Harken versus Ronstan specs - what's the deal?

IIRC working load is 1/5 or 1/6 of breaking load. At least that’s how I remember Harken as far as small boat blocks go. Not sure about the swivels.
I believe the only difference between the Harken Lo Load swivel, (#162), & the Hi Load, (#164), is the bearings.
Lo load is white Delrin, & hi load are greenish brown Torlon.
On all my Cats, I use the Hi load unit. One swivel, the bearings were worn. I disassembled, cleaned, & replaced with Torlon bearings.
https://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures?g2_itemId=72561&g2_GALLERYSID=89f98dd43716d388a920f02b578e0e75

Edited by Edchris177 on Feb 08, 2021 - 12:32 AM.

I saw that. I wonder if those are the same sized Torlon bearings used in our travelers?

So, for the medium load Harken swivel with a WL of 950#, the theoretical BL should be around 4,750 - 5,000 pounds; way higher than the standard Ronstan swivel that comes with Hobies; which I'm sure is just fine in most every "standard" Hobie case.

Cool! - Thanks.

p.s. - That explains the cost difference as well.

Edited by charlescarlis on Feb 08, 2021 - 11:40 AM.

The Harkens are made in America so they inherently spin clockwise
the Ronstans are made down under so they un-naturally spin counter clockwise - ymmv

Thanks for the link to the rebuild instructions - handy to see it there. I had to upgrade to the Torlon balls when the high-load swivel I bought on ebay turned out not to be (but the seller was cool and refunded me the cost of the balls, which I got from Harken for two bits each).

Oh - different size balls than the traveler, though, iIrc. They have a lot of different sizes and I think it took a call to Harken to verify I was ordering the right ones.

Edited by jonathan162 on Feb 08, 2021 - 05:31 PM.

I saw that. I wonder if those are the same sized Torlon bearings used in our travelers?

No,they are not. I don’t have the Harken spec sheet on this computer...they put out a sheet years ago with cleaning, lube instructions & part#s.
Interestingly, with regards to lubrication, Harken stated to use one drop of something like Mclube, but if that wasn’t available, any light machine oil, like 3-in-1 would suffice. My $1.50 bottle of 3-in-1 has lasted for many years, neither I nor my kids, or grandkids will use it all.
I find the Harken website to be not user friendly, a lot of technical info one really has to dig for.
If you search Harken Catolog, you get a bunch of 270 page documents, non of which seem to be on the Harken website. They list working/ breaking loads. Here’s an older one,
https://pdf.nauticexpo.com/pdf/harken/harken-catalogue-2012/21575-23956.html
The swivel balls are xx/32” IIRC, & the traveller balls are bigger, maybe 1/4”.
I made that album after having a swivel bind up, (white bearings were all rough due to sand).

Edited by Edchris177 on Feb 09, 2021 - 11:16 PM.

Very cool! Thanks for the tips; I have a couple of the upper, Ronstan swivels that are standard for Hobie Furlers, but with the stories of them "parting ways" on H21's, and my being kind of rough on them I feel a marginal upgrade is due. Serviceable is fantastic; you can tear them down and perhaps head off a failure.

MN3 wrote:

With all due respect, I’m pretty sure that statement is 100% due to a marketing agreement with Mclube.
They have not changed the composition of Torlon bearings, & they did publish that light machine oil was suitable, in fact I posted it several years ago, quoted directly from Harken literature.
I’m sure I saved it on one of my other computers, I’ll try to dig it up.

the "story" i was taught 20+ years ago was not to oil or lube beach cat / salt water blocks due to oil giving dirt/sand/salt a place and way to adhere - hot water was the way to flush your blocks

then this one drop came out - it was about $10 for a tube and was supposed to be the solution - i have used it - seemed fine - however i did not break open any blocks and do a side by side comparison with other lubes

Isn't the idea for Torlon and Delrin ball bearings that they're supposed to be self-lubricating? I'd think at most hot water cleaning and, once dry (maybe) an inert dry lube? Sand seems to permeate everything...

Harken is pretty adamant about using only a single drop. They don’t want them too slippery, their technical data says the bearings will then skid, instead of rolling.
The main reason my bottle of 3-in-1 will last so long...I’m lazy, haven’t lubed any of my travellers in 3 years, & the rest of my blocks, never.
If I were in a salt/sand environment, I’d probably rinse them a few times. I used a cat in the Caribbean once that had a Mai sheet as stiff as wire.
I took it off, & tossed it in the divers rinse tank. The beach manager asked what I was doing. Told him, fixing it. A couple hours later it was flexible as new.