Furler won't unfurl.

[ProDave]

I think ours is Plastimo furler it looks like this one



Am I right in saying even if it won't swivel, I will still be able to unwind the headsail and be able to pull that down out of the foil and the top mechanism will come down? Of will it being jammed from rotating also means it won't slide down the foil?

Trying to avoid having to drop the mast.

 

[jamie N]

The item that your finger is touching, should rotate independently from the 'foil'.
Am I right in thinking that your problem is with the foil not rotating?
If the foil does rotate, then each mechanical issue is in front of you; I'm sure that you know that so this is a "what if?" sorry!
Yes, the sail can be unwound from the foil should the swivel fail, but that would mean unwinding the sail (& the sheets) around the forestay.

 

[ProDave]

That is not my boat, just one I found that looks the same. Mine is still up the mast with the sail on the foil. It won;t unfurl, it's not jammed at the bottom.

So if I go over at the weekend, unwind the sail from the foil manually will pulling the sail down the slot pull the top mechanism down, or will the fact it won't rotate mean it won't slide down the foil either?

if it was down like the picture it shouldbe simple to work out what is jamming. That is where i want to get to without dropping the mast.

 

[geem]

That is not my boat, just one I found that looks the same. Mine is still up the mast with the sail on the foil. It won;t unfurl, it's not jammed at the bottom.

So if I go over at the weekend, unwind the sail from the foil manually will pulling the sail down the slot pull the top mechanism down, or will the fact it won't rotate mean it won't slide down the foil either?

if it was down like the picture it shouldbe simple to work out what is jamming. That is where i want to get to without dropping the mast.

Have you checked the obvious, thst you don't have a halyard wrap at the top? It's very common

 

[steppygas]

The furling unit should still slide up and down the foil. The sail will need manually unfurling by passing it around the foil I.e pass the clew around the outside and back under until unfurled to then drop it.

Once dropped that top nut with the indents in can be made with some persuasion to undo and separate to wash out the bearings.

However as said check for halyard wrap first, I'd had this issue but was caused by the nut undoing and the swivel undoing itself whilst the sail was up!

 

[Refueler]

Binoculars and stand back - get a good look at the top of sail ... ie looking for halyard wrap or something ...

But yes remove sheets ... then pass sail round and round unfurling and collecting sail .... then release halayrd to allow you to pull down sail .... the top swivel should slide down with the sail ....
The rotation of the top swivel should have no effect on ability to slide down foil.

Once all down ... BEFORE dismantling the swivel body - not something to do without first making sure you don't lose anything from inside ... I would pour hand hot water (temp that you can accept on hand) over the swivel body to wash out salts / crud that gets collected inside ... even Seagull 'poop' !! Or that dreaded Starling Blackberry 'poop' ....

 

[Daydream believer]

Binoculars and stand back - get a good look at the top of sail ... ie looking for halyard wrap or something ...

He forgot to add. Stand on the hard or a pontoon first

 

[justanothersailboat]

Assuming it's not halyard wrap, then "can't unfurl" and "can't slide down the foil to allow you to get the sail off" are two different, largely independent things that can be wrong with a roller furler top swivel - and it is not particularly likely that you'll get both at once. (I have had both. But not at the same time)

 

[Shaddickp]

Alternative approach - On windless morning go up mast, tie mouseline to swivel, release headsail from top swivel, go back to deck taking mouse line with you, manually unwind headsail, drop headsail. pull down swivel, then sort out the issue.

 

[ProDave]

Thanks it looks like a calm day today. It was too windy when we discovered the problem to unwind it manually. I will be going shortly to try again.

 

[capnsensible]

If you have unwound the sail by hand, you won't have much furling line on the drum. Once the sail is off, worth loading the drum back up before rehoisting.

Hope you get a result, this is always a pita and very often a halyard wrap. If the mast has a diverter, this coming adrift can cause it. Or spare/spinnaker halyard.

 

[garymalmgren]

I think ours is Plastimo furler it looks like this one

The unit in the first photo is a Plastimo "s" series furler.
I will post a link to the Plastimo manual.

https://www.tcschandlery.co.uk/files/pdf/pdf6212.pdf

Am I right in saying even if it won't swivel, I will still be able to unwind the headsail and be able to pull that down out of the foil and the top mechanism will come down?

Yes, You can untie the sheets and pysically unwrap the sail until you can release the halyard and lower the sail and top swivel. Providing the swivel is not corroded to the foil. A good tug should hopefully resolve that.

Am I right in saying even if it won't swivel, I will still be able to unwind the headsail and be able to pull that down out of the foil and the top mechanism will come down?

I am not so clear on this part, however from the manual you will see that the swivel is fitted from the top and can only be removed up.
That means removing the whole foil, and laying it flat to slide off the swivel.

Trying to avoid having to drop the mast.


You don't need to drop the mast to remove the furler (see manual page 9 "Flat Assembly").
You simply do the opposite of the assembly process to remove the furler.

However. if you can get the sail and swivel down. the standard cleaning / freeing up process is douse the the internals with warm soapy water. Rinse till free and squirt in a little dish washing detergent to lubricate.

gary

 

[Martin_J]

If it's not halyard wrap, then..

For the part that you pictured, the centre part bracketed below should rotate freely whilst you hold the foil extrusion (and the rest of the black part remains inline with the foil)..



Regarding the bottom, the aluminium foil extrusion and the black drum arrowed should rotate together..



If its the drum/extrusion that are stiff, then perhaps plastic bearings seized.. replacement parts available near Emsworth at Ocean Chandlery.

 

[Martin_J]

A lot of individual parts are available...

Ocean Chandlery - headsail reefing parts

For example..

 

[alahol2]

I know the first pic is not your boat but one reason for jamming is NOT using the special cranked shackle that Plastimo supply to attach the halyard. It can also cause the top cap of the swivel to undo 'on its own'.

 

[Martin_J]

Well spotted Alahol2. The cranked shackle needs to be in the location circled below..



Not using the cranked shackle does prevent the foil from turning... or it clicks brutally on each turn.

 

[Martin_J]

VicS posted a series of pictures in this previous thread showing how use of the wrong shackle at the top causes the issue with the halyard catching and trying to undo and release the bearng balls...

cranked shackle

 

[ProDave]

VicS posted a series of pictures in this previous thread showing how use of the wrong shackle at the top causes the issue with the halyard catching and trying to undo and release the bearng balls...

cranked shackle

That might be the thread I borrowed that photo from.

We do have the correct cranked shackle.

I will be going shortly. I will take photos.

 

[Martin_J]

For posterity, the clearest diagrams showing how the cranked shackle avoids catching the swivel are shown in the instructions looked to earlier.



and

 

[Martin_J]

Not my boat but I was up another mast last summer checking out a Plastimo furler and this video I took shows what happens when the wrong shackle is used at the top...