Furling gear

[brians]

I have Furlex headsail reefing gear and Selden in mast main reefing. I want to clean out the ball bearing races at top and bottom which I suspect contain congealed grease, salt crystals and general dirt and are not running freely.

It has been suggested to use hot water but as the bearings are more or less horizontal that is not easy. Could I use a pressure washer or is that likely to do more harm than good?

Grateful for advice from others who have done the same exercise.

 

[richardbrennan]

We have always used several kettle fulls of hot water but your right about it being a PITA. We try and dig as much as possible of the old grease out with cocktail sticks first. I'd also be interested in anyone's experience with a pressure washer.

 

[MoodySabre]

The Furlex user manual suggests rinsing it out with fresh water to remove the salt crystals. I guess hot water does that more easily but a pressure washer would be effective. I only do mine a couple of times a year.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

My old Goiot furler would not even budge when I was pulling on the furling line with a winch! This was traced to several years' worth of congealed and dirt laden grease (left by the late previous owner). I cracked the top flange open and sprayed a general degreaser (Chante Clair) liberally and repeatedly into the body of the drum, rinsing off from time to time using a hose. At first something that looked like liquidy tar started to ooze out of the bottom; eventually the water that was coming out was as clear as what was going in. At that time I did not have a pressure washer; however, if there is congealed grease I would still use a degreaser to remove all traces of it. Dirty business but well worth the effort.

I have no connection with the product; I regularly mention it because it has never failed me, is not expensive and is readily available locally.