410: Headboard Batten car

[ozsailer]

Hello all,
I had one of those moments the other day when I went to the mast and found several small ball bearings. Not good. Long story short is that some of the torlon bearings in the headboard car had come out. As a result the headboard car was jamming when we tried to raise it. We did not raise the main due to the stress's put on the main halyard and also if we were to get it up I could not think of to much worse then trying get it down or reef and have it jam.
Yesterday I disconnected the headboard car and pulled it off the track. On inspection it was obvious it was this unit which had lost it ball bearings but it was not obvious why this had happened. On the removed piece of track it did not show any signs of wear.
Despite going over the car with a fine tooth comb I could find no markings as to what brand the cars are for the Lagoon 410. All my research amounted to zip. I have sourced torlon bearings to replace the ones that have been lost but I would be most grateful if any one could tell me the brand of these cars and any reason the bearings would have come out. As the one that came out were in a loose cluster at the base of the mast I don't think they came out a long way up the mast otherwise they would have spread far and wide.


Greg H
SV Sunshine
Lagoon 410S2
Oz

[delmarrey]

Shoot us a picture of the car and I'm sure someone might recognize it. The problem with torlon bearings is they do wear if there is dirt in the track. The ones that came out, are they all the same size and round? If they are good then there has to be an escape route, either on the track or the car.

[Wanderlust]

Is this the one?

I replaced the car for my 1999 model about 18 months ago. It is a Z Spar sytem, and the Australian distributor is Wilson Marine in Perth. From recollection it was a little under $150 and they had it in stock. There is a slight revision to the design and the newer version is in 2 alloy pieces rather than 3. It comes prefitted to a piece of removable track and all the torlon balls needed.

I have also purchased other Z Spar parts through them. If they don't have it in stock, it takes about a week or so for them to be ordered from Z Spars UK. You can download a catalogue from the Z Spars site.

As to why they fell out, I don't know. Is it possible they were the incorrect sized balls? I don't remember if they are 6mm or 1/4".

[monte]

Have a close look at the edge of the car next to the ballbearings where it touches the track. This is where they usually wear and it doesnt take much wear to let the balls out.
Did you remove the car by removing the small section of mast track? This is where it needs to be replaced. Check the track for distortion, especially at the joins. The screws holding the joining rods may be raised/loose anf the joins may be misaligned. This will wear the cars out as well. A good alloy welder should be able to repair the damaged one with a touch of weld and some filing. Keep the cars lubed with silicon spray occasionally and drop the main in control so the cars dont slam together..

[OleLagoon380]

Hi all,
you seems did have no problems to remove the small section of the mast to remove the headboard. Mine seems like welded, it does not move at all. Do you have an instruction to proceed for me?
Many zhanks in advance!
Ole

[RossiPosse]

Ole -


Did you figure out how to remove this section? Mine is also held in tight and I don't want to damage anything. I'm looking for more information before I proceed.
- Rossi