MAIN SHEET WIRE HALYARD ROLLER STUCK

[RJMRJM]

Mainsheet wire halyard top roller seised onto its spindle


The aluminium top of mast roller which the main sail wire halyard runs over has seised onto its stainless spindle mainly through not enough use .The main can be hoisted but with some difficulty.does anybody know of a suitable penetrating spray I can use to free the roller up The mast is 40 feet high and I am in Australia. Many thanks for any help. Ron

[skipmac]

If the sheave is aluminum and the shaft is stainless you may be out of luck. Due to being dissimilar metals Al and SS in salt air create a galvanic reaction and the Al will bond itself very tightly to the SS. You can try PB Blaster or Kroil and if it isn't too bad you might get lucky.

Next step if you can take a small torch to the masthead is heat. Get it very hot but take care not to damage the Al as you can melt it with a good torch and add more PB Blaster (careful the metal isn't so hot that the oil flares up).

Also try tapping the sheave and SS shaft with a small hammer. Repeated tap, tap, tap will sometimes break the corrosion and free the parts.

If all that fails you may have to get a large pin driver and hammer and beat the shaft out of the mast, again taking care you don't damage the softer Al.

[sailah]

Mine doesn't use cable but principle is the same. I have 2 shafts (fore and aft) which each contain 3 sheaves. The shafts are SS but sheaves are aluminum. The aluminum sheave on mine has a small bronze oilite bearing. I know this because I removed all of them 2 years ago and buffed the shafts and replaced the bearings.

https://www.mcmaster.com/2868t104

I also had a non turning sheave for a little used halyard which is why I decided to disassemble it all and correct while mast was down.

I would be surprised if the sheave was truly turning on the shaft directly since that would corrode very quickly and bind up. You could try some fancy penetrating oil (I use Kroil unsure if you can get it in Aus) and also some heat on the aluminum if it's safe to do so on your mast. I'd heat it, then try penetrating oil. I wouldn't suggest tapping the sheave without seeing a picture first as you might distort the sheave.

Last resort, and likely best ROI, is to remove it all and get it on a work bench. Ensure shaft is clean and no burrs, bearing/bushing replaced, oiled, and then reinstall. I did mine perched on a ladder in an unfriendly position so I can sympathize with the amount of work required being in a bosun's chair.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, RJMRJM,

You can make your own penetrating oil. Equal parts automatic transmission fluid and acetone. The guys around here have been calling it "weasel piss." It works very well, better than Kroil, which I don't think you can get here, any way.

Heat, pounding, penetrating oil, and repeat. It is a drag, but Jim has won all of these battles so far, and without damaging something important.

Good luck with it.

Ann

[RJMRJM]

Thank you all for your help I will try the gentle TAP TAP TAP and the home made penetrating oil as soon as I can get up there. Will let you know how I get on. Ron

[stormalong]

There is usually a bronze bushing on the sheeve to prevent the problem you are having. I had the same problem when I had someone in NZ make new sheeves for me and he used the wrong bronze, maybe he used brass.

The solution was to pound the shaft with a large hammer and an appropriate sized punch. Just moving it back and forth a few timed loosened it up enough to be usable. Then had Garhaur make better replacements.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Hi, RJMRJM,

You can make your own penetrating oil. Equal parts automatic transmission fluid and acetone. The guys around here have been calling it "weasel piss." It works very well, better than Kroil, which I don't think you can get here, any way.

Heat, pounding, penetrating oil, and repeat. It is a drag, but Jim has won all of these battles so far, and without damaging something important.

Good luck with it.

Ann

Ahh, yes, the often misquoted penetrating oil formula of ATF/acetone. The infamous penetrating oil article that was published in the Machinist's Workshop (2007) made an error in the table and called it ATF when it is clear in the picture it is power steering fluid (left side of pic) that was tested. I've attached the original article.

In 2008, a correction to the article was published (also attached) indicating it was PSF, not ATF.

Bottom line PSF/acetone was the best penetrating oil tested. Maybe ATF/acetone does work, but was never officially tested


Bill O.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Ahh, yes, the often misquoted penetrating oil formula of ATF/acetone. The infamous penetrating oil article that was published in the Machinist's Workshop (2007) made an error in the table and called it ATF when it is clear in the picture it is power steering fluid (left side of pic) that was tested. I've attached the original article.

In 2008, a correction to the article was published (also attached) indicating it was PSF, not ATF.

Bottom line PSF/acetone was the best penetrating oil tested. Maybe ATF/acetone does work, but was never officially tested


Bill O.

That's interesting, Bill. Thank you for the links.

Jim made up some, in the way I described, equal parts ATF and acetone, and it has worked well. Too bad it wasn't tested. We used to use Kroil, and it had been Jim's go to penetrating oil. But now he has been using the "weasel piss", and it has been working. The last thing he did was something "froze up", let it sit over night, and it opened properly the next morning, no heat, no banging.

I think it's neat we can make up something ourselves that will work so well.

Ann

[PaulMarion]

Re stuck roller. I use CRC 5.56 it's great and is readily available in Aus at any auto shops, Repco, Supercheap or Auto Barn, and also on-line at Ebay. Spray and tap until at least something turns. Generally the pin will free from the mast. Then if you can free up the pin from the roller, I usually either use a pin punch or Phillips head screwdriver to tap the pin out, leaving the screwdriver there to support the halyard whilst cleaning up the other parts. Assemble with Marine grease between pin and roller and use Duralac between pin and mast to stop corrosion. Just for your info ATF and power steering fluid is mostly the same base product. Only difference is when specific additives are made for specific brand cars.

[Pearson Stu]

RJMRJM, have you been to the top of the mast and observed this problem? I only ask because it reminds me of a problem I had about 35 years ago wherein my wire halyard jumped out of the sheave and was riding on the shaft, wedged between the outer surface of the sheave and the body of the masthead. Main could still be raised but with the great difficulty that you describe. Just wondering.

[RJMRJM]

Yes Stu, I have been up the mast a couple of times and the sheave is stuck but I will remember your point for future reference.
Paul I am at R.Q. live behind you at Maleny

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by PaulMarion

Just for your info ATF and power steering fluid is mostly the same base product. Only difference is when specific additives are made for specific brand cars.

In general, can't disagree that 85-90 of ATF is a base synthetic oil w/10-15% various blends of additives and PSF is also a base of synthetic oil. As a scientist, this would be like saying most cars are similar since they are made of metal, wheels and have an engine. While maybe splitting hairs here, one has no idea the major impact of the base oil or is it specifically from the additives in a specific brand/type of ATF or PSF.

Looking at the 5 products in original penetrating oil testing (2007), I'm suspecting that the base of all the products is oil and therefore as a lumper, similar. Clearly there was a difference in penetrating power test results of the different oils in this test. Biggest difference could be the acetone, but again would say the other products have some sort of volatile solvent in them similar to acetone.
Don't know but the ATF/acetone mixture seems to work by Jim's results.


Bill O.

[RJMRJM]

Thanks to all for your help, 50/50 worked well and sheave is now rolling around Ron