Does anyone recognise these traveller track ends, please?

[KompetentKrew]

Hello,

Apparently I have a mainsheet Franken-traveller - the car is Frederiksen, who were bought out by Ronstan some time ago, but Ronstan are certain that "we/they" never manufactured cast alloy end caps of this kind. The track may be a couple of mm wider than Ronstan's 30mm S30 track, which is unchanged since Frederiksen days, so track and ends may both be from another manufacturer.

Email support from Peter Dowdney at Ronstan was reasonably prompt, very clear and helpful, so shoutout to them, but it's not theirs and they don't know what make it is.

I think the flathead screw in one end is a bodge by the previous owner, not how it came from the factory.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

[LadyInBed]

There should be screws down the centre of the sheaves to take the load.
What do you want to do with the info if anyone can put a name to the make?

 

[KompetentKrew]

There are indeed countersunk bolts through the middle - one can be seen partially withdrawn in the last photo. Please excuse me - the photos were taken during the course of disassembly.

I'd like to know the manufacturer so I can learn their recommendations regarding mounting.

It looks to me like holes were drilled in the track when the boat was originally built, and threads tapped for these bolts to screw into. The port bolt stripped its thread last season and it looks like the starboard was bodged with epoxy, having done the same previously.

The track is aluminium and the bolts stainless steel, hence I guess galvanic corrosion may have contributed to the thread stripping, but also I'm not sure if the thickness of the track was sufficient for this kind of load in the first place. Only the thickness that I've indicated in red in the diagram below (zoom in!) would have been available as thread, and that's thinner than a bolt - I'd say by about 40%.

Would the manufacturer have advocated a stainless bolt in an aluminium thread? Have they seen this mode of failure before, and how is it usually addressed?

I'm not really sure what to do about this, and am spending the week cogitating. When I first realised the thread had stripped I thought I'd be able to have it helicoiled, but having seen that it's hollow and the thinness of the lower half of the box, I don't think that would work. I'm now wondering if I could drill a hole in the bottom of the track and secure the bolts with nuts "in the hollow", as it were, of the track; but I guess the bolts would be too large.

I didn't expect to solve the whole problem by learning the manufacturer, but their fitting instructions would give me more information to think upon.

 

[coopec]

Maybe you can see it here?

mainsheet traveller track ends - Google Search

 

[Boathook]

Are the castings 'homemade' or is it the paint giving a poor quality finish?

My old lewmar mainsheet system trackends slide over the track and have a stainless steel 'pin' holding it in place with grub screws to keep 'firm'. The main difference is that mine has cam cleats attached to the ends for securing the control lines. The track looks very similar shape to yours but taller.

 

[MikeCC]

Can you use longer screws and go all the way through with nuts underneath the deck?

Stainless/aluminium corrosion is usually mitigated using Duralac or Tefgel type products.

 

[bristoljim]

There are indeed countersunk bolts through the middle - one can be seen partially withdrawn in the last photo. Please excuse me - the photos were taken during the course of disassembly.

I'd like to know the manufacturer so I can learn their recommendations regarding mounting.

It looks to me like holes were drilled in the track when the boat was originally built, and threads tapped for these bolts to screw into. The port bolt stripped its thread last season and it looks like the starboard was bodged with epoxy, having done the same previously.

The track is aluminium and the bolts stainless steel, hence I guess galvanic corrosion may have contributed to the thread stripping, but also I'm not sure if the thickness of the track was sufficient for this kind of load in the first place. Only the thickness that I've indicated in red in the diagram below (zoom in!) would have been available as thread, and that's thinner than a bolt - I'd say by about 40%.

Would the manufacturer have advocated a stainless bolt in an aluminium thread? Have they seen this mode of failure before, and how is it usually addressed?

I'm not really sure what to do about this, and am spending the week cogitating. When I first realised the thread had stripped I thought I'd be able to have it helicoiled, but having seen that it's hollow and the thinness of the lower half of the box, I don't think that would work. I'm now wondering if I could drill a hole in the bottom of the track and secure the bolts with nuts "in the hollow", as it were, of the track; but I guess the bolts would be too large.

I didn't expect to solve the whole problem by learning the manufacturer, but their fitting instructions would give me more information to think upon.

What is giving the end stop pain is the shock load when gybeing - any possibility of a rubber/polyurathene buffer to take the sting out of it,then the "thin" bottom web is only holding it down,sheer is taken by the top web.
Jim

 

[KompetentKrew]

Maybe you can see it here?

mainsheet traveller track ends - Google Search

Am I missing it? I can't see them.

 

[KompetentKrew]

Are the castings 'homemade' or is it the paint giving a poor quality finish?

They look professionally manufactured to me - they're identical and too neat to have been cast in Vels' backyard. I think what you're seeing is just a result of a thin finish having been exposed to the elements for 25 years.

 

[penfold]

The thread may be repaired using a rivnut.

 

[KompetentKrew]

The thread may be repaired using a rivnut.

Yes, that sounds perfect! I shall ponder further, but thank you.

 

[LadyInBed]

My first thought was also Rivnuts, but looking at the track profile I would try slipping a nut into the box section with plenty of Duralac which, when set, will help hold it in place if the screw is removed in the future.

 

[penfold]

That would be a bit sketchy, duralac is not an adhesive; if that is a desired solution a short piece of stainless steel bar sized to fit the hollow drilled and tapped accordingly would be less likely to result in wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

[Copious]

Direct message just sent to you.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Direct message just sent to you.

Why not public!!

 

[john_morris_uk]

They look like older style IYE fittings. Did Frederikson badge them?

IYE K Series Ends & Stops

 

[Copious]

Hi John, no mystery but was interested in any left over old Frederiksen parts as I have a traveller which needs new end caps and I'm having difficulty finding them, rather than the topic of the Ends and Stops, this seemed rather uninteresting to others!
Copious

 

[john_morris_uk]

Hi John, no mystery but was interested in any left over old Frederiksen parts as I have a traveller which needs new end caps and I'm having difficulty finding them, rather than the topic of the Ends and Stops, this seemed rather uninteresting to others!
Copious

Understood. However if you let that be known publicly you;'re looking for those bits then you never know what might turn up...!

 

[Copious]

Very true and I'm off to the 'Wanted' section!
TVM