Do you have Hood Stoway electric in-mast furling?

[tudorsailor]

I have Hood Stoway in-mast furling that was installed in 2001. For the past 18 months I have had an infuriating problem of the trip alarm going off for no rhyme nor reason. Sometimes it happens while sailing. Sometimes in the middle of the night in the marina.

It is a long saga that I will not bore the forum with, but if someone else has had this problem - and found a cure - I would be ever so grateful to know what the cure was! Formula Spars, who took over Hood, say they have never come across the problem before and have run out of ideas

Thanks

TudorSailor

 

[wotayottie]

Stick a higher load trip into the system.

 

[Sybaris]

We have a Hood Stoway in mast furling from 1986 and the alarm trip had been completely removed by the previous owner. I guess he had a reason but I never asked him, and I have left it as it is. I haven't missed it for the 7 years we have owned our yacht.

Cheers,
Per

 

[tudorsailor]

I have tried raising the trip load as advised in the instructions, but the alarm still sounds. The curious thing is that when the alarm sounds I cannot make the motor work, so it is more than just an aberrant alarm. So if I were to disconnect the alarm, I might find that the sail would not furl - just when it crucial to furl. Sometimes the alarm sounds for about 2 minutes

Thanks

TS

 

[Seajet]

" I've over-ridden the alarm, by the way can you smell something burning Darling ?!"

Jesus H Christ, as if - in mast reefing wasn't fraught enough some joker has added an electric motor !

 

[tudorsailor]

" I've over-ridden the alarm, by the way can you smell something burning Darling ?!"

Jesus H Christ, as if - in mast reefing wasn't fraught enough some joker has added an electric motor !

Did you over-ride the alarm because it sounded too frequently.

You lost me with the burning question. I would point out that a delivery crew fiddled with the trip settings when this all started and 6 months later, I had to have the electric motor replaced as it had burnt out!

Tudor Sailor

 

[Seajet]

Did you over-ride the alarm because it sounded too frequently.

You lost me with the burning question. I would point out that a delivery crew fiddled with the trip settings when this all started and 6 months later, I had to have the electric motor replaced as it had burnt out!

Tudor Sailor

I see...

2 questions, where is the electric motor placed, and at what point do terylene sails catch fire ?

 

[damsis44]

I'm thinking of buying a catamaran with HOOD Inmast electric furler fitted. Does anybody know of any service centre for the HOOD system to check the motor etc.. ??
Is it a good system to have and are the pretty much maintenance free?

 

[tudorsailor]

Hood was bought by Formula who are based in Holland. The motor is hidden within the mast and impossible to check. Apart from my problem with the alarm - which seems to be unique, other Oyster owners have not had any complaints about the furler. Other than the alarm probelm, I think the system is great. There is a dark art to avoiding jams. Basically it depends on having the boom at about 8 degrees on a monohull so that when the sail furls, it does so with a nice helix at the foot. I know cats often have a boom that goes at quite an angle to the horizontal, so this will happen anyhow.

It would be worth getting the sail in and out. A lot of noise may indicate that the cogs are not engaging as they should between the motor and the furler.

If the yacht is near Palma, A+ rigging can be recommended

PM me if you have any other questions

TudorSailor

 

[pathfinderstu]

well in my humble opinion you have an electricle fault of some sort, i know they are hard to come by but sounds like you need a good marine electrician.

 

[wotayottie]

" I've over-ridden the alarm, by the way can you smell something burning Darling ?!"

Jesus H Christ, as if - in mast reefing wasn't fraught enough some joker has added an electric motor !

Don't blaspheme - it's crass!

 

[Mats]

Dear All, I have read the thread above with great interest. I have a Hood Stoway 12v unit on my Swan 57 (which is 24v), and I would like to change the motor for a 24v unit. Does anyone know where to find one? Other than this I can let you know that my unit must be at least 20 years old. We have dismantled it, and I must say it is a very impressive mechanical unit. We will not be able to ware it out in the next 20 years for sure. It does not have a trip alarm, just a magnetic fuse which goes off if we don't ease the outhaul enough. Simple and works well.

 

[tudorsailor]

Dear All, I have read the thread above with great interest. I have a Hood Stoway 12v unit on my Swan 57 (which is 24v), and I would like to change the motor for a 24v unit. Does anyone know where to find one? Other than this I can let you know that my unit must be at least 20 years old. We have dismantled it, and I must say it is a very impressive mechanical unit. We will not be able to ware it out in the next 20 years for sure. It does not have a trip alarm, just a magnetic fuse which goes off if we don't ease the outhaul enough. Simple and works well.

I bought a spare motor for my Oyster 49 which is 24v. The motor is american from Speedwinch and is model number 89-33296 I bought it from Skidmore Winch and it cost £96 all in. Much cheaper than the one I bought through Hood/Formula a few years before.

I also bought a spare seal. The supplier is https://actionseals.co.uk/ He was kind enough to swap the non-stainless internal spring for a stainless spring
Together with VAT and postage, the seal cost £11. If I had bought two, the price would have been only a little more.

The letters and numbers that you need to know are
NTK NC1153 SC 200 137 31
The part number from actionseals is NTK SC 2.00 1.37 0.31

Finally, you do have the adapter that allows you to furl with an electric drill should the motor fail? If not well worth getting one made


I hope that this helps

TudorSailor

 

[Mats]

Hood was bought by Formula who are based in Holland.

Does anyone know who has taken care of the Hood Stoway system, and can provide spare parts?

 

[Mats]

Many thanks TudorSailor! I have contacted Speedwinch. As for the seal, is it for the horizontal "worm axle" or for the vertical "furling axle"?
We will manufacture an adaptor, good idea!
Brgds Mats

 

[tudorsailor]

Many thanks TudorSailor! I have contacted Speedwinch. As for the seal, is it for the horizontal "worm axle" or for the vertical "furling axle"?
We will manufacture an adaptor, good idea!
Brgds Mats

I think this is the part number for the seal that is on the outside of the mast around the horizontal pin. I do have the seals for the motor and I think the numbers are 34.92 50.8 7.93

TudorSailor

 

[NormanB]

I have Hood Stoway in-mast furling that was installed in 2001. For the past 18 months I have had an infuriating problem of the trip alarm going off for no rhyme nor reason. Sometimes it happens while sailing. Sometimes in the middle of the night in the marina.

It is a long saga that I will not bore the forum with, but if someone else has had this problem - and found a cure - I would be ever so grateful to know what the cure was! Formula Spars, who took over Hood, say they have never come across the problem before and have run out of ideas

Thanks

TudorSailor

I know nothing about your system but working from first principles:

1. You need a circuit diagram.
2. What is the function of the ‘trip alarm’ - (I assume it is motor overload either current sensing or winding thermistors).
3. If the alarm is going off when the motor is not in use then it is in every sense a false alarm.
4. Often, if it is a thermistor issue - there is a thermistor in each winding (say 3) and only one or two are utilised or incorporated in circuit, with the others available as ‘spares’.
5. It should be possible to determine which thermistor is the issue and swap over to a good one.
6. That’s all assumption of course and circuit diagram work and more data from test instruments required.

PS are you absolutely sure that electrical power is not being applied to the ‘stalled motor’ (if you cannot measure - open the breaker or pull the fuse).

 

[tudorsailor]

I know nothing about your system but working from first principles:

1. You need a circuit diagram.
2. What is the function of the ‘trip alarm’ - (I assume it is motor overload either current sensing or winding thermistors).
3. If the alarm is going off when the motor is not in use then it is in every sense a false alarm.
4. Often, if it is a thermistor issue - there is a thermistor in each winding (say 3) and only one or two are utilised or incorporated in circuit, with the others available as ‘spares’.
5. It should be possible to determine which thermistor is the issue and swap over to a good one.
6. That’s all assumption of course and circuit diagram work and more data from test instruments required.

PS are you absolutely sure that electrical power is not being applied to the ‘stalled motor’ (if you cannot measure - open the breaker or pull the fuse).

Thanks. My post for the alarm problem was from 2012 but the thread has been resurrected recently.

My alarming problem was eventually solved by using a external voltage dropper to drop the supply to the control box from 24v to 12v and by-passing the inbuilt dropper. I am not sure why this worked but it did

TS

 

[NormanB]

My bad - I should have really checked the date.?

 

[JohnBebb]

I obtained a Speedwinch model number 89-33296 from eBay (£72.00 + postage) to replace my 2001 original motor but found that the 2 through-bolts securing the motor to the aluminium moulding needed to be changed because the original bolts screwed into the base cap of the motor whereas the current end caps are not threaded so 2 x 150mm x M10 hex-head bolts needed to be swopped for the old bolts.

Otherwise, it is a simple operation to swop the motor but remember to tape up the end cap before removing the supplied bolts else the brush springs will push the cap off unexpectedly and disappear from the visible universe.