Roller furling gear stuck

[Plomong]

Type: Facnor C30
Assembly: Upper swivel assembly
Which consists of three principal parts:
- The upper attachment, for the halyard;
- The main body of the unit; and
- The lower plate to which the sail is attached using a shackle. This is the only part of the assembly that does not rotate around the stay extrusion.

The lower plate has a lug with a hole into which the shackle pin is inserted.

Today, when trying to undo the shackle, the head broke off the pin, and it was necessary to remove the sail by cutting away the legs of the shackle.
What remains of the shackle was easily removed from the end of the threaded pin that was not the pin head. The pin did not at any time rotate within the hole in the lower plate attachment lug. It seems to have a fair amount of what looks like galvanic corrosion between pin and wall of the hole.

My questions are:
- Is the hole on this lug threaded ??
- Assuming the hole is not threaded, how can I get the pin out of the hole? Today I tried liberal amounts of WD40, hammer, etc, to no avail. Any other suggestions? Special liquid, etc??
- Assuming the hole is threaded, how can I remove the remains of the pin, which is threaded at least at one end ?

All suggestions and hints gratefully received,
Plomong

 

[Mistroma]

It is not the same unit I have but I don't think there's a reason to have a threaded hole at that point. I'd imagine it is just a hole, my unit has a stainless insert to reduce the possibility of damage to the alloy lug.

Use diesel instead of WD40 because you will have some on board and it is an awful lot better at penetrating than WD40. Diesel is always worth trying first unless you already have some specific, expensive, penetrating fluid.

My unit is also a Facnor but a slightly different design. It became stiff several years ago after about 2 seasons and Facnor offered me a special offer of a replacement for only 600 euro. I was told that it could only be dismantled by a specialist and replacement would be simpler. I put it into a bucket, flushed it with diesel and setup a diesel drip overnight. Lots of material in the bucket the next morning so I let it bake dry in the sun for a couple of days. I flushed some Holts pro-lube into the unit and replaced both of the large lip-seals used to keep out dust and grit. The seals don't really work well, even when greased regularly but better than nothing.

 

[Plomong]

It is not the same unit I have but I don't think there's a reason to have a threaded hole at that point. I'd imagine it is just a hole, my unit has a stainless insert to reduce the possibility of damage to the alloy lug.

Use diesel instead of WD40 because you will have some on board and it is an awful lot better at penetrating than WD40. Diesel is always worth trying first unless you already have some specific, expensive, penetrating fluid.

Thanks for that tip. I've got plenty of diesel, in a tank in the garage, for heating the house.
Plomong

 

[neil_s]

Heat often helps for S/S fastenings stuck in alloy. Doesn't have to be extreme - boiling water has done it for me in the past.

 

[Plomong]

I finally got the pin out of the hole with the help of those well-known assistants Brute Force, WD40 (in liberal amounts), Lady luck and Stubborn Determination.

Took lots of hammering, though, so I felt sorry for those taking a siesta in a nearby boat.

Plomong