maintenance colnbrook furler

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seascape

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hello - just dropped furler to fit new forestay to the colnbrook on our 28.5 ft boat -any web site i can download diagram/details of construction ?
i've freed the 4 stainless studs around lower end of foil attachment which i'm told can be a problem- are there any other studs etc which need freeing before the whole drum should come apart ?
any other tips / information regarding re fitting etc would be greatly appreciated - many thanks
 
I have Colnbrook reefing gear on my boat. It is 10 yrs since I took it apart so can't remember too much detail, but hope the following is of use. AFAIK there are no diagrams on the web or anywhere else. There are no spares available so be careful not to damage anything when dismantling. There are no ball bearings so no corrosion/seizing problems there. It uses flat plastic- like (Tufnol??) washers as bearings. If you wish just take the drum & fittings apart carefully. If it won't come apart don't force it because all you can do when it is apart is wash it & put it back together. There are stainless machine screws into aluminium so when assembling make sure you use Duralac or something similar.There is a bush on which the drum rotates. This can get blocked with salt crystals & make the gear stiff to turn. Regular (2 or 3 times a season) washing out through a small hole in the front of the foil base above the drum will stop this. If the problem is severe pour hot water through the hole. The main problem with the gear is that you can't get much halliard tension without the foil bending. I have a small 4:1 tackle between drum & tack so I can adjust halliard tension & release it when not sailing. The other problem is that the gear is simple & so reliable that it is hard to justify replacing it! I have had no problem at all in 16 years.

Dave.
 
Hi Seascape sorry to intrude into your post but I also have a Colnebrook reefer that I have to overhaul and the answer to my question will also be relevant to your maintenance.
How does the top fitting secure to the stay in order that the foil can rotate but the top bush around the forestay not rotate?
 
I have the original info that came with the furling gear, which is a bit mickey mouse but has fitting instructions and diagrams. I will try and get it scanned and post it here for anyone who needs it.

The drum mechanism is very simple, as mentioned above, and there are a couple of holes which Colnbrooke say should be used for flushing with fresh water to get rid of salt build up. The main trouble I have had is with the top swivel - the ball bearing track need a thorough clean and new bearings to overcome bad friction.

The grub screws for the swivel and foil sections are quite flimsy, and several stripped their threads, so I drilled and tapped to replace them. (The one at a third height up the forestay was good fun while swinging on an abseil rope /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )
 
thanks rosie and damo for the info
please would you PM me Damo if you successfully scan the diagrams-that could be most helpful
i'm not too sure how the top of foil attaches to the forestay -haven't examined it closely yet
the small 4.1 tackle seems a good idea at present i just lash the genoa off onto a shackle attached to drum- does that tackle mean the foot of your genoa is set quite high?
richard
 
Hi Damo. I would also very much appreciate diagrams. If you can scan them please PM me for e-mail address.

Re 4 part tackle, I shackle the genoa tack to one eye on the drum & use the tackle between the end of the halliard and the other eye on the drum to set the right tension. You can use a strop to vary the height of the genoa tack above the drum. The tackle uses high strength dinghy blocks and 5 mm spectra with a jammer built into the lower block. Afraid I haven't got a photo & the boat is in France!

Dave.
 
I was just going to post the info that the lower hole in the spar is for lubrication with oil.
I only found out 6 months ago when thumbing through old manuals etc. The furling had been stiff to furl/unfurl for some time and I thought the upper bearing had seized, have now a smooth furl and deployment of the sail.

ianat182
 
Damo's pictures

Hi I have just tried to download Damo's pictures without success have you any hints as to why that should be.
I have a friend who has a Seareef and the bottom threaded section that the drum fits on has broken making it too short to assemble again, do you know how to get into the bottom bearing housing so that we could have a new bolt made and fitted.
Regards Mike
 
I don't have photobucket enabled on my PC but these diagrams downloaded OK for me.

From these drawings of the spool and its fittings, there may be a clue as to the reason for the screw breakage. It is possible that the screw is a left hand threaded one - an end of a bottlescrew; this is just an assumption based on the second diagram that has a bottlescrew fitting for the other version of the furler.

ianat182
 
colnebrook aluminium extrusion

I have a piece of spare colnebroook extrusion as fitted to my 22 foot cruiser if anyone needs a bit. I am in Essex.
 
ianat182 said:
I don't have photobucket enabled on my PC but these diagrams downloaded OK for me.

From these drawings of the spool and its fittings, there may be a clue as to the reason for the screw breakage. It is possible that the screw is a left hand threaded one - an end of a bottlescrew; this is just an assumption based on the second diagram that has a bottlescrew fitting for the other version of the furler.

ianat182
Click to expand...
Are they very large file only I am using a 3G mobile connection. I think the bottom thread is right hand but the larger top one is left handed, if I could get into the bearing housing we could get a new thread bolt made up, It seems a lot of load to put on a nylon bearing as this takes all the forestay tention doesnt it ?
thanks for your help Mike
 
I don't see how the bearing can be a nylon one if it uses oil to lubricate it. The drawings don't show an exploded view of the inside of the spool and its bearing type.
As I mentioned earlier I only found the oiling hole by accident, but it is shown on the drawings as a hole for this purpose as '3 in one' oil.
I used the url provided by DAMO to display the photos on screen,then enlarged them, no problem,but a print was no good, or I did it wrong!

ianat182
 
Another thanks to Damo for the info as I need to do some maintenance on my Colnbrook furling.
 
This is rather a long shot at this late date but a pal's Telstar fitted with the same furler appears to have once had some sort of restrainer/cage around the drum to prevent the furling line from jumping off and jamming.

Has anyone got such a device on theirs and can post an image or otherwise suggest a way to replace it?
 
I know the years have passed but do any of you out there that have said they have various documentation about the maintenance and operating instructions for a Colnebrook Furling still have it available. If so, I would be be most grateful having recently purchased a Trintella 29 that is fitted with the kit that I'm am attempting to restore to working order.
 
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