furlex line guard jam

[Pat Hooyman]

I have a Furlex 200s furler on a Hunter 38. I have, on several occasions, had the furling line jam between the bottom of the line guard and the furling drum. When this happens it is very difficult to clear since the line guard housing does not allow access to the furling line, drum or guard.

I have taken the line guard and its housing off the unit and the furler works fine without them.

Is there any good reason to keep this line guard on? Most other furling units do not have anything like this and work fine. Has anyone else done this?

 

[BobM]

I have had this happen too, but not with a furlex. If you keep tension on the sheet as you pull on the furling line that will help. Also, I checked the manual and while it didn't recommend this, many furlers require that you strip the core out of the line on the drum so the drum isn't so close to max capacity. Just remember to leave some core, about 1/2 to 2/3 of a boat lengths worth, to make the line easier to handle in the cockpit when you need to furl.

 

[CalebD]

We have the Furlex 100S unit on our 27' sailboat. The problem we have encountered is with the pre-feeder for loading the sail on the furler. The pre-feeder is a metal fitting that grabs the luff tape which is attached to the unit by a small elastic (bungee type) line. When the drum starts spinning while unwinding the jib the pre-feeder will sometimes swing out and foul the furling drum control line. Since this 'feature' is only used for loading the sail on the furler I am considering removing it.
This does not sound like the problem you are having with your 200S unit though. I think the only problem you might encounter by removing the line guard is if the furling control line jumped the bail or spool and wrapped around the unit. This would be unlikely if there is some tension applied on the control line when deploying the genny (which should be a normal practice anyway).

 

[Cayennita]

Always maintain tension as you unfurl. Otherwise it will be the same as an over ride on your winches. When you go to furl, the loose line will tighten before the drum starts turning and then you have a mess.

 

[Warren Milberg]

I also have a Furlex 200 on my boat and also had the same problem once in a while. Since I use either a 150 and 120 genoa at times, the amount of turns on the drum (when the sail is deployed) can differ significantly and add to the problem of a line jam. First make sure you only have a few extra turns on the drum for the size sail you use. Secondly, on my boat the furling had been going from the line guide to the first fairlead which was attached to the pulpit stanchion. I thought that created an incorrect exit angle for the furling line and so added another block about a foot forward and attached to the toe rail with a shackle. So far, these actions, along with keeping tension on the furling line when deploying the sail, have resulted in no more line jams. I am also glad to hear your furler works well without the drum covers and line guide. I had thought about trying that if I continued to have jams. But all seems well for the time being.

 

[Al - s/v Persephone]

The angle at which the furling line exits the drum on its way to the first fairlead is critical on my Furlex 200S (05H36).

Once the first fairlead was properly positioned on the pulpit so the exit was at 90 degrees, the only other times I experienced override jams were when I got careless about keeping tension on the furling line as the jib unfurled in strong wind conditions.

Fair winds,
Al - s/v Persephone

 

[Don12364]

My Solution

My furler is a Profurl but most furlers suffer this problem because, although one keeps tension on the line whilst unfurling and cleats it off when the sail is fully open, when the boat turns downwind and the jib/genoa alternately flops from side to side it causes a half turn of slack to develop. If this process continues then inevitably a turn gets over the lower lip of the drum.
It can also happen whilst tacking too.
There is quite a bit of force involved as you will discover if you try to hold the luff spar whilst this is happening. This force is easily sufficient to force the reefing line between drum lip and the protective cage or tube.
I got caught like this after a 60 mile downwind ski ride. Single handed I was in real trouble trying to furl the sail whilst the boat leaped from wave to wave. With everything up I dared not turn into wind and the tricky Needles Channel at full ebb was to leeward.

The three photos show what I made to ensure this could never happen again. No. 1 is as original. No. 2 is the ring & No. 3 is with the ring in place.

The aluminium ring fits ON TOP of the lower flange of the reefing drum. It is retained by the four vertical rods of the cage and, as it is a loose sliding fit on these rods, it rubs on the top of the lower flange.
My photo is dated March 2002 so there has been no incidence of this difficulty since then.

As an alternative, and before I made the ring, I put a small block on the reefing line with a foot of bungee up to the lower lifeline. When unreefing I pulled the line taught as normal and the bungee kept some tension on the line whilst the boat tacked and gybed.

Drawings available for any Profurlers just PM me.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Some tension as others have suggested is a very good idea. The line guard is instrumental in feeding the line into the drum properly. The lead to this opening should be as close to 90 degrees as possible and this is facilitated with the use of a lead block attached to the bow rail aft base area at the right height to lead the line fair at a 90. Very important as stated above too. If you use the size line that Furlex provided, then you should be ok there. If too big, then that can be problematic. I think Furlex is the best furling system out there and I haven't heard many complaints about them at all. As a matter of fact I hear more good than bad and that is not true of many other systems. That's my 2 cents.