selden / kemp rod licker

Birdseye

Birdseye

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boat has one but without the gas spring. Is it possible to retrofit a gas spring preferably from a non yachting source ie one that isnt so expensive as a Selden spare
 
DannyB said:
Been done before - http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?421964-Selden-Rodkicker

The local rigger fitted one for me, wasn't that expensive IIRC, hundred and fifty squids maybe.
Click to expand...

I bought mine from Struts Direct (http://www.strutsdirect.co.uk/) as I said in post #5 of thread you provided. Selden version was stainless rod but steel body for something like £180-£200 if I remember correctly. Struts Direct sold an all stainless one for a fraction of the price (I think it was around £50 delivered).

£150 sounds excessive.

OP would have to get the end fittings or make some up as strut probably may not have them. It might so worth checking inside first just in case. I think they are simply plastic parts with a threaded insert. So only need to buy a bare strut with threaded ends.

I'll see if I can find a photo somewhere showing the end fittings.

Another issue would be finding the correct settings, length, rod dimensions etc. I simply measured my old one and took details from the label. Perhaps someone will be able to provide the information once you give the boat model.

Nothing in your profile to help identify the make/model & year of your boat. First place I looked but few people provide any useful information here.
 
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I put this one into my Selden rod kicker: GSSV14-300 Adjustable Stainless Gas Strut supplied by SGS Engineering at a cost of £87.00 plus carriage.

It has M10 end fittings which screw in to the plastic end cap on your kicker. You need another end cap to slide into the rod kicker, and in my case a spacer bar cut from an old aluminium boat hook.

I have a 14.5m mast with a rod kicker to suit - yours may be a different size. This strut has adjustable pressure and is made of stainless. Works well so far.
 
Can recommend the stainless SGS ram.
I get furious when I think that Selden insist on using a mild steel ram inside the hideously expensive alloy casing.
I must have replaced four this year.
Shame on them.
 
Selden aren't the only ones. A Sparcraft unit I have, had two hideously corroded steel struts inside. I've even seen steel conventional springs used inside other kickers. As they say you couldn't make it up.
 
The bit that has me wondering is the connection of the gas strut to the kicker. Its one thing for those who already have a gas strut equipped kicker to replace the strut but have any of you put a gas strut in a kicker than never previously had one. Its the issue of internal connections, the bits I might need in addition to the strut itself.

Anybody got any photos of the inside of one of these things?
 
Inside are plastic bushes at each end.
Nothing fancy, just a cutout to allow the wire through.
The gas strut are a pretty much a standard length so for the long version of the kicker they supply a short length of alloy tube to make up the difference.
When I first dismantled one I really wanted it to be complex and clever, given the cost, but they look like something a student invented over lunch.
That said they do work.
 
It doesn't really need to be fixed as such.
It lives pretty much in compression all the time.
The only time the compression will be off is when you haul on your topping lift or when you're about to attach it to the boom.
Either way not an issue.
You just need to make a couple of spacers so it doesn't rattle when off load but frankly that won't be often.
I'd make end fittings out of nylon rod or something else I find kicking around in my "could be useful" pile.
I guess you could use wood and then coat with epoxy a couple of times.

Thinking on it, it doesn't really matter which way up it is either.

Is yours a round or rectangular section?
 
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Javelin said:
Can recommend the stainless SGS ram.
I get furious when I think that Selden insist on using a mild steel ram inside the hideously expensive alloy casing.
I must have replaced four this year.
Shame on them.
Click to expand...

Oh that is why? I have Selden, with gas spring and only after 4 years it no longers hold the boom up!

Where do I buy the SGS stainless and is it a replacement that fits the selden rodkicker?
 
haydude said:
Oh that is why? I have Selden, with gas spring and only after 4 years it no longers hold the boom up!

Where do I buy the SGS stainless and is it a replacement that fits the selden rodkicker?
Click to expand...

Easiest thing is to take out your existing gas spring, it's a very easy job on the Selden strut.

Measure the rod diameter, tube diameter, tube length and tube stroke. Look at the existing one to see if it has anything written on it to describe the setting required e.g. 1200N (Newtons).

The link below shows diagrams, dimensions and models. Simply pick one and ask for it to be set to correct number of Newtons.
https://strutsdirect.metrol.com/stock-gas-struts/stock-gas-struts/stainless-steel-gas-struts.html

I expect SGS have similar diagrams. You don't need any special end fittings, just the usual threaded ends which screw into the plastic inserts. If you pick too low a force then boom will still droop. Too high just means you need to pull against the lift from the strut. Mine is still perfect and takes little effort to pull down. I used the setting printed on the old strut.
 
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