of one or has an old unit in their garage / yard or perhaps a complete unit?

Just cant afford a new furler - having enough trouble hanging onto my boat, so if you can help please let me know.

Happy to pay for it of course.

Many thanks

John

07968 050167
 
OOps.....Or how to repair it please?

Any input on how to repair cracks in the cheeks of the plastic drum would be really appreciated.
Thanks
John
 
Thanks for suggestion

bobgoode said:
How about those place that repair car bumpers?
Click to expand...

I did talk to a guy who does that stuff for a living and his fear was that unless I could identify the material the drum is made of the glues that he had may not be suitable - resulting in a further weakening of the drum and reducing the chance of a proper repair later.

Rock and a hard place comes to mind :confused:

If all else fails guess I shall just have to bite the bullet and glue it myself - may have nothing to lose.

Thanks for the suggestion
.

John
 
If its on the "vertical" bit of the drum around which the line goes how about laying it up with some fiberglass tape? If its the flanges at the top or bottom then an Alluminium plate riveted +/- resin in the sandwich??
 
Try giving the Chandlery Barge(Peter Foulkes) at Bursledon a ring on 02380 406349 they have a lot of ex -chandlery parts,masts and gear for boats from1930's to 1990's,not all are cheap but you could get lucky.
My Colnebrook reefing is called a SeeReef 50 and is for the Westerly Tiger; I read the "manual" only last Monday wondering whether to keep it, but as the previous owner had made some measurement notes, forestay lengths etc I decided to keep it. There is a list of part numbers for each of the items.
I found out quite by accident that there is a lubrication hole on the foil about 4" above the spool.The first drop of oil in 20 years transformed furling and unfurling(3 in 1 oil),
but will do it again soon!!

Perhaps epoxying two halves of circle to bridge the crack,and fill it as well ,would make a satisfactory repair job. A proper 'lead' from and to the spool shouldn't put any strain on the flanges; my own setup uses a small Seasure block to direct the 'lead' to the spool.

ianat182
 
Thanks for suggestion

If I could identify the type of plastic I guess that I could try glue and then plates / epoxy.... food for thought.
:)

ianat182 said:
Try giving the Chandlery Barge(Peter Foulkes) at Bursledon a ring on 02380 406349 they have a lot of ex -chandlery parts,masts and gear for boats from1930's to 1990's,not all are cheap but you could get lucky.
My Colnebrook reefing is called a SeeReef 50 and is for the Westerly Tiger; I read the "manual" only last Monday wondering whether to keep it, but as the previous owner had made some measurement notes, forestay lengths etc I decided to keep it. There is a list of part numbers for each of the items.
I found out quite by accident that there is a lubrication hole on the foil about 4" above the spool.The first drop of oil in 20 years transformed furling and unfurling(3 in 1 oil),
but will do it again soon!!

Perhaps epoxying two halves of circle to bridge the crack,and fill it as well ,would make a satisfactory repair job. A proper 'lead' from and to the spool shouldn't put any strain on the flanges; my own setup uses a small Seasure block to direct the 'lead' to the spool.

ianat182
Click to expand...
 
Could you get some decent photo's of the crack etc and post them here ?

By the sound of I'd be tempted to suggest Araldite - may well be with alloy strips or similar - but need to be clearer on the set-up and damage.

I agree with the poster above who mentioned the chandlery Barge at Busledon, well worth a call, if you're a long way from them maybe e-mail photo's.
 
I went to visit the boat again today and retrieved the paperwork for the SeaReef 50 furling gear so if any queries as to stripping down or re-assembling eitherPM me or I can try to scan. Apparently the 50 version is most likely the one fitted to the Centaurs and boats of 25ft to 27ft with slight differences in the 80 models. Well done Bluenote2!

ianat182
 
I have just bougt a Corribee that was purchased in 1979 and was used twice, then sat in a garage for 30 years with what is effectivly a new Colnebrooke seareef, the problem is I don't know how this was set up, does it have a standard top bearing if so does anyone hapen to have one sat around?

Does anyone have any photos of the top of this system?
 
I have soooo been there. We have Colnbrook and seareef gear on our boat and a few years ago the bottle screw seized, I ended up having a new one machined up.

In the process I came to the same conclusion you have. Spares are like hens teeth.

I would get the epoxy and 'glass tape out. They are fundamentally bulletproof if looked after and worth restoring.

I fount the hole for oiling it after I took the whole lot down and soaked it in a bucket of parafin for a week. :)

The next fix if the linking plates on the foils if anyone finds any lying around?
 
paulieraw said:
I have just bougt a Corribee that was purchased in 1979 and was used twice, then sat in a garage for 30 years with what is effectivly a new Colnebrooke seareef, the problem is I don't know how this was set up, does it have a standard top bearing if so does anyone hapen to have one sat around?

Does anyone have any photos of the top of this system?
Click to expand...

I will take some for you, shall I email them?
 
Colnebrook Furler

Ianat182

I would be grateful for a copy of any documentation re Colnebrook furler to help me keep mine going. If you are happy to scan & send by email then PM me for my address. Happy to pay for any reproduction costs, or to put a fiver into the lifeboat bucket at Aldeburgh.

Dave.
 
Hi ROSIE.

My scanning skills are pathetic!

If you will PM me your address I will get the details I have, photocopied, and posted to you.

Perhaps you could scan, then post a reference to them on here for other forum members information.
As you will see the spool material is not mentioned ;I'm positive that my own is in aluminium, and the material specs mentioned on the front page mention this to be of grade HE30 or H9 aluminium, anodised, so I guess if necessary it could be welded, or as I suggested previously use Epoxy and metal 'washer-like disc halves, or as Seajet suggested ,Araldite.

For other readers information the instructions cover the Type 50, 60 and WC8 and WS* models of the Seareef furling system.

ianat182
 
Photograph to my email would be great, the guy I bought the boat off just didn,t have a clue and keeping instructions for 30 years, well who does that? There is no standard bearing but there is a stainless bracket??

The system looks so new that I thought "there is bound to be spares out there....."

Cheers, Paul
 
PAULIERAW

The upper bearing is within the upper sheave 'box' that has two nylon collets that fit around the existing forestay, and these are locked there by two allen screws.

It sound as though the only bearings are these nylon collets since maintenance by greasing/oiling is not mentioned, so probably you already have them in the unit as described above.
The ferrule of the existing forestay has to be set at a minimum of 5 1/2" from the top of the upper housing. Here the single wire halyard is rove through the small sheave there and the rope tail(6mm) led to the s/stl loop on the top of the drum and tensioned to remove all creases,then a little more and tied off. It is not necessary to have the luff bar tight,the forestay already does that job and the foil just supports the luff; of course there will be still some slight sag that will have been allowed by the sailmaker of the furling sail.

ianat182

PS. the stainless bracket you have may be a hold -off bracket to keep halyards away from being twisted around the furler, and preventing furling or unfurling of the sail; I believe these are set at an angle of 5 to 10 degrees to achieve this.
I do not have a bracket and take my external hayards behind the spreaders to avoid this problem.
 
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MaranaF said:
We have Colnbrook and seareef gear on our boat and a few years ago the bottle screw seized, I ended up having a new one machined up.
Click to expand...

This is well worth checking out even if it's not seized. The lower, larger diameter thread in the bottle of mine had obviously galled at some point and been forced round regardless. As a result, the threads are less than a third of their original depth. If they pull out, the rig goes. :(

Still looking for a replacement in the hope I find one before the boats nearly ready to go back in and I'm forced to to have one machined up.

The top bearing has seized too, but it was ok when the mast went back up, so hopefully it'll free up it I get up there and lubricate and twist.
 
Great thanks for that, I had spent some tome looking at alternatives and had decided that I could get away with a similar setup, its good to know it wad made that way.

I am not sure the allen screws and the ferrules are in place but shoud be able to check and if not rig up somthing similer.

cheers

Paul
 
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I fixed my Plastimo furler with Araldite but found that it needs protecting from UV in sunlight.
The first repair fell apart from this problem I think.

Second repair , I stuck gaffer tape over the Araldite , been ok ever since.
 
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