Furler line keeps jamming in drum

[macbeth]

I've recently installed a new Hood Seafurl furler. The furler line occasionally jams either at the bottom or top of the drum, because the line doesn't move up and down and so keeps feeding at one place until the line gets squashed against the outer cover of the drum.

I keep the line under slight tension when unrolling the genoa by passing it around a winch in the cockpit. I have installed an adjustable feeder block on a stanchion about 3 feet away from the drum. I have de-cored the line for about the first 20' of line. I have tried moving the feeder block up and down the stanchion, but to no avail.

I could install the feeder block on a stanchion that is only about 1' away from the drum. Would this help ? Any other ideas ? e.g the marine store offered me a feeder block that had a ratchet, but I declined it, thinking it wasn't necessary. Maybe it is ???

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by macbeth

I've recently installed a new Hood Seafurl furler. The furler line occasionally jams either at the bottom or top of the drum, because the line doesn't move up and down and so keeps feeding at one place until the line gets squashed against the outer cover of the drum.

I keep the line under slight tension when unrolling the genoa by passing it around a winch in the cockpit. I have installed an adjustable feeder block on a stanchion about 3 feet away from the drum. I have de-cored the line for about the first 20' of line. I have tried moving the feeder block up and down the stanchion, but to no avail.

I could install the feeder block on a stanchion that is only about 1' away from the drum. Would this help ? Any other ideas ? e.g the marine store offered me a feeder block that had a ratchet, but I declined it, thinking it wasn't necessary. Maybe it is ???

Go closer and align for the middle of the drum (the line will start in the middle and and then shift off to either side and it stacks up).

I don't know why more manufactures don't just build a pre-feeder into their systems...sure would save a lot of rigging frustration for owners.

The ratchet block is not necessary, but is useful because it maintains a light tension for you.

[Eric50]

Hi everybody,

It seams that it is a very commen issue with furling system, and may be one that cannot be solved 100%.

Ideally, the line path out of the drum should be as Belizesailor said, centered to the height of the drum (looking aside) and exiting with an 90° angle from the rotational axis of the said drum.

Looking from upside, I don't know if the line exit angle is critical and I always wonder if it should be as perpendicular as possible from the drum (or from the boat center line if you prefer), or it has not significant influence.

Based on our experience, the line is usually harder to pull at the beginning of the furling when the line has not been controlled while unfurling the genoa and was rolled completely as a mess (unevenly) in the drum at this stage.

The more the line is rolled in properly in the drum (while unfurling the genoa), the easier it'll be to furl the genoa afterward.

The trick is to keep a bit of tension when unfurling, the problem is to assess how much of such tension has to be kept...not that obvious.

The line get jammed when you start to pull hard (sometimes with the help of a winch) and that the outside turns of the line are forced inbetween the underside ones in the drum.

One solution we found when things are too hard (normally it should nearly always be possible to pull directly by hand on the line without winching, if you have to do so, something is wrong, and you must not insist), we go at the drum and we turn it by hands the first turns to "unlock" the first layers of line, it then goes free as it should be.

Pardon my poor english maritime vocabulary, the jamming we see in the drum is the same that happen on a winch when the sheets overlap and get caught by itself ("surpattage" in french), I guess there is a particular word to describe the situation in english but could not find the proper translation.

Anyway, I hope it was not too confusing and it helped a bit.

[Blue Stocking]

Macbeth, 3 ft from the drum is not enough. Try from the next stanchion back. Or mount the block with a short pendant to allow it to align itself better as the furling line climbs up/down the drum. You must start with the furling line lead absolutely perpendicular to the foil. Took me a while to get my SL915 to feed well.

[macbeth]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Go closer and align for the middle of the drum (the line will start in the middle and and then shift off to either side and it stacks up).

I don't know why more manufactures don't just build a pre-feeder into their systems...sure would save a lot of rigging frustration for owners.

The ratchet block is not necessary, but is useful because it maintains a light tension for you.

There was a pre-feeder "arm" on my previous furler that stuck out about 8". The arm had a hole in the end through which the line moved. Never had any problem with that ! I should have thought of that ! I'll move the pre-feeder block to the nearer stanchion. Thanks. Yeh, I guess I should have bought the ratchet block !

[Jim Cate]

As an aside: If you remove the core from your furling line, be aware that UV degradation will be occurring and weakening the line significantly. In double braid the core is protected by the cover and thus the line retains much of its strength over time. Without the core, sudden line failure is more likely, and having your genoa suddenly unroll can be an awkward event!

Cheers,

Jim

[macbeth]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Macbeth, 3 ft from the drum is not enough. Try from the next stanchion back.

Hmm ! You're saying go further back, another poster is saying go further in !! Who is right ???!!!

[macbeth]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

As an aside: If you remove the core from your furling line, be aware that UV degradation will be occurring and weakening the line significantly. In double braid the core is protected by the cover and thus the line retains much of its strength over time. Without the core, sudden line failure is more likely, and having your genoa suddenly unroll can be an awkward event!

Cheers,

Jim

Thanks for info. I removed the core on my previous furler line. No problem for 10 years. The boat is only in the water for 5 months a year, and the sun doesn't shine every day up here !!

[Mystic38]

this..

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Macbeth, 3 ft from the drum is not enough. Try from the next stanchion back. Or mount the block with a short pendant to allow it to align itself better as the furling line climbs up/down the drum. You must start with the furling line lead absolutely perpendicular to the foil. Took me a while to get my SL915 to feed well.

[charliehows]

yeah i have a similiar problem, not serious enough to fix asap but when i get around to it im going down from 8mm rope to maybe 5mm - theres not much pressure on the furler rope to need the heavy rope in my opinion. I mitigated the problem some time ago by putting a pulley on the nearest stanchion but it only improved it, not a complete fix.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by macbeth

Hmm ! You're saying go further back, another poster is saying go further in !! Who is right ???!!!

Mine has two aligning points -- one near the drum and one about midships.

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by macbeth

Hmm ! You're saying go further back, another poster is saying go further in !! Who is right ???!!!

Consider the furling line moving up/down the drum as scribing an arc of travel. The exit point of the line , from the block, as the centre of the circle being scribed. The greater the radius (moving the block aft ) the narrower the angle. That set-up, and the short pennant on the block works perfectly on my Hood SL 915.

[macbeth]

I moved the feeder block to the closest stanchion available, about 9" away from the drum. Now works perfectly. So, in this case, the nearer the drum the better. It was already perpendicular to the foil.

Thanks for responses.