Sparcraft Ocean Vang c.1998

[dje67]

My Beneteau 36cc has a Sparcraft Ocean vang fitted. Recently it has become very noisy (squeaks badly when adjusted, or constant creaking noise if the boom is wobbling from side-to-side with no sails up). Have tried cleaning all the external fittings and pulleys with no success. I think the noise is coming from inside the strut. The vang is a spring-loaded type (not gas cylinder) and it feels like the internal spring is rubbing against the aluminium tubing.

Has hanyone taken one of these apart? I think it just requires some rivets to be drilled out, but I’m a bit wary of just doing that without knowing how the spring assembly is constructed (don’t want to end up with the pressurised spring launching itself into space).

Once apart, does it go back together without too much swearing and loss of limbs…?!

What maintenance can be done internally?

The vang has a name-plate saying ‘Sparcraft, Ref. 000 326, 150kg’

Thanks, David.

 

[dje67]

Or, even an exploded diagram would help

 

[Roberto]

Would you have a photograph of your vang? In the past there have been a few buying/merging among different companies Sparcraft Wichard Zspars Francespar Profurl etc, the same products have been sold under different denominations/codes often with very minor modifications during the years; some visual might help

 

[robmcg]

If you are UK based, drop Eurospars in Plymouth a quick email. They handle a lot of Sparcraft kit and could possibly help.

 

[dje67]

Did the job - quite easy. The vang is essentially made up of 2 sections. One is a larger aluminium tube with a pvc pipe insert containing a spring. The other section is an inner aluminium tube which also contains a spring. Rivets hold the end fittings onto each section. I had to drill out the 2 rivets holding the end fitting, pvc tube and outer aluminium tube together. Eventually I managed to extract the inner section from the outer section, but it was almost jammed solid with crud. Cleaned it all up and spray greased the springs and used dry lube on the interface between the inner section and the inside of the pvc tube. Reassembled the whole thing and fitted 2 new rivets.

With the vang extended there is no loading on the springs and no limbs were lost during job!

Thanks to those that replied and apologies for the late response.

 

[Tim H]

I need to do the same job on my Sparcraft Ocean vang. Did the dry lube stop the squeaking? Mine has an irritating sqeak that is amplified down the length of the boom.

And do you have any tips on whether it is easier to remove the bottom end or the top (boom) end to get it apart?
Thanks

 

[dje67]

I need to do the same job on my Sparcraft Ocean vang. Did the dry lube stop the squeaking? Mine has an irritating sqeak that is amplified down the length of the boom.

And do you have any tips on whether it is easier to remove the bottom end or the top (boom) end to get it apart?
Thanks

Sorry for the late response - didn't notice the wee notification bell-thingy had a new reply on my post.

I only needed to undo the upper (wider) section. In my casew the choice was made for me because one of the rivets that holds it together had vanished.

2 months down the line and the vang is still perfectly quiet. I did use a Wurth spary grease on the spring and (I think) WD40 dry lube on the sections that slide against each other. That said, the spray grease has ended up covering everything that moves so I can't say for certain whether it was worth using the 2 lubs. I wanted to ensure that the spring was protected from corrosion, hence using spray grease on that part.

I couldnt believe how much 'stuff' came out the vang when I cleaned it!

 

[Metalicmike]

This maybe a stupid question but does this type of vang replace the topping lift for supporting the boom and what is the advantage of this system.

 

[Roberto]

This maybe a stupid question but does this type of vang replace the topping lift for supporting the boom

Yes and no
The advantage is the boom will not fall on the deck or people s heads while the mainsail is hoisted / lowered; the problem is that even with the mainsheet kept taut, if the boat is rolling the spring will be compressed and the boom wildly swing port/starboard, I ended up a few times grabbing boom and mainsail to not being thrown overboard. A rigid vang (like hydraulic ones) would not allow that.
On my boat -same downhaul as the OP- I kept the topping lift, and when just maneuvering I added a transverse strop made as "whoopie sling" to triangulate the pull of the mainsheet: this will lock the boom in place while handling the mainsail, once done I release it and use the topping lift. Care has to be taken not to overstress lazy bag lines. Some pictures here
Stroppo regolabile in dyneema

 

[Tim H]

Sorry for the late response - didn't notice the wee notification bell-thingy had a new reply on my post.

I only needed to undo the upper (wider) section. In my casew the choice was made for me because one of the rivets that holds it together had vanished.

2 months down the line and the vang is still perfectly quiet. I did use a Wurth spary grease on the spring and (I think) WD40 dry lube on the sections that slide against each other. That said, the spray grease has ended up covering everything that moves so I can't say for certain whether it was worth using the 2 lubs. I wanted to ensure that the spring was protected from corrosion, hence using spray grease on that part.

I couldnt believe how much 'stuff' came out the vang when I cleaned it!

Hi dje76, thank you for your reply. I have refurbished my vang, although we've had bad weather and I haven't tested it yet.

I have the double sprung version. I didn't realise at first that you need to remove the rope from the sheaves when you pull it together to remove it. Otherwise you just add to the pressure on the pins that hold the vang in place. Once off, the two tubes separated easily to release one spring. It was a bit of work to remove the rivets and the end piece to remove the other spring.

Mine was also full of black detritus. This seems to come from the heavy plastic 'paint' that the springs were covered with, presumably to reduce friction in the tube. Over 15 years this had worn off on the outside, resulting in surface rust and the aqueaking/screaching sound that echoed down the boom when the boat was in motion. This seems to be a design problem, the plastic on the springs was never going to last.

I wire brushed the rust off the springs, spayed them with two coats of anti rust etch-primer and two epoxy paint top coats. I then sprayed the springs with Boeshield, and sprayed the inner and outer of all the tubes liberally with Mclube dry lubricant as I reassembled it. It felt like it was working well when I reinstalled it, but time will tell.