CDI Flexible Furler Friction

[Mario Kuttnig]

Hi All,

I have a Catalina 22 Sailboat with a CDI flexible furler on my forestay.
This thing used to work fine two years ago, now the friction when rolling the jib in is unbearable.
I dismantled the furler, since my mast is still down, and i was able to locate where the friction originates from. It is where the cup touches the drum assembly.

It looks like a design flaw to me, but by this drawing from the manual it is not. Does anyone know about this problem, and how to best fix it? (It looks to me like lubrication will not do the job)

Thank you!
Mario

 

[JohnVTX]

Only lubrication you should use is rinsing with water. Are your torlon balls worn?

 

[Mario Kuttnig]

So just rinse that part with fresh water?
I wasn't able to get the cup of far enough to unscrew the turnbuckle, so I can't tell about the bearing, but when I move that cup down only by 1 milimeter, it turns fine. Well, i guess I see what you mean - once the forestay is tight, there might be load on the bearing which could cause additional friction, did I get that right?

Thank you!
Mario

 

[JohnVTX]

Too tight does cause more friction, but yes water is all you use.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Check the manual for proper shimming. If I recall, it was pretty important. Mine didn't have a bearing though. Also, the furling line thickness would affect it. Did you replace it lately with something thicker?
On the subject, I wanted some thicker line that the Admiral could hold on to. Furling was her job. I tried decoring some line so it could still fit in the drum but it was still too thick.. Never spent the money to try it again.

 

[Mario Kuttnig]

I kept the same furling line, just washed it with fabric softener
The shimming is something i will look into. Maybe something broke and came off, and now tht cup is pushing to hard upwards causing the friction. Thank you all for your ideas!

 

[agprice22]

Not all CDI furlers have torlon ball bearings. The drum simply rides an HDPE bearing on the bottom of the cup. Perhaps you have worn down the bearing? The shimming being spoken of... Washers which space the T bolt from the bottom of the cup, so the toggle will reach the chainplate? Otherwise, there are no shims listed in the diagram. There is a thrust washer between the drum and bearing.

 

[Dennis Kitchen]

In your drawing item "M" should be a thrust washer. Check your assembly to see if it's there.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Specify if it is an FF1 or FF2 system from CDI. When I use to install them as a dealer, several things to look at. First, is the internal halyard tight and by that is the sail pulled up all the way as that line and bolt rope in the sail may stretch/shorten with age? Anyway make sure the sail is up all the way and then ensure the downhaul is tight. I have seen sagging of the sail put weight on one side of the drum to cause that. Where the red arrows point to that turning drum is the ridge it sits on the cup worn out.

As mentioned there are no bearings in these systems but an annual cleaning is in order to get any debri out. Next there is a white round delron piece in the bottom which needs to be inspected to make sure it is not busted or pieces/parts broken off. In addition if it is loose from the bottom of the drum, tighten it.

Above all do not add grease or any lubricant to that drum and if there has been any in it, clean it out. Since we are not there, then you can always take photos and post. I do not know how old your boat or furling system is but many good suggestions in this thread which to look at.

 

[Mario Kuttnig]

Once More, thank you all for your ideas. I tried to rinse it, even soaked it for 48 hours in fresh water with some dishwashing detergent, then another 48 hours in clear water.
The friction remains unchanged.

Crazy Dave Condon: That ridge on the drum, you're talking about, is that not supposed to be there? Can you have a look at the photos below?
Let me show you some more pictures, maybe it helps to find the problem:

So in picture "A" there is no friction. The cup is lowered about 2-3 mm, and it rolls like a charm (screws at the bottom are in, so the inner part is rolling too)

In Picture "B", when the cup is all the way up, it hardly can be moved. The friction originates exactly from where the arrow points to.
I'm wondering if the cup is supposed to be up that far. To complicate things even more, I cannot get the turnbuckle open, so i cannot look inside. It seems to be seized up (tried WD40 every day for a week - still stuck)

That white plastic piece at the bottom looks fine though...

So, my only idea would be to grease that area where the friction comes from, but everyone here seems to be positive that this must not be done.
The fore-stay is currently down (mast down) so there is no vertical tension on it, as well as there is no sail and halyard mounted.
I cannot get that drum off far enough to see inside, because the fore-stay is "too short" to slide the aluminum profile up - if that makes sense. Please see the top:

Last spring it worked perfectly fine, but over the summer 2015 it got harder and harder to turn it.

Thank you guys for sharing ideas here!

 

[JohnVTX]

Have you tried calling CDI?

 

[Mario Kuttnig]

Have you tried calling CDI?

I did not, since i am European, and even though my English is quite OK, i lack the technical terms.
However, I just found an e-mail address they are offering, so i will inquire this topic...

 

[justsomeguy]

I cannot get that drum off far enough to see inside, because the fore-stay is "too short" to slide the aluminum profile up - if that makes sense.

There should be a clevis pin just a bit above the drum. Pull the ring ding keeper and then the pin, and you should be able to raise the drum enough to see the turnbuckle. Good luck.

 

[Mario Kuttnig]

There should be a clevis pin just a bit above the drum. Pull the ring ding keeper and then the pin, and you should be able to raise the drum ...

Thank you! I actually removed that pin, and I am able to slide the drum up and down by about 1 in. That way i can see, that the plastic piece inside seems to be good. Also i can see the turnbuckle's top bolt (with a reception for a 5mm wrench)
Maybe i need to use more WD40 to be able to unscrew that turnbuckle

 

[justsomeguy]

You're welcome. Get some photos of your stuff and post them here, eh?
Note how many threads are exposed on the turnbuckle for reassembly, then remove the turnbuckle completely. You should be able to pull the entire forestay out from the top.

Good luck.

 

[flynhi4u]

There is a large washer that goes between the cup and drum. If you leave that out it will cause the drum to sit too far down in the cup causing interference. I know I forgot to install that darn washer and knew right away something was wrong. The only way you could have lost it was if you had the forstay undown and the cup off. Any chance it was not installed when you put it back together?

Sam

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

I was going to suggest checking the white delrin inside the cup and also the large washer. thank you Flyhi4u

 

[flynhi4u]

No problem Dave. Only know that because I installed it without the washer once.

Sam

 

[GregL564]

Ditto what Crazy Dave and Sam said. The source of your problem could definitely be a missing stainless washer. My recollection is that it is at least 1/8" thick.

 

[agprice22]

I think he is saying the white plastic piece (thrust washer) seems to be good? Hmmm. My CDI furler definitely has a slight gap between the cup and the drum. His does not. There has to be something missing or worn. The only thing between them seems to be the washer.