Selden Furler - jib jam

[Carl12686]

The headsail on my Hunter 340 is jammed on the furler track. When I initially released the halyard it dropped the sail about 8 inches -- after that it become stuck and will not go up or down.
I suspect that the 2 extrusions near the top of the Furlex have separated and the halyard swivel mechanism has dropped into a gap between them. The sail itself appears to be frayed just below the snap shackle so the separation may have happened earlier in the season.

I'm considering removing the furler drum, disconnecting the forestay and sliding the extrusions down and off the end of the forestay (hopefully along with the jib). Anyone ever do this ? Alternatives ?

In the photos attached it appears the swivel assembly is crooked and there is an open hole where the connecting joint plate fastener should be

 

[gfrazzle]

Contact Seldon @ 843-760-6278. Talk to Scott Willamson- very helpful.

 

[Velero49]

Carl,

I had the same problem on my 410. Tried to force it down with no luck, finally called a rigger (I am thinking big bucks!!!). The problem is that the foils are secured with set screws that will come loose with the engine vibration. It did cost me more because I forced the swivel down on the set screw damaging the swivel bushing and required the rigger to take the furler down. If you get up there and reset the srew use loctite blue to make sure it does not happens again.....

After looking at your pictures I do see one of the set screws just below the swive, the other one is just inside the it.
V49

 

[kloudie1]

Had the same problem on an old Harken. Not set screws but roll pins.. same snag. The root cause on mine was that the backstay tension was loose as a result of the cross beam issue.. The headstay slack made it rotate in a big catenary instead of a more straight line.. the "woggle" loosened the roll pins and the top one was working its way out and snaging the sail and the swivel.. Clear it then put in more headstay tension.

 

[John T1594]

My solution

I have (had) the same problem on my 2000 H340. Yes, the short, top-most extrusion can detach from the one below and the sail becomes snagged on the gap or the upper halyard swivel won't pass the mis-aligned extrusions. If you are lucky, you can raise the jib a little to free the snag. Then stand at the bow and twist the entire extrusion column around (clockwise/counterclockwise) to try to align the top pieces while someone else holds and then lowers the jib halyard from the cockpit. When the extrusions are aligned, the jib halyard swivel will pass over the gap and let the jib come down. You can try to sight up the extrusions with binoculars but you will need three hands.

The first time this happend, my yard had to send a man up in a cherry picker to free and lower the sail. He just snapped the extrusions back together and said that they were tight. I have not had a problem since but I have to be careful when raising the jib.

To prevent this from happening, you must attach the foot of the jib to the lower furler drum shackle before you raise it. This prevents the sail from going up too high on the extrusion tracks - which lifts the jib halyard swivel and separates the upper extrusion from the one below it. I also use lots and lots of sail track dry lubricant when raising the jib for the season.

Selden sells a kit to repair/replace the extrusions but it is a big job. You have to take down the entire forestay and furler, then detach and re-swag lower end of the forestay wire after replacing the extrusions.

I hope this helps.

 

[Carl12686]

Update - Scott Willamson from Selden US was extremely helpful. Based upon his suggestions and a lot of trial and error I was able to get the jib down.

The procedure described by JohnT1594 pretty much describes the process I used. Unfortunately, I was by myself on the boat working the problem when he wrote it. Nevertheless I came up with roughly the same solution. It would definitely have been easier with a second person aboard to help guide the alignments

It appears that screws anchoring the extrusions (inside the black cone over the drum) had come lose. At some point this may have caused the extrusions to part and allowed the assembly to drop down into the roller drum; thereby creating a gap in the furling track . I managed to raise the extrusions and fitted the retaining torx screws into their proper holes. Based upon the indentations caused by the misplaced screws above the holes it appears they had been made very tight (but not in the holes). Although the screws were loose when I checked it appeared that at some point they had Locktiite applied to them as well.

Attached are 3 photos taken of the problem area from the deck - you may need to digitally zoom in to see the details. Two of the photos show the the extrusions separated from each other and misaligned by about 90 degrees. The third photo shows where I believe the connecting plate either broke or disconnected.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. The immediate problem is solved – the jib is down. I will still need to have the furlex repaired. Scott suggested that repair be accomplished by removing the entire furlex and rebuilding it from the base. Timeline for that is uncertain.