positioning of kombi'spropeller blades

[ttyliniemi]

Hello,

I have a VP MD6B and a kombi reversing from -75 in my Vega. During
last winter I changed the bearings and sealings of the kombi, stern
gland and renewed the sternbearing. Even dismantled the propeller
boss (monitoring tube and shaft)and changed the o-ring there. So,
everything were dismantled, checked and cleaned.
Now I have started to reassemle the parts but faced problems because
the adjustment of the prop blades does not function correctly. I
can't get the blades to the sailing position and I am afraid that
installed the blades some how wrong (poor documentation before
disassembly).
I started the installation by checking that the marks on the blade
and boss match but the adjustment still doesn't work properly.
I am quite sure that the sleeve in the kombi is OK but if the
position of the blades is not OK, the result is that even the
touch of the sleeve and the toothed shaft is not correct =
adjustment range not right?
The question is if somebody has pictures of the propeller in full
feathered, free and full forward positions or can otherwise tell how
to check the positioning of the blades and the sleeve.
All advices are welcome.

Best Regards
Timo

 

[jhellsk]

While on the subject of propellers..

I'm in the market for a sailboat yesterday I went to look at a Vega.
All in all it was in pretty good shape, it's a -79 with the VP MD7
engine.
We went by engine out of the docks, and it struck me as odd how slow
it went even on a a high engine rpm, and I was woundering if this
could be to bad rigging/adjustment of the propeller, or if this is
the best you could get from this kind of propeller..?

Best regards
Jon

 

[jhellsk]

I'm it the marked for a new sailboat, and was looking at a Vega
yesterday. It's a later model with the VP MD7 engine. It struck me as
odd how slow the boat was when leaving the docks by engine, I got the
feeling it should have been faster considering the size of the boat
camopared to the engine. There wasn't a working speed indicator
onboard, but by the feel of it it might have been going at 3-4 knots.

Is it "normal", or could the propeller be badly rigged/adjusted? I
guess the propeller could be damaged as well, but with the water
temperature in Norway this time of year, it's not tempting to strap
on a set of googles and take a look..

Best regards
Jon

 

[mcphersona50]

Hi Jon,

Where in Norway are you? Are you going to take a membership with the Vega club out of Lysaker elva? I am also looking around for a Vega because it seems like the best boat for the Oslo fjord.

Andrew

 

[jhellsk]

I'm residing in Sandefjord. For the time being I'm not purchasing the
Vega I was looking at. The boat was in very good/excellent shape, but
neither the sails, the engine or the handling of the boat struck me
as anything special. I just didn't move. I kind of hope there is just
a rigging problem with the propeller, and that the genoa was pretty
worn.
Anyway, I've been advised to look for a slightly more modern design
to suit my needs/wishes. A boat that has a better layout with the
interior, and that is more rewarding to sail (goes faster).

Jon

 

[ulf.raknes]

Hi Timo,

I have also dismantled my prop assembly this winther. I took a few
pictures to help my memory when i assemble it again (I have not done
it yet).
With the edge of the blades aligned with the line where the two body
parts comes together, the the prop shaft is 11,9 cm out of the bronze
tube. This is almost the "neutral" position.

I found this on the Swedish Vega site:
SEGLINGSLÄGE FULL FLÖJNING 88MM (sailing)
NEUTRAL 124MM
FULL STIGNING FULL FART 142MM (full forward)

That\'s not so far from my own measurement. I don\'t think you can
misalign by one tooth and be close to the above.

Best Regards
Ulf

 

[n3935j]

Jon,

I'm curious about the bottom of that boat .....was it clean?

jhellsk jhellsk@... wrote:
I'm residing in Sandefjord. For the time being I'm not purchasing the
Vega I was looking at. The boat was in very good/excellent shape, but
neither the sails, the engine or the handling of the boat struck me
as anything special. I just didn't move. I kind of hope there is just
a rigging problem with the propeller, and that the genoa was pretty
worn.
Anyway, I've been advised to look for a slightly more modern design
to suit my needs/wishes. A boat that has a better layout with the
interior, and that is more rewarding to sail (goes faster).

Jon

 

[jhellsk]

It's already on the water, so I can't say anything about the outside
of the hull beneath the waterline, but inside it was clean. :-D
Jon

 

[ttyliniemi]

Hi Ulf,

I found also the information on the Swedish Vega club a while ago.
Unfortunately it came little bit too late for me because I had the
problem fixed already. When I reassembled the propellerboss I had
somekind of essential mistake in my "work process" (= succeeded to get
the teeth missmatch)and that caused the problems and weird operation of
the blades .
I got some pictures from the Finnish Vega club and very good
installation instructions including assembly of the prop boss from
VegaMarin in Sweden (I ordered sealings/spares for kombi there)and
now the propeller is operating fine. If I remember right I measured
following kind of values: 86mm /122mm /139mm.
There should be some pictures of propeller blade positions and
VegaMarin's installation instructions (swedish)on the Finnish Vega
site.

Best Regards
Timo

 

[wxt8981]

Hi Jon;
I was wondering about the Vega (you wont buy). I've outsailed quite a few 27 to 30 footers, and at times even a CAL 25 (which I thought is quite a fast boat).
I can't say anything about the prop from the boat (you wont buy)- I used to have the variable pitch prop on my boat (with the Albin 21 gasoline engine) , I think the boat made about 6 knots, that's not really slow???
I was just wondering.... Wilhelm, V-257

jhellsk jhellsk@... wrote: I'm residing in Sandefjord. For the time being I'm not purchasing the
Vega I was looking at. The boat was in very good/excellent shape, but
neither the sails, the engine or the handling of the boat struck me
as anything special. I just didn't move. I kind of hope there is just
a rigging problem with the propeller, and that the genoa was pretty
worn.
Anyway, I've been advised to look for a slightly more modern design
to suit my needs/wishes. A boat that has a better layout with the
interior, and that is more rewarding to sail (goes faster).

Jon

 

[ulf.raknes]

Hi Timo,

I'm glad you fixed it already. I did not notice the date on your
original message
Sometimes old messages pop up in the top of list.

Best regards
Ulf

 

[brockhaus77]

I can believe that there are modern boats that are faster than the
Vega - the rig is not that tall, and the construction is rather "solid".
However, I'd be surprised if you could find any in the same price range
that outperform her significantly.
The hull speed of a Vega is about 6 knots (11 km/h), and if you have
a bit of wind (more than 10 knots), you can reach that easily, at least for
most points of sail. (Downwind and close-hauled tends to be a bit slower
for me).
The motoring speed should also reach 5-6 knots, even although imho some
Vegas (including my own) are a bit underpowered (with 10 hp or less).
When I tried out my Vega, she moved very sluggish under engine power -
turned out the prop was just severely fouled by barnacles etc. - is that a
problem in Norway? After cleaning the prop things worked better. I also
found that someone had put too small a prop on her - so the right prop
size can also make a big difference. (And of course the original kombi
props may need some extra tlc to run optimally - I don't have one so I'm
no expert).
BTW, about the "engine less" discussion: I feel it's just a safety question -
where I sail, I'd be run over by huge container ships if I couldn't move
my boat in a hurry during a calm. Plus if some nasty weather is approaching,
I find I can definitely point closer to the wind and go faster "motorsailing",
so I can hopefully get out of the way.

- Sebastian (VegaLyra 1060)

 

[ttyliniemi]

Hi again Ulf,

I'm happy that somebody answered my question, even the answer came
little bit late. I was really suprised that there weren't any
comments about the issue earlier. Anyway the most important thing is
the communication and change of the knowledge.

By the way, I removed the kombi again couple of months ago for
inspection because in autumn I lost the "driving force". The
reversing was OK but it was not possible to get forward. The reason
was propably loose fixing of the axel so it slipped slightly back
from the engine (VP MD6B)causing inaccuracy in the prop blade pitch.
So, when you install all the things back, remember to tighten the
nuts well!!There are some info about that in the Swedish Vegaklubben.
I am going to do it again in April and I am sure that the connections
will be tight enough

And concerning Finland the right website is

Personal Cloud Storage – Microsoft OneDrive

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groups.msn.com

Sorry about the inaccuracy in my earlier message.

Best regards
Timo

 

[groundhogyh]

Sebastian,
Can you tell me what size and pitch prop you are using?
I will be dealing with this same issue as soon as the weather breaks.
(Did I already ask this question about 2-3 months ago??? Oh well, I'll do a search. )
roy

brockhaus77 sekuhn@... wrote:
I can believe that there are modern boats that are faster than the
Vega - the rig is not that tall, and the construction is rather "solid".
However, I'd be surprised if you could find any in the same price range
that outperform her significantly.
The hull speed of a Vega is about 6 knots (11 km/h), and if you have
a bit of wind (more than 10 knots), you can reach that easily, at least for
most points of sail. (Downwind and close-hauled tends to be a bit slower
for me).
The motoring speed should also reach 5-6 knots, even although imho some
Vegas (including my own) are a bit underpowered (with 10 hp or less).
When I tried out my Vega, she moved very sluggish under engine power -
turned out the prop was just severely fouled by barnacles etc. - is that a
problem in Norway? After cleaning the prop things worked better. I also
found that someone had put too small a prop on her - so the right prop
size can also make a big difference. (And of course the original kombi
props may need some extra tlc to run optimally - I don't have one so I'm
no expert).
BTW, about the "engine less" discussion: I feel it's just a safety question -
where I sail, I'd be run over by huge container ships if I couldn't move
my boat in a hurry during a calm. Plus if some nasty weather is approaching,
I find I can definitely point closer to the wind and go faster "motorsailing",
so I can hopefully get out of the way.

- Sebastian (VegaLyra 1060)

 

[groundhogyh]

Sebastian,
Forget about it.
I just did a search. I did bring this topic up in the October time frame.
I remember that I have a 1:1.41 gear ration in my gearbox which I think is an oddball ratio for the fwd/reverse gearbox (normally 1:2). So unless you have the same gear ratio, AND the MD6A, I won't be able to use the same prop as you.
Thanks anyway,
Roy

groundhog groundhogyh@... wrote:
Sebastian,
Can you tell me what size and pitch prop you are using?
I will be dealing with this same issue as soon as the weather breaks.
(Did I already ask this question about 2-3 months ago??? Oh well, I'll do a search. )
roy

brockhaus77 sekuhn@... wrote:
I can believe that there are modern boats that are faster than the
Vega - the rig is not that tall, and the construction is rather "solid".
However, I'd be surprised if you could find any in the same price range
that outperform her significantly.
The hull speed of a Vega is about 6 knots (11 km/h), and if you have
a bit of wind (more than 10 knots), you can reach that easily, at least for
most points of sail. (Downwind and close-hauled tends to be a bit slower
for me).
The motoring speed should also reach 5-6 knots, even although imho some
Vegas (including my own) are a bit underpowered (with 10 hp or less).
When I tried out my Vega, she moved very sluggish under engine power -
turned out the prop was just severely fouled by barnacles etc. - is that a
problem in Norway? After cleaning the prop things worked better. I also
found that someone had put too small a prop on her - so the right prop
size can also make a big difference. (And of course the original kombi
props may need some extra tlc to run optimally - I don't have one so I'm
no expert).
BTW, about the "engine less" discussion: I feel it's just a safety question -
where I sail, I'd be run over by huge container ships if I couldn't move
my boat in a hurry during a calm. Plus if some nasty weather is approaching,
I find I can definitely point closer to the wind and go faster "motorsailing",
so I can hopefully get out of the way.

- Sebastian (VegaLyra 1060)