Help with Hood LD Furler

[saltygator]

I just got home from the boat and I am online trying to figure out how to fix my Hood LD furler. The very bottom of the extrusion is split. Questions is; Do I have to order a new section of extrusion or can I just cut off an inch and carry on? I can't remember if the bottom of the extrusion is different or not and I did not take a picture. Anybody out there have any experience with a Hood LD furler?

 

[r.w.landau]

Attached is a link to Hoods tech stuff.

With a little digging, I think you will find what you are looking for.r.w.landau

 

[Bruce Leidal]

Order a new part...

Hood manuals are tough to find on-line. I have an origional manual that I shared with a friend who had the top extrusion split. If the extrusion has split it is usually due to the loss of a part. My friend lost a bearing.From the bottom the Hood SL parts are:1. Drive unit assembly (drum and an oversized tube)2. Tack Socket (2 halves)& Bearing3. Feed Extrusion (lower half with a wider slot to feed sail luff)4. Splice Pieces (2 halves to attach upper and lower extrusion)& Bearing5. Plain extrusion (top half)6. Top bearingThe Tack Socket parts fit onto the bottom of the Feed Extrusion and hold the lower Bearing in place. The Tack Socket is attached to the Drive Unit with a nylon screew. The two extrusions are held together with the Splice Pieces, which also hold the center Bearing. The Plain Extrusion is held on center with the Top Bearing.My experience is a split is cause from missing or worn parts (Bearings, Tack Socket, etc.) that allow the unit to flex and bind when rolled. This leads to the halyard or bolt rope stressing the unit until it splits. If you cut the lower extrusion the top swivel will be lower and change the angle of top pennant. If the angle becomes lower than 15 degrees the halyard will wrap at the top of the forstay, rather than furl.I suggest determining why the extrusions split and replacing the parts to put the unit in good working order. Each part can be ordered seperatly from Hood. Nothing worse than being in a blow and not being able to reduce head sail. (I have first hand experience)Hope this helps,Bruce

 

[walmsleyc]

It is different.

Cutting the extrusion should have no effect on the halyard angle unless you somehow change the height of the tack of the sail. Of course, you need to have enough extra extrusion at the top to make up for what you cut off.The lower extrusion of my LD 8XX is about to split. It is different that the other segments of the luff extrusions, in that it has a large(ish) diameter hole that facilitates locking it to the lower driver unit. I intend on carefully (using a dremel) cutting off the lower 1-2" and then I will have to cut a new hole so it will all fit back together. Very hard to describe, but if you have it sitting in front of you, it will make sense.Chris

 

[Sail Maine]

Permanent Fix

Stop throwing good money after bad. When our LD furlers had problems we replaced with Profurl. That was one of the best improvements we made to our boat. I sold my old parts on eBay. If you really want to waste money Pompanette has the manuals and parts lists online www.pompanette.com/home clic on "Hood", then "Online Catalog".

 

[Warren Milberg]

I, too, had a Hood LD furler....

I found that I could keep adding this or that part, but in the end I still had an aging furler. You can keep putting new saddles on old horses, but you still have an old horse...If you are going to keep your boat for the indefinite future, I'd get a new furler (and one designed to reef your headsail, unlike the Hood LD).

 

[Boat Babe]

I'm in the same boat

I too have a Hood 810 SL and Pompanette has an upgrade to their Hood 800LD system. I'm considering upgrading (they quoted me $700+ for the upgrade to a completely new system). As an alternative, on line, I found a new Profurl unit (C290) at The SailWarehouse for %892. I agree that a new unit would be bette than repairing an old SL system which is not designed for reefing. Good Luck, Steph

 

[Michael Cotton]

Hood furlers

I had 2 Hood furlers. Hood assured me all the problems with my first unit were resolved in a new design. They lied. Buy Harkin, Schaffer, Profurl ENYTHING but Hood.

 

[saltygator]

Thanks for all the responses.

The tack extrusion (thanks Bruce for the the proper nomenclature) split when I let it fall down and hit the lower turnbuckleduring disassembly. It was my fault. I am thinking about replacing, but I'm also going to look at the cost of fixing it. It has been pretty good to me, I know there are a lot of critics, but so far, I have caused the only problem.John