Rutgerson batten Cars

Sailfree

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Can someone explain how to remove the batten from this car. The car appears to have lips so a face piece slides out but this "sliding" face piece appears to be the mechanism to increase the batten compression and hence is being held in place by the batten compression.

Tried googling buy can only find descriptions of how wonderful the cars are and nothing of how to remove the battens.

Found You Tube of 1585 and its not them!! They are easy. Rutgerson Batten cars supplied in circa 2008.
 
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The mechanism you describe is a cam action clamp. You loosen it to put more tension on the batten by tugging on the tape and flipping the cam over to fix things. This does two things: 1 Clamps the webbing. 2 pulls the wedge forward to help keep things secure.

In itself, the cam will not tension owt.

To remove the batten, flip over the cam, wiggle your wedge - to loosen it - and then pull the wedge back to free up the tape (which is doubled back over the end of the batten) If the webbing tape is reasonably long you do not have to remove the wedge, it will free enough to enable you to push the tape to one side and slide out the batten. This helps prevent losing stuff or forgetting how to put things back properly.
 
To remove the batten, flip over the cam, wiggle your wedge - to loosen it - and then pull the wedge back to free up the tape (which is doubled back over the end of the batten) If the webbing tape is reasonably long you do not have to remove the wedge, it will free enough to enable you to push the tape to one side and slide out the batten. This helps prevent losing stuff or forgetting how to put things back properly.

It would help if the OP could provide some more information or a picture, but what you describe here sounds to me like a much older system. I had one of those on a FB mainsail made in 1992. Doubt very much it was still supplied in 2008. The OP makes no reference to wedge and webbing, but mentions a "face piece".
 
Assuming you mean the batten fitting or receptacle, perhaps this can be helpful
http://www.gotthardt-yacht.de/tl_fi...tenendbeschlag_1590_1595_Montageanleitung.pdf
No experience of this system, but it sounds strange to me that the sliding lid/face piece should have anything to do with the batten tensioning.

Exactly as per your link thanks.

I thought it would work that way but trying to slide the top cover out as per your illustration did not work and we were chewing up the plastic.

I will try some silicone spay and just have to be more forceful in the knowledge that this is the correct way!

Thanks
 
Exactly as per your link thanks.

I thought it would work that way but trying to slide the top cover out as per your illustration did not work and we were chewing up the plastic.

I will try some silicone spay and just have to be more forceful in the knowledge that this is the correct way!

Thanks

Roger

If you haven't taken them apart for a few years, its most likely salt deposits that are causing the plate not to want to slide back freely. Some hot water poured over the whole of the black plastic caps should see the plate slide out with ease.

Just done the same on B-I-L's boat a couple of months ago! :D
 
My cars have the faceplate too. There are two screws, one holds the faceplate to the receptacle, the other adjusts the batten tension.

I think my others batten cars have two screws but I started at the bottom one which I think is a bigger batten and no extra screw. The face piece is shaped to slide in as Pinnacle suggested.

Not finding this yacht maintenance easy. Tried removing Genoa today in light wind. Halyard kept twisting top car around the foil and it stuck at what I think is first joint. I suspect foil screws worked loose. Struggling to raise it then lower it and kept unwinding Genoa to keep Halyard straight. It finally came down after about 2 hrs struggling.

Need to go up mast to check foil screws and take of halyard to ensure no residue want to "twist".

When it was on charter the charter company did an amount of the winter maintenance while I worked to pay the bills! But now retired it a different ball game!
 
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