smithy
Well-Known Member
I am about to pull the old forestay from the roller reefing foil. Before I do this what is the easiest way to thread a new one back in? It's an old Facnor system, the mast is down.
Fitting New Forestay
- Thread starter smithy
- Start date
sutton sailor
Well-Known Member
Perhaps I should not comment as I have never tried to fit a new forestay to an existingassembled foil. But over the years I have assembled 4 from scratc h.. I would say it will be virtualy impossible to line up the relatively stiff fore stay with the bearing blocks that will be at each joint. The only time I had to refit an old foil on a new forestay I dismantled it into all it's constituent parts and reassembled the foil after each section had been fed over the forestay. I t is usualy a case of unscrewing the fixings or drilling out the rivets. I hope this is some help.
knuterikt
Well-Known Member
What I was advised from a rigger was to use the old wire to pull the new in.
1) cut wire close to the (top) terminal
2) cut away the twisted stands for approximately 6 cm, leaving the heart of the wire. Use tape to prevent the wire strands unraveling.
3) form a hook of the heart
4) do the same to one end of new wire
5) join the two hooks, secure the join with tape
6) pull the new wire in
The new wire was cut over length and had the top terminal fitted before pulling in. The bottom terminal was installed after pulling wire in.
1) cut wire close to the (top) terminal
2) cut away the twisted stands for approximately 6 cm, leaving the heart of the wire. Use tape to prevent the wire strands unraveling.
3) form a hook of the heart
4) do the same to one end of new wire
5) join the two hooks, secure the join with tape
6) pull the new wire in
The new wire was cut over length and had the top terminal fitted before pulling in. The bottom terminal was installed after pulling wire in.
dovekie
Well-Known Member
I think knuterikt has it. The old wire is the key, as it starts already threaded. We have done this by using the old stay to pull through a line, then using that line to pull the new stay back through. Just needed to shape the tip of the new stay into a cone so it pulled back through without snagging.
smithy
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the suggestions. I can't use the old stay to pull the new one through as I have a swaged bottom connection so will use a line through instead then join this to the new stay. Will do as Knuterikt suggested and strip the outer back and join to the inner. Anyone know how much clearance there is between the wire and the bushes? It's 7mm wire
knuterikt
Well-Known Member
Clearance should be close to nothing. The bushes are made out of two parts that is put together during installation. You will not be able to pull a swaged terminal through the bushes. That’s why we cut the terminal off the old stay and installed the new terminal after pulling the wire into the profiles.
knuterikt
Well-Known Member
Manuals here Technical brochure - headsail furler - Facnor
smithy
Well-Known Member
I cut the stalok off the top of the forestay today. The wire has very little clearance in the bushes, a wind of tape on it and it jams. I cant see any other way of doing this other than welding some old wire to it and pulling through. If I join the inner wires the outer will snag without tape on it and there is just not enough room. Will have a practice and report back.
ctva
Well-Known Member
You sound like you are doing the same job as me with a Facanor roller reef. I’ll be doing in in the next week or so, threading from the bottom up using a line that was lead in on removing the old one, 7mm like yours.
Akestor
Well-Known Member
I succesfully changed the forestay without dropping the mast ( just went up and tie a rope from head to the bow as temporary forestay and then dropped the foil)
1) Cut the bottom terminal ( after the drum)
2) connected a plastic electricians snake to the edge of the wire with tape ( not much tape becasue it will get stucked inside the foil-just enough to keep the snake)
3) pulled the wire from the top inserting the snake in the foil ( had a friend pushing the snake will i pulled the wire)
4) connected new wire to the bottom side with the snake.
5) i pulled the snake gently from the top while friend was pushig new wire in. This is tricky you should not pull the snake much as it might disconect from the wire, its only for helping the wire pushed in.
1) Cut the bottom terminal ( after the drum)
2) connected a plastic electricians snake to the edge of the wire with tape ( not much tape becasue it will get stucked inside the foil-just enough to keep the snake)
3) pulled the wire from the top inserting the snake in the foil ( had a friend pushing the snake will i pulled the wire)
4) connected new wire to the bottom side with the snake.
5) i pulled the snake gently from the top while friend was pushig new wire in. This is tricky you should not pull the snake much as it might disconect from the wire, its only for helping the wire pushed in.
MAURICE
Well-Known Member
Plenty of info and video on you tube for this
ctva
Well-Known Member
How has it gone today after the heat shrink failed?
smithy
Well-Known Member
I tried using an electrician's plastic snake but even with a couple of wraps of tape it jams. Eventually I cut a couple of inches of the centre core out and epoxied in a knotted messenger line. Whilst the epoxy was still wet I bound the end of the wire tightly with tape and put the nozzle from mastic tube over the end. When the epoxy hardened I cut the tape and nozzle off which left a nice smooth cone lead.
