Stainless Steel Care

There are a lot of great products out there, but, Collinite's No. 845 Insulator Wax is the absolute bomb on stainless steel. It will make the worst rusted pieces look like new.

Well you have to take my advice with a grain of salt but I've rebuilt more than my share of these over the years so here goes. I clean them up and free them up with WD-40. As you point out it may take some doing to get the bearings out of the race. If you lose some (do as I say, not as I do) take some of the ones you have and the race to a bearing shop or a bicycle store. The outer drum gets broken and the nylon top sleeve gets torn up. A dealer can order them and they're cheap. Clean and lubricate. Spalsh the bearing and the race in a little varsol or lacquer thinner. Don't worry about discoloration. I pack the bearings with grease and reassemble. One of mine had significant grooves worn in it so I reassembled it upside down so that the bearings ran on the smooth side. If you're using a spinnaker you might want to trim or grind the edges of the white nylon thing. You're not supposed to drag the kite over it but ... shit happens. For me they last a year or a little longer before the next rebuild. You can feel the drag when you're furling and you know its time for a rebuild. I'm a touch anal so I kept a freshly lubed spare in a plastic bag.

I also made up custom furling lines that were 1/8" for the first 7 feet or so, about what the drum will hold, and then 1/4" for for the rest. The first couple of turns take a lot of pull some days. After that it's easy. Had to be nicely measured since our cleat liked the 1/4" line better than the small stuff.

BigWhoop wrote: Well you have to take my advice with a grain of salt but I've rebuilt more than my share of these over the years so here goes. I clean them up and free them up with WD-40. As you point out it may take some doing to get the bearings out of the race. If you lose some (do as I say, not as I do) take some of the ones you have and the race to a bearing shop or a bicycle store. The outer drum gets broken and the nylon top sleeve gets torn up. A dealer can order them and they're cheap. Clean and lubricate. Spalsh the bearing and the race in a little varsol or lacquer thinner. Don't worry about discoloration. I pack the bearings with grease and reassemble. One of mine had significant grooves worn in it so I reassembled it upside down so that the bearings ran on the smooth side. If you're using a spinnaker you might want to trim or grind the edges of the white nylon thing. You're not supposed to drag the kite over it but ... shit happens. For me they last a year or a little longer before the next rebuild. You can feel the drag when you're furling and you know its time for a rebuild. I'm a touch anal so I kept a freshly lubed spare in a plastic bag.

I also made up custom furling lines that were 1/8" for the first 7 feet or so, about what the drum will hold, and then 1/4" for for the rest. The first couple of turns take a lot of pull some days. After that it's easy. Had to be nicely measured since our cleat liked the 1/4" line better than the small stuff.

one set of races has a visible track or groove like you said. I can't tell if is wear or grime yet but I figured I would do like you said and turn them over. That is if I can get them clean. Would a light sanding with a fine sandpaper help with this or is that a bad idea? One race was pretty crud covered.

I like the custom line idea but I have zero splicing skills or tools to do it. No Spinnaker I wouldn't mind putting a hooter on it some day if I can find one cheap. I mostly sail with my boys for fun not racing (at least not officially) and don't want to worry about a spinnaker.

If it were me ... oh the evil I have done starting that way ... I might try a wire brush either in my hand or the kind you chuck in an electric drill. Careful, they're great at twisting parts out of your fingers and flinging them across the room. Hurts your fingers and you have to neaten half the room to find the part. Then put in some grease and reassemble and try turning it. If it turns nicely with a little drag, you're there. If it is noticeably graunchy then take it apart and clean, maybe sandpaper, some more. My experience says that if you get the dried grease, dirt, and most of the rust out and put in clean grease then it feels like new. If not then it will be in better shape the next time you rebuild it. Next spring. Might take several summers of sailing with your boys before they get to be perfect. The races that is. I know the boys are already perfect.

So I ended up attacking it with a a stiff brush and a bottle Naval Jelly I found in the garage. Took A Bit of elbow grease but seemed to work ok. I have one of the 2 working pretty dang good. The other just needs some bits mainly bearings and the nylon bits.

Well great! I just love "pretty dang good". I seem to remember $7 and $2.50 or thereabouts for the outer drum and the nylon thing. Have fun!

Charles

Naval Jelly will do the trick. Its pretty amazing how much corrosion you can actually get on stainless steel. Gotta remember its Stain Less not stain proof. 🙂

D.