Selden Furlex Stiff

[BigAl.NZ]

Hi All,

We have a Selden Furlex 300S on our 40 foot yacht.

It seems to be a little stuff as even when I release the sheet ropes I can barely bring it in by hand. Everything I have read is that this is not good and it should come in easily, and definitely without a winch.

So I am looking how its setup.

1. There is blocks with pulleys on the first two stanchions, but then two eyes after that.
2. Grease the bearings maybe.

Anyone have any experience with these?

Thanks

Al

[Jim Cate]

these furlers do require regular greasing, and failure to do so can damage the s/s ball bearings that it rides upon. Our elderly model also became stiff. The service manual said to grease the bearings, but failed to specify how much grease was needed, and I erred on the stingy side for some years before it started being an issue. I then used some engine oil squirted into the grease nipples to loosen it up, followed by copious greasing, and this helped enormously. Later a friendly rigger managed to disassemble the drum bearings, and about half of the balls wer roughly cubes rather than spheres. Replacing them made another huge improvement, and now, thirty years old, it runs pretty smoothly.

Might be a lesson in there somewhere!

Jim

[Marathon1150]

We had a Furlex unit on a previous boat and it has similar issues until we lubricated it regularly as per the above post. This was one of the reasons we did not put a Furlex on our current boat which had a hanked on headsail when we first bought it. However, the Schaefer unit also seized up completely after about 10 years because the rinsing system devised by Schaefer was inadequate. They helpfully provided a new unit to us and hundreds of others for a nominal $25.

[BigAl.NZ]

Originally Posted by Marathon1150

We had a Furlex unit on a previous boat and it has similar issues until we lubricated it regularly as per the above post. This was one of the reasons we did not put a Furlex on our current boat which had a hanked on headsail when we first bought it. However, the Schaefer unit also seized up completely after about 10 years because the rinsing system devised by Schaefer was inadequate. They helpfully provided a new unit to us and hundreds of others for a nominal $25.

Good to know - did you have to disassemble it to grease it?

[Marathon1150]

I dismantled much but not all of the drum (Furlex are complicated) to figure out what was wrong after doing a test somewhat like what you did (tried turning the furler by hand and found it very stiff. BTW, the Schaefer that I mentioned and that we replaced the furler drum on, was frozen solid). The old thing about duct tape if it moves and shouldn't and WD-40 if it doesn't move and should, is one of my favourite quips. I used winch grease and only did it once because we sold the boat not long after that.

[gmowbray]

I have a Furlex 200 E (electric) on my Bavaria 38. I leave the boat n the Caribbean and just got here after about 3 months away.

when I leave the boat I take the jib off - so I know that when I left last time that the furler was working (I think fine).

When I got here on Thursday I put the jib up and when I went to roll it in - nothing.

I have checked the power (took the belt off and the motor turned fine).

The belt looks perfect and tension seemed fine.

Using the emergency manual furling - I cannot move it at all so it seems that there is something stuck.

I disconnected the foil from the collar at the unit and could turn the foil by hand so it is not stuck.

I have not (yet) damaged the furler or dropped anything overboard - but I have examined everything I can do in a low risk manner but I get no hint of what the problem might be.

When I was gone there was noone using the furler nor any bangs etc. so I am at a loss to figure out what might be the issue. Even if there were water/rust inside it would be hard to believe rust would hold it that tightly.

No, there are no service people here in Saint Lucia.

Does anyone have any pointers or experience or ideas?

Thanks

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by gmowbray

I have a Furlex 200 E (electric) on my Bavaria 38. I leave the boat n the Caribbean and just got here after about 3 months away.

when I leave the boat I take the jib off - so I know that when I left last time that the furler was working (I think fine).

When I got here on Thursday I put the jib up and when I went to roll it in - nothing.

I have checked the power (took the belt off and the motor turned fine).

The belt looks perfect and tension seemed fine.

Using the emergency manual furling - I cannot move it at all so it seems that there is something stuck.

I disconnected the foil from the collar at the unit and could turn the foil by hand so it is not stuck.

I have not (yet) damaged the furler or dropped anything overboard - but I have examined everything I can do in a low risk manner but I get no hint of what the problem might be.

When I was gone there was noone using the furler nor any bangs etc. so I am at a loss to figure out what might be the issue. Even if there were water/rust inside it would be hard to believe rust would hold it that tightly.

No, there are no service people here in Saint Lucia.

Does anyone have any pointers or experience or ideas?

Thanks

Certainly sounds like the bearings have seized up, as mentioned in several posts upthread.

So, read the manual! It should have instructions for lubricating the bearings. I'd suggest flushing the bearings with some lighter solvent, even diesel oil and then when that runs reasonably clear, regrease using the recommended grease.

In the older Furlex models the bearings were nominally stainless steel balls, but I have personally seen them badly rusted up and well out of round. If yours are that bad, some professional help in replacing t hem may be required.

Good luck.

Jim

[gmowbray]

You are, of course, right about the manual (in general) but there is nothing I could find in the 2-3 manuals that gives me a sense of how to open it up and check the bearing(s). I don’t want to blithely unscrew everything I see in case I get to that dreaded place where I cannot put it back again!

[Jim Cate]

I'm not suggesting opening it up... at least on the older models, that was not a DIY job for most folks.

Rather I was suggesting flushing out the bearings via their normal grease access ports. As I mentioned, this worked on an older model "C" Furlex. I suspect it might work on your newer model. If it does not, you will not have done any additional damage to the unit.

Jim

[gmowbray]

THanks. I was too cryptic in my previous - I had drenched the bearing in WD40 type stuff - you know a spray light liquid rust remover. I did that several times (essentially following your advice albeit with different liquids) - after some time I used a wrench on the shaft of the manual emergency unit and managed to get some movement. So my version of your advice seems to have helped. While there is movement - the friction is still way too high I think to call the unit operational and I feel that if I were to try the electric motor I would likely burn it out (It takes a strong pull on the manual unit to get any movement). It was with that in mind that I wrote my previous - it seems a deeper dive into the unit would be necessary and that is where the risk of a significant and expensive "oops" arises. I shall try pushing grease into the unit today to see if that helps but I am not optimistic. Thanks though.

[Jim Cate]

You might try an intermediate step of injecting engine oil through the bearings and rotating manually before the grease. That seemed to help with ours.

If your bearings have gone way out of round like ours eventually did, lubrication ain't gonna be enough!

Jim