Furlex reefing issue

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Talmine

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Hello I've got an old furlex reefing gear on our boat. It's the all black one, I think a type c. I have a bit of a problem, sort of self inflicted, that I would be grateful for any advice on. The bottom swivel has a nylon bolt that seals the grease point. Taking it out in the freezing conditions last week the head snapped off and my attempts to extricate the remaining body of the bolt by drilling into the nylon remains and tapping in a file tail to screw it out ended in disaster as the bolt remains just pushed straight through into the swivel.
Question
Is it possible to dismantle the bottom swivel in situ.
We're out on the hard for another 2 weeks so any experiences or advice would be gratefully received.
Jim
 
Talmine said:
Hello I've got an old furlex reefing gear on our boat. It's the all black one, I think a type c. I have a bit of a problem, sort of self inflicted, that I would be grateful for any advice on. The bottom swivel has a nylon bolt that seals the grease point. Taking it out in the freezing conditions last week the head snapped off and my attempts to extricate the remaining body of the bolt by drilling into the nylon remains and tapping in a file tail to screw it out ended in disaster as the bolt remains just pushed straight through into the swivel.
Question
Is it possible to dismantle the bottom swivel in situ.
We're out on the hard for another 2 weeks so any experiences or advice would be gratefully received.
Click to expand...

Yes, the nylon lubrication screw has a habit of losing its head! You can't dismantle the swivel in situ. If you've already drilled most of the screw out, the remaining bits might not be big enough to cause major problems. I don't think the bits of nylon can easily get into the internal ball bearing race, but check that the assembly rotates freely. The lubrication screw is an M8 thread, I believe, so you can easily replace it.
 
Looking at the manual and exploded diagram of my Furlex B then I would say no. There are three ball races in there and it's not a job I'd want to do on a bench. I can email you the manual if that would help. Send me a PM.

The greasing hole is right at the bottom and a bit of plastic in there might not do any harm.
 
MoodySabre said:
Looking at the manual and exploded diagram of my Furlex B then I would say no. There are three ball races in there and it's not a job I'd want to do on a bench. I can email you the manual if that would help. Send me a PM.

The greasing hole is right at the bottom and a bit of plastic in there might not do any harm.
Click to expand...

The OP said he had the Furlex Type C.
 
Thank you for your interest and replies. The nylon plug/bolt is near the top of the bottom swivel and i can see down the hole that there is a relatively big piece still down there. Looking at the diagrams (thanks for the links) I can't see anywhere obvious for it to jam but sod's law is always a worry. I have to say I'm drawn to pvb's thoughts as it seems to be rotating freely and given a choice benign neglect is my preferred option but I was wondering if it was possible to split the swivel just enough to get a tweezer in to extract the big bit.
Jim
 
MoodySabre said:
I know that but he obviously didn’t have a manual and so I was explaining that these things are complex. Nobody has offered an exploded diagram of his type. He too can read.
Click to expand...

You said "The greasing hole is right at the bottom and a bit of plastic in there might not do any harm", but I know that the Furlex Type C has the nylon lubrication screw at the top of the swivel, as I've owned one.

All the manuals, spare parts diagrams, etc, are downloadable from the Selden website.
 
I might not have expressed myself clearly but this is what I said "The nylon plug/bolt is near the top of the bottom swivel and i can see down the hole that there is a relatively big piece still down there" and I agree that the lubrication screw is at the top of the swivel.
Jim
 
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