Furler Trouble

Paul Brinkley · May 15, 2012

Furling line should be wrapped in opposite direction of the jib. When jib is fully furled, you should have only a wrap or two around spool, so that as you unfurl the sail, the furling line is wound onto the spool. Then when you pull the furling line, the jib will be rolled up again. Forestay should be reasonably tight. Hope this helps. -Paul

Paul Brinkley · May 15, 2012

Roger, the first time I changed my furling line I couldn't figure how many turns to put on the drum to wind up the sail, so I went the other way. I wound the jib as smoothly as I could, then put about 2 turns on the drum. That worked out well, as when the jib is unfurled, I only had as much on the drum as needed to refurl it. Before, when I tried to put too much on the drum, it would jam. -Paul

Benny17441 · May 15, 2012

Also don't forget to lubricate the furler head and halyard swivel following the manufacturer recommendations.

justsomeguy · May 15, 2012

RogerHM said:
Jib sail won't wind around furler properly. Too tight. Pulling the furler line doesn't wind in the sail...
Should line be around spool clockwise or counter-clockwise, or does that matter?
Does the weight of the sail material matter?
How taut should the furler/stay be? (It is somewhat slack at the moment.)
Might the furler mechanics be defective?
This is a Grampian 23. Had Jib repaired last year & it hasn't worked right since...
HELP will be appreciated! (please excuse spelling!)
Roger

If your jib has a UV resistant edge on one side, that'll dictate which direction it's rolled up. HTH

Crazy Dave Condon · May 16, 2012

"Roger;

I am not sure which furler but a couple of things to watch out for.

When the sail is raised and it has wave like action near the luff, the sail is too tight or jib halyard. Also, look at the jib halyard to make sure that the line is not wrapping around the top of the sail as it may be indicative of loose sail or sometimes that the length of the protruding jib halyard may be too long which is easily fixable.

Like they say, keep the swivels clean and lubbed.

MrBee · May 16, 2012

As justsomeguy stated,
The direction the sail / line is rolled will be dictated by the sail. Example - If the UV cover on sail is on the Starboard side then you would wind the sail ON in the counter clockwise direction , looking down at the drum,, and that would mean the line would be wound in the clockwise direction. When we install ours I do just like Paul said, hoist jib and get proper tension on Halyard, have someone hold the jib sheet with a little tension and turn the drum by hand till sail is furled. Then Put 2 - 3 wraps of line around drum so the line comes off the drum on the opposite side that the Clew of the sail is on. Then pull sail out to unfurl it and the lie should wind up correctly.

Brian

MrBee · May 16, 2012

Also, You say it hasn't work properly since having the sail cut.
I doubt it's the cut. Probably an issue from when you reinstalled sail on furler. Also the model of boat makes little difference, What model Furling unit do you have ?

bffatcat · May 16, 2012

furler problems

Lets start from scratch 1 Your jib is hoisted and furled. At this point the drum should have 2 or 3 wraps on it. 2 To unfurl the jib pull on the jib sheets. as you pull the line will wrap around the drum and the jib will unfurl. Jibs usually unfrl clockwise. when the jib is fully unfurled you should have a fully wound drum with a few feet of tail on it to tie the drum off. You could have the following errors. 3 Roller line is too heavy for the drum and the jib wont unfurl completely
Solution get a line with less diameter. 4 You have too many wraps to start with and run out of line before the sail is fully unfurled Solution unwind a few wraps by hand until you are down to 2or 3 wraps 5 and finally your sail will not fully roll up this is because you have run out of line on the drum and it will no longer turn. Summary you need the right amount of line on the drum
to avoid problems

justsomeguy · May 16, 2012

In one of the above scenarios, you could de-core a section of control line to minimize bulk.

jimq26 · May 22, 2012

Roger - I don't think you have mentioned the make of your furler. That will make quite a bit of difference in the proper set up.
For instance - if it's a CDI - do not lubricate it (except with a teflon spray). Never use any oils etc.

Joe11688 · May 23, 2012

Roger,

As Tom mentioned, the the UV shield shall dictate the direction of the rolled up sail. Most sailmakers who install UV shields on converted sails will place a notice at the tack end of the sail which reads, "This side out." To check the drum, tie a 15" X 3/16" line from the clew, around the sail, and back to the clew grommet and remove the Gennie sheets. This will allow you to spin the furler and turn the spool in the drum to make sure that the ball bearings aren't froze up.
If you have a CDI Roller Furler FF-2 with frozen ball bearings, you can remove the bearings and substitute them with a flat stainless steel washer for the drum to spin on.

When I bought my CDI FF-2, I had the option of bearing and the washer. I chose the washer. Small boat furlers can get away with using just a washer for the spool to spin on. This only applies to small CDI Roller Furlers FF-1 and FF-2 as far as I know.

I'm not certain about the number of wraps that should be left on the drum when the Gennie is rolled up. My drum control line is a little short since I moved the furling cleat aft two years ago. I'm still able to operate it with no problems, but I think it needs to be longer. The manuals on these furlers can be downloaded from the web.
Good luck!
Joe

Maine Sail · May 23, 2012

RogerHM said:
Thanks Paul!
Didn't know sail & line went in opposite directions...
Which is best to wind on first? I guess, IF the line is wound on by hand, the jib loose, when the line is pulled off of the spool the jib is wound onto the furler/stay?? More thanks!! Roger

You can wind it on the spool in either direction but the way it rolls must leave the sails UV cover on the outside not rolled up on the inside of the sail..

If your UV cover is on starboard the the drum line enters drum to port

If your UV cover is on port the drum line enters drum to starboard

The UV cover on this sail was on the port side of the sail thus the furler line enters the drum to starboard..

woodster · May 23, 2012

Maine Sail said:
You can wind it on the spool in either direction but the way it rolls must leave the sails UV cover on the outside not rolled up on the inside of the sail..

If your UV cover is on starboard the the drum line enters drum to port

If your UV cover is on port the drum line enters drum to starboard

The UV cover on this sail was on the port side of the sail thus the furler line enters the drum to starboard..

not to hijack the thread here but do you consider this a good furler that is posted in the pic...i have the exact same one to go on my boat ....any think i need to watch out for on the install.....

regards

woody

Sam Salter · May 23, 2012

You don't need to know which way the furling line goes round the drum.

Take off your furling line from the drum.
Hoist your jib with sheets attached.
Roll up the jib by hand with someone keeping a little tension on the sheet. Put more sheet wraps around the completed roll than you would usually leave on.
(This will compensate for a possible tighter roll up when the wind is in the sail)
Feed the furling line through the little hole and tie a stopper knot.

That's it!
When you pull out the jib for the first time it will roll up the furling line correctly.

As previously mentioned:
Roll up the jib with the UV stripe on the outside.
If your drum fills up with line, decore the part that goes in the drum.

Unless you have a CDI furler, halyard tension is dictated by draft position. As the wind gets up it will tend to push draft position back toward the leech. It should be at about 35% to 40%. So jib halyard tension should be adjusted to suite conditions. That's why the jib halyard is led back to the cockpit.

sam