My 'Maintenance-Free' Facnor Headsail Furling Unit Needs Maintenance

[Captan]

Thank you danmancs. I had seals made by seal specialist and found ball bearings, i will not replace bushings for now. Also, there is the question about what grease to use, if we use thick one like harken one it will make the swivel harder to trun and if we use light greese it will degrade faster.

[giovanniprato]

Originally Posted by Captan

Anatomy of LS 165 sviwel (ss bearings).
It can be done easy only if the factory was kind enough to supply us with some info.

Hello, do you have also direction to open the drum ?
I have a ls100 that has become very hard.
Thank you
Giovanni from Italy

[Gerrit Coetzee]

Originally Posted by danmancs

What you can do is get the seals made by a specialist who machines them; we have such a place in Brisbane and the 4 seals cost me $40 odd each. The ball bearings I sourced at a bearing supplier, mine were 8mm so may be more common. The bushes I machines from UHMW PE.

Mind indicating if you could replicate the parts, and willingness to expedite shipping to a place such as Puerto Rico?

Gerrit

[Gerrit Coetzee]

My boat is a 2012.

Facnor told my rigger that they only replace for free models from 2013 models. Any lucky ones out there? Not me.

[Gerrit Coetzee]

How about drill a hole on the side, screw a grease nipple in, and pump it full of grease...?

But how to get any goo out and where to drill such a hole??

[72North]

I have a Facnor LX200 from 2008, same problem, so stiff it is a nightmare to use. My top swivel was replaced, at 1000 euros, just for the top haul swivel alone. Now i realize i need to replace the drum bearing, looking at a similar budget.

This makes me consider either the Facnor Flat deck furler, which from a mechanical point should make furling a lot easier, however I am put off by the quality seen on my 2008 model LX200. To be Fair, the rig has crossed the Atlantic several times, south and north, been to Greenland and Svalbard and gotten some milage. I would expect any system to be due for replacement by this time.

Other options are a complete swap to Harken or Selden. which roll a lot easier. I do however really like the idea of a flat deck furler with webbing.