Jeanneau SO37 - forestay no turnbuckle?

[ato]

Hi, recently my genoa furler started to show some occasional resistance when furling in the first 30-40% or so of the sail. The furler is a Facnor sd165, probably 7 years old. Furling in just by hand is not possible any more, I need to gently support the furling by using the winch. The search function on the forum showed a couple of good advice, so I rinsed the furler inside an out to flush out salt deposits, used McLube on all moving parts that can be reached, slackened the genoa halyard by an inch and checked whether the halyard is wrapping around the forestay. But trying to tighten the forestay I found there is no turnbuckle on the whole forestay. There is no turnbuckle under the furler drum as far as I can see. Is this a common design for Jeanneau SO37s? Now I'm trying to put a little bit more tension on the backstays, just to see whether this will have any effect on the furler. Or is it time to replace the furler?

[neilpride]

There is a couple of allen bolts in some facnor furlers close to the drum, this bolts hold the stainles steel guide to the drum, if bolts are loose the guide have a friction with the drum making hard to turn the furler , check if your furler have this feature...

[ato]

Originally Posted by neilpride

There is a couple of allen bolts in some facnor furlers close to the drum, this bolts hold the stainles steel guide to the drum, if bolts are loose the guide have a friction with the drum making hard to turn the furler , check if your furler have this feature...

i know there is one allen bolt in the part below the furler drum, just below the bearings. will try your suggestion, thank you for the info!

[nigel1]

Have you dropped the sail and flushed out the top swivel?
Regarding the turnbuckle, I have a Bene 473, the genoa is on a SD260, and the staysail on an SD165. The SD260 has no turnbuckle, forestay tension is achieved by tensioning the back stays. The SD165 does have a turnbuckle, and is used to balance the tension between the two forestays.
My SD165 is also showing signs of becoming "tight". I was hopeful that Facnor would provide some instructions on how to strip the thing down to replace the bearings, but they have now gone quiet, maybe its a state secreat. Plan this winter to remove the furler and overhaul it.
Be interested to know the function of the allen bolt below the drum.

[ato]

just got this off another forum, by far the most information regarding furler troubles...

http://www.inyourfootsteps.com/sailing/tips/34/246/a_stubborn_and_resistant_headsail_furler_that_jams _or_releases_and_jams_alternatively_when_furling/?FAQ_ID=246¬ify=

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[ato]

Originally Posted by nigel1

Have you dropped the sail and flushed out the top swivel?

Hi Nigel1, yesterday I dropped the sail, the top part of the furler with the halyard attachment was flushed and lubed with McLube. No difference. But furling a few times today and checking whether the halyard starts wrapping was interesting. There was halyard wrap when the furling became tug-of-war like. I need to try the hint about installing a short pennant between the sail head and the top part of the furler.

[nigel1]

I fitted a diverter to the mast head to increase the halyard angle, worked well.
Slacking the halyard an inch also works a treat.