Profurl overhaul, bearings and seals

[goingplaces]

I'm overhauling my two Profurl C320. Part of it is replacing bearings and seals. The bearing is a standard single row industrial ball bearing (16008), easy to find. The seals are double lipped TC 40x68x7. Again, it's a standard industrial seal but the problem is finding them in stainless steel.


Does somebody know where to get them?

[nauticalnomad]

Originally Posted by goingplaces

I'm overhauling my two Profurl C320. Part of it is replacing bearings and seals. The bearing is a standard single row industrial ball bearing (16008), easy to find. The seals are double lipped TC 40x68x7. Again, it's a standard industrial seal but the problem is finding them in stainless steel.


Does somebody know where to get them?

Not really relevant, And I don't have the time to explain. But hold off on purchasing the new model Profurl if its crossing your mind.
I replaced my old profurl with a new C420 this month.
The build quality is no where near as good as the previous model.

[GordMay]

Try Timken ➥ http://www.timken.com/en-us/products...ments/7707.pdf

Or SKF ➥ SKF Canada - Bearings and units Lubrication solutions Mechatronics Seals Services Condition Monitoring Linear Motion - SKF.com/ca

[goingplaces]

Thanks for you input. I couldn't find seals with stainless steel body and ended up using standard seals. All the old seals had the rubber coating cracked right down to the stainless steel body. I hope the new ones wont do that... The mild steel springs I replaced with stainless steel springs.
To Nauticalnomad: the C320's are the new models. Why isn't it relevant to have seals with stainless steel body? Why do you think the quality of the old Profurls is better? Just curious.


There is some info on the web on how to overhaul the Profurls but not much. Profurl don't give out info on how to do it, no drawings and no parts list. Luckily it's not much of a challenge. The most difficult part is getting the bottom circlips out without damaging the hollow aluminum shaft.


Profurls are not really designed with maintenance in mind, e.g. the holes in the housings which allow the excess grease to escape when the last seal is pushed in are sealed with stainless steel balls pressed into the hole - impossible to replace. I drilled new holes and sealed them with grub screws and I also installed grease nipples.


Most disappointing; one shaft was mistakenly machined 0.1mm under size. Profurl just glued the bearings in! To sleeve it isn't possible, it would weaken the hollow shaft too much. The only option was to glue the new bearings in again (I used Loctite 660).


Why did I overhaul the furlers? I bought the two C320's when they were just new on the market almost 10 years ago. I'm redoing the rig and I thought replacing the bearings and the seals would hopefully ensure trouble-free operation for another 10 years. Not a bad idea - moisture had already got well past the seals. The grease behind the seals was discolored but the bearings themselves were still clean. It would've been good for some time but who knows for how long.


Would I overhaul the Profurl again? Definitely not for coastal cruising. Best use it until it gives you troubles and than deal with it. For cruising offshore it makes sense. Being out there with a broken bearing would be a major inconvenience.


Would I buy Profurl again? Not too sure. I guess all the furlers have their pros and cons. I had an issue with the luff extrusions coming apart because the screws holding them together came undone (red Loctide fixed that problem) but apart from that I was quite happy with it. The Profurl seems to work fine but if it comes to maintenance they somehow let you down.


Thoughts?‎

[DevoDave]

Just overhauling my Profurl 350, which is a slightly larger version.

The bearing is a standard type, 16010 and easy to obtain.

Seals are 80 x 50 x 10mm, but again it's hard to find stainless internals.

I carefully drilled a hole in the first seal and extracted it that way rather than risk damaging the sides. Circlip tools are a must and you'll need internal and external pliers. Buy a cheap 4-piece kit on ebay if you don't already have a set.

Be sure to tap out the bearing in the correct direction as there is a machined lip stopping it from going the wrong way.

[DevoDave]

Just received an email from someone wanting more detail and saying I'm one of the few people saying it's not a drama.

Let me state that you MUST have a set of circlip pliers. You'll need ones that open when you squeeze AS WELL AS other ones that close when you squeeze. I purchased a cheap set of 7 inch ones on ebay, and I chose these mainly because they came in a pouch.

I'll explain my method to get the seal out. I drill a small hole in the centre of the flange. Just deep enough to get through the metal underneath, and just large enough for a small screwdriver. Staying well away from the walls it's then a simple matter to pry out the seal. It might be a good idea to keep the garter spring if it's in good condition and stainless.

Then I extracted the first circlip. Using the squeeze to expand one, a bit of manly strength and it was out.

Using a piece of wood to save bruising the alloy (important!) I tapped out the furler and had the main bearing left in the case.

It's quite a large circlip, so more manly strength and the squeeze to close circlip pliers and it was out too. I then tapped the bearing out quite easily.

There was another circlip left on the furler shaft, and when that was removed I could pull off the remaining seal and the cover.

The pictures show the new bearing in place as I hunt down seals with stainless internals. Note on the furler shaft that the black anodizing has worn off where the furler rotates on the seal. Nothing you can do to stop that I suppose, and if I install new seals at more frequent intervals than 10 years I should keep on top of it.

Remember though that this is the C350, which uses 16010 bearings and 80x50x10mm seals. I have no experience with older models.

[belizesailor]

Thanks for posting. My old Profurl is due for an overhaul (15 years of trouble free service, so cant complain). The bearings and seals are standard stuff so that shouldnt be a big deal, but most of the fastners are siezed into place...which is going to be fun.

[DevoDave]

Yeah, mine had some severe galling as well.

The secret there is to chip out the galled metal around the top of the grub screws, then I found if I alternated between driving and removing with my battery drill-driver in screw mode (with a clutch) then eventually they worked themselves out.

[carlfmiller]

What /where is the galling you refer to? Is this the gouged ring(s) around the black center body? You mention around the grub screws, that sounds like corrosion. Are these the screws that lock the center body to the luff extrusion? Id so, I will use Kroil there.my brochure looks like those are socket head cap screws.

I really appreciate the time and effort DevoDave is making to explain this. I hope my Profurl construction is similar--it is old C32 I think. The gold anodized body is round not scalloped like the one shown. But I suppose the interior is similar.

My first attempt to upload a photo-- this from the 1989 Profurl brochure

Carl on Saphira, Kona, Hawaii

[DevoDave]

They're not socket head cap screws, they are small grub screws with a pin machined in the bottom which passes (in my case) through a slide matched to the profile of the foil extrusions and then engages with the extrusion themselves to locks them in place.

I just dismantled the top swivel and everything went smoothly. The top bearing was in much better condition, but as I had to take the forestay off to get the bottom furler off I thought I might as well do both.