Neat tricks to unstick a stuck Furler?

[thereefgeek]

Originally Posted by desodave

When was the last time anything was lubricated?

That's what I was going to say: McLube Sailkote on the top swivel and bottom drum.

To the O.P., yeah, that's a Schaefer. Last year we replaced our headstay and rebuilt our Schaefer 2100 with all new parts for the top swivel and bottom drum. The old bearings were too far gone to work properly due to neglect from the previous owner. We also installed a jib halyard restrainer to alleviate the problems associated with halyard wrap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntu675ydeh4&t=10s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb0Qp0c6-7Y&t=199s

Now everything works smooth as butter.....

[vic008]

I had it bad. Replaced bearings with Torlon. Keep lubricants away, they attract muck

[capt.tmb]

Try mixing vinegar and warm water. Pour over the fuler drum. Gets rid of all the salt
build up.

[hellosailor]

Important equipment, non0functional, of unknown use and care, right?

Best to removeit, break it down, and do a complete R&R on it with proper lubricants and an eyeball inspection to replace worn parts. Do it now because anything less will leave you with a good chance of it freezing back up when you are, say, underway and in need to rolling in the headsail in heavy weather and tight quarters. Ooops. (Thank the boat for letting you know it needs attention now, while that's not a big problem.)

You can usually take a cardboard box, cut a slot in the bottom, slip it under the furler, then re-tape the slot closed, so that if you drop anything it just gets caught in the box instead of the deep blue sea. Put an old terry towel in the bottom of the box to prevent little parts from bouncing around & out of it, if need be.

[scottburch]

Mine stuck for the longest time. I finally figured out how to keep it free. It is an old furler and this works like a charm. Since I found it, I spoke to two riggers that confirmed that I did the right thing. I have since used this technique on other peoples boats and it has worked for them as well.

Turned out to be the top swivel was locking under pressure.

First thing I did when I troubleshooted the problem (you can do this to see if you get the same results). I dropped the sail and tied a line between the drum and the swivel to simulate the sail. I then applied pressure to the halyard and noticed right away that the swivel locked up.

I then tried hauling the sail and reducing the tension on the halyard, but that produced the same results. I then used binoculars to find that the halyard was wrapping which was causing the lock up.

I then tied a line between the halyard shackle and the back of the boat to keep the halyard from wrapping and voila.

This summer I am going to run a block up a shroud so I don't have the line running to the back of the boat, but running that line will help you confirm that the solution works.

I have seen boats with a block or eye down the mast to increase the angle between the halyard and the swivel, but I have not tried that. I am going to go with a line to the halyard shackle for now.

Hope that helps

[DennisRyan]

The PO "upgraded" the furling line to a larger dianeter. It was just enough to jam in the drum. I downsized the line and voila.

[Chotu]

Thanks for all the great information. I’m glad to know it’s a Schaeffer. Now I can take it apart and clean it. The drum at the bottom is the problem. It doesn’t even have a sail on it right now. So it certainly doesn’t have tension. LOL The furling loan is not hanging up either. It’s an in the drum issue..

[Chotu]

Result:

I opened up the furler and cleaned the lower bearing to get it unstuck. Works ok now. Not perfect but ok.

The proper fix is to just order the new lower bearing from Schaefer Marine. When we are done this trip, I'll be getting the new bearing.