Retractable hard top a bit slow

P

philipm

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 Feb 2008
Messages
116
Location
Staffordshire
Visit site
We have a large retractable hard top on our boat which is electrically operated. The hard top sits on rails and there are two "cars" on each side which support the hard top itself.

I have put some spray grease on the rails this year and whilst that seemed to help a bit, it's still a bit slow, particularly the last foot or so when retracting it. So much so that I had to push it along myself the first day back from lockdown before I greased it.

Anyone got any knowledge of these roofs and how to get them working smoothly??
 
Not specifically yours, but general problems are debris in the rail system which increase friction, people putting on the wrong lubricant, motor gearbox problems which is usually the gearbox grease leaking out or going hard with age, and any mechanisms not correctly lubricated or worn.
 
Not sure of the type you have but mine gives problems sometimes. Check to see is the roof sitting on properly. With the hammering of a hard sea, sometimes they move .Also the motor could be failing. Changed mine recently and it works fine now.
 
philipm said:
We have a large retractable hard top on our boat which is electrically operated. The hard top sits on rails and there are two "cars" on each side which support the hard top itself.

I have put some spray grease on the rails this year and whilst that seemed to help a bit, it's still a bit slow, particularly the last foot or so when retracting it. So much so that I had to push it along myself the first day back from lockdown before I greased it.

Anyone got any knowledge of these roofs and how to get them working smoothly??
Click to expand...

Spraying grease on the rails might not be a good idea, becomes a trap for all sorts of debris, I've found spray silicon much better, but as others have said, keep them clean !!!. You haven't said which boat, but on fairline's we have had, loosening the bolts that hold the roof to the carriages slightly has helped.
Some fairline's have had problems with the carriages on the port side due to electrolysis and many were replaced from alloy carriages to stainless steel.
 
TK Blue MAX said:
Spraying grease on the rails might not be a good idea, becomes a trap for all sorts of debris, I've found spray silicon much better, but as others have said, keep them clean !!!. You haven't said which boat, but on fairline's we have had, loosening the bolts that hold the roof to the carriages slightly has helped.
Some fairline's have had problems with the carriages on the port side due to electrolysis and many were replaced from alloy carriages to stainless steel.
Click to expand...

Cheers. Will have a look at the bolts.

I used silicone grease on the tracks.

Its a Jeanneau Leader 9.
 
Rather than a motor actually failing, sometimes it's just the brushes wearing down, or a build up of dirt etc on the rotor that the brushes sit against. Anything that affects the conductivity will impede the motors smooth and efficient running.
 
sogood said:
Rather than a motor actually failing, sometimes it's just the brushes wearing down, or a build up of dirt etc on the rotor that the brushes sit against. Anything that affects the conductivity will impede the motors smooth and efficient running.
Click to expand...

Good info thanks. I wonder why it goes so slow for the last 30cm or so. That maybe points towards a problem with the rails because, if the problem was the motor, it would be slow the whole way.

I need to locate the motor - presume it must be positioned behind the a removeable panel which is above my head at the back of the roof.
 
philipm said:
Good info thanks. I wonder why it goes so slow for the last 30cm or so. That maybe points towards a problem with the rails because, if the problem was the motor, it would be slow the whole way.

I need to locate the motor - presume it must be positioned behind the a removeable panel which is above my head at the back of the roof.
Click to expand...

The Fairline one's slow down for the last part of the movement both ways , presumably to stop it over running its maximum travel .
 
Phil,

When my hardtop started to slow down on the travel I first cleaned the runners completely as they where full of carp. Mine are just standard runners use on sailboats for the sheeting angle on the foresail. Once cleaned and lubricated with rigging lube (probably just expensive silicon spray) they operated much better.
 
I've ordered a pot of white lithium calcium grease (as opposed to the spray silicone grease I used) so that should enable me to apply a decent amount. I saw lithium grease mentioned on an old Jeanneau forum) .

The manual (which is I think translated from French) says "white petroleum" grease should be used but not sure what that is - unless they mean vaseline?!
 
So i assume these roofs have a manual operation , like my merc rag top , if so could you not try it and see if it is tight.
 
seastoke said:
So i assume these roofs have a manual operation , like my merc rag top , if so could you not try it and see if it is tight.
Click to expand...

Manual operation consists of pulling it which requires a fair bit of effort to get it to move. Not sure if that's good for the motor though so I've not done it much.
 
Last edited:
philipm said:
I've ordered a pot of white lithium calcium grease (as opposed to the spray silicone grease I used) so that should enable me to apply a decent amount. I saw lithium grease mentioned on an old Jeanneau forum) .

The manual (which is I think translated from French) says "white petroleum" grease should be used but not sure what that is - unless they mean vaseline?!
Click to expand...

Correct, very similar but Vaseline is petroleun jelly and the grease is slightly different, but vaseline does the same job and requires more applications to keep it greased.
 
Had this issue woth the roof on my Prestige 34. We tried all the suggestions above but no cleaning or greasing made a significant difference. Speaking with the guys at Morgan Marine (no connection - just know them as they sold me the boat and are Jeanneau dealers) they reckoned that the only way to permanenty fix was new cables and guides. From the motor which sits centrally above the windscreen the cables ran outwards and then turn through 90 degress to the carriages. The cables and guides wear at this turning point, and both needed replacing. Cost of the parts was circa £600 if memory serves. I can't confirm if this did fix the problem as the boat sold before the work was done - the buyer apparently not bothered about the issue!
 
AdeOlly said:
Had this issue woth the roof on my Prestige 34. We tried all the suggestions above but no cleaning or greasing made a significant difference. Speaking with the guys at Morgan Marine (no connection - just know them as they sold me the boat and are Jeanneau dealers) they reckoned that the only way to permanenty fix was new cables and guides. From the motor which sits centrally above the windscreen the cables ran outwards and then turn through 90 degress to the carriages. The cables and guides wear at this turning point, and both needed replacing. Cost of the parts was circa £600 if memory serves. I can't confirm if this did fix the problem as the boat sold before the work was done - the buyer apparently not bothered about the issue!
Click to expand...

I was loving your post until I got to the final sentence! The bloke who did our boat survey said that guides ("cars" as he called them) upon which the retractable roof sits can be swapped for "cars" with ball-bearings which give a much smoother travel. Makes sense although may be overkill in terms of installation cost v benefit.

I applied some marine lithium grease (£9 for a pot off ebay) to the roof rails over the weekend. I have also cleaned them out with an old scrubbing brush. Roof is travelling more smoothly although there is the odd click noise as it retracts therefore not as smooth as I would like - but acceptable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top