servicing Facnor sd200 halyard

[Etesian]

We seem to have developed a problem with our halyard. It seems to be sticking both when we haul it in and let it out. It is like it gets stuck and requires quite a bit of pulling, sometimes relaxing the line and then pulling to get it to roll up. Has anyone else ever had this problem? I haven't done any servicing on the haylard. Am I suppose to? I tried squirting some WD-40 but nothing really went in and no change.

I await your wise advice.

Alan
Etesian

 

[macd]

I presume you mean your furling line rather than halyard. First suggestion, since it can be done quickly, is to remove the furling line (or tug a load of slack forward so it will not come under load) and check that the furled sail and all its gear rotates freely. If not, the fault is likely to be in the furling drum itself or top swivel; or possibly something is fouling. In this case you should remove the sail and checking for free rotation again. While the furling line is free, check also that there is no undue drag on it.

I'm not specifically familiar with the Facnor, but I daresay a handbook/installation manual can be downloaded; it may well have a troubleshooting section.

I'd suggest PBO might be a more productive forum for such a query.

 

[Jeannius]

Bearings inside the upper furler swivel fail on the SD range. Also there are nylon bushes inside the aluminium section... these wear and fall lower in the section or fall out the bottom of the lower drum. I had all these problems. It just happens with age and my problem was accelerated by using an electric winch on the furling line while the boat was in charter.

Only cure is getting everything down and replacing affected parts. This means the forestay has to come off so it's going to cost you some time and money. Here's the Facnor web page for you... http://www.facnor.com/uk/products/headsail_furlers/former_ranges_sd_and_r/cruising_range/default.asp

 

[AndrewB]

The SD200 on my previous yacht did have a tendency for the halyard to twist round the forestay above the top swivel, which of course made furling it heavy, like you with it needing a lot of back-tracking.

I'm sure you know that the genoa halyard above the genoa (when hoisted) must not come directly down the line of the forestay from the mast-head block to the top swivel. To prevent that, the SD200 is supplied with a black nylon deflector disk which must be fitted as high as possible (on top of the furler tube) to deflect the halyard away from the forestay.

Assuming that this disk is present and fitted correctly, I was bugged by a slightly different reason causing the halyard to tangle. Eventually I worked it out. The top swivel itself must be fairly close under the deflector disk. If the luff of your genoa is short, then you should fit a strop between the head of the sail and the top swivel so that when hoisted, the top swivel is about 20cm or so below the deflector disk.

That all said, Jeannius is quite right - the bearings in the furler, particularly in the lower drum, are not of the highest quality. If halyard tangling is not your problem, and if there are signs of grease being forced out underneath the drum, the bearings will be shot. A replacement drum is obtainable, the cost is about 1/3rd of a new furler.

 

[vyv_cox]

There is a new page about halyard wraps on my website, look under Sails and Rig. The deflector disk on my forestay is shown in one of the photos.