Selden In-mast Furling Problems

[exexex]

We are experiencing problems with the in-mast furling on my Westerly Oceanlord and I would be grateful if anyone could give some further help. It's a Selden RB Mk II system . Apologies for the long post and the numerous questions.

We have had real problems with furling in and out being extremely stiff, to the point we have to use two hands on a winch to just about do it. We've checked the halyard tension, boom angle and the normal standard checks.

We have greased the bearings and gears at the bottom of the system. We have removed the sail and dropped and greased the halyard swivel but have not yet been to the top of the mast to do that bearing. Even without a sail the system is still proving very difficult to turn at certain points at the winch on the mast. We have tried slackening off the extrusion tension so that the extrusion flaps around but to no avail.

Every few revolutions, sometimes more than others, the system ' jams up' becoming very tight to turn, and then 'jumps' and clears itself for a few more turns. The extrusion moves slightly back and forward as it turns (possibly suggesting that the shaft could be bent?) but I suppose that the top bearing could be binding.

Any ideas what could be causing it? Could it all be down to the top bearing? Could the lower shaft be bent? Could the lower bearings be shot causing the binding?

We have thought of removing the winch and gear assembly so that we can check its smooth running without the extrusion attached. Finally bearing in mind that the mast is still up, how much can we undo the tensioning screw before it comes apart or is there a stop built-in?

Your suggestions will be very gratefully received!

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[pvb]

Any ideas what could be causing it? Could it all be down to the top bearing? Could the lower shaft be bent? Could the lower bearings be shot causing the binding?

We have thought of removing the winch and gear assembly so that we can check its smooth running without the extrusion attached. Finally bearing in mind that the mast is still up, how much can we undo the tensioning screw before it comes apart or is there a stop built-in?

I have the earlier version of the Furlin' system. Although it's possible that the top bearing is sticking, that's not easy to sort out without taking the mast down, so I'd suggest the first step should be to remove the "gearbox" unit and see whether it rotates freely, and clean/lubricate it properly whilst it's out.

No idea whether there's a stop in the tensioning system, but it ought to be possible to get the gearbox out with the mast stepped if you release some of the tension first.

 

[exexex]

Many thanks for your reply.

Unfortuantely, the gearbox won't come out without separating it from the extrusion/ spar, one way or another. If we can separate the spar at the tensioning joint it may be possible to wriggle the assembly out of the aperture behind the gearbox but looking at the exploded diagrams it will probably need to be separated lower down requiring the clevis pin to be removed from inside the mast.

 

[pvb]

Many thanks for your reply.

Unfortuantely, the gearbox won't come out without separating it from the extrusion/ spar, one way or another. If we can separate the spar at the tensioning joint it may be possible to wriggle the assembly out of the aperture behind the gearbox but looking at the exploded diagrams it will probably need to be separated lower down requiring the clevis pin to be removed from inside the mast.

There's a cylindrical part with 2 clevis pins which joins the gearbox to the furling spar. If the tension is off the spar, it should be possible to remove the pin and get the gearbox out.

 

[neilf39]

Is the mast straight? There haven't been any changes to rigging tension so you have a slight bend so that the furler is trying to follow an asymmetric path?

 

[Talulah]

I have taken the gearbox out several times on ours. No need to lower the mast. The first time is difficult as the bolts securing it in probably haven't been touched in years. Had to use an impact hammer on the pozi heads.
I found the mitered gears had become very stiff in the housing but were easily cleaned up. Beware the ball bearings will just drop out. You need to drift out the roll pins. Takes half a day to properly sort it out.

 

[exexex]

Many thanks for the helpful suggestions.

The boat hasn't been used for the last 3 or 4 years and was recently bought by my son so it is quite possible that, although we have greased the parts that can be reached through the openings in the mast, a complete strip down of the gearbox could reveal a build up of clogged up grease. Hopefully we won't drop the clevis pin inside the mast and the bolts will come undone!

The mast is straight so that rules out one potential problem area.

Any further suggestins will be gratefully received.

 

[lenseman]

Have you also looked at the topping lift as you furl the main?

Quite often the tension in the topping lift causes the top part of the luff to bunch and loosely furl around the foil which can cause problems.

Check the topping lift and make sure that the leach has a bit of tautness during the furling process. On some I have dealt with, the topping lift has to be tensioned or untensioned three or more times during furling the main.



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[exexex]

Thanks for the suggestion David,

The sail is off the system but it is still very difficult to turn the winch both by the ropes and winch handle so it is clearly somethingto do with the system itself.