Re: CDI on P-19

JBlumhorst@aol.com
Fri, 25 Jun 1999 01:51:23 EDT


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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In a message dated 6/24/99 8:40:22 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
drickert@thegrid.net writes:

> Need a quick answer, the drum on the cdi unit on our P-19 seems to raise up
> under sasil and can jam. What holds the drum down? The roller furler came
> with the boat, used and we had to figure out the operation ourselves. TIA.
> Dan Rickert First mate "THALES" wwp p-19 212 skipper Vagabond 14 dinghy #
> 316

Hi Dan,

I though about your CDI problem and have a few ideas about what the problem
might be. If none of these helps solve your problem, and nobody else sent
you an idea that does, I recommend you give CDI a call. I'm sure they would
send you a copy of the manual. Their website is at www.sailcdi.com and you
can find the phone number there.

First: The first question is, do you have a hollow body turnbuckle at the
bottom of the stay, like a properly installed CDI unit should? If not, get
in touch with CDI and ask them to send you a copy of the manual, with
instructions on how to install it properly.

Second: VERY IMPORTANTLY, check the turnbuckle. If it has lengthened, then
the whole CDI unit can ride up the forestay a few extra inches. And if it
isn't properly locked at the correct length, it could be changing length each
time you furl/unfurl and could be close to coming apart. That would be a
disaster -- you could lose the forestay and therefore the mast.

Third: The stainless cup should be attached to the bottom toggle of the
turnbuckle, which is then attached to the chainplate, so the stainless cup
can't ride up at all. However, the black furling drum can ride up under
certain conditions.

At the top of the the black plastic drum (onto which the furling line wraps),
there's supposed to be a pin going thru the neck. The pin goes thru the neck
and passes under the lower end of the luff extrusion. The pin prevents the
drum from sliding up higher on the luff extrusion. If this pin is missing,
the plastic furling drum could ride up.

At the very top of the headstay, above the extrusion, there's usually a few
inches of extra headstay (up to 5" on some, but I cut mine so there's only
1.5"), so it's possible that the extrusion and bottom drum could slide up,
jamming against the stainless cup. However, usually this isn't a problem
unless... see #4.

Forth: Given that the extrusion and plastic drum can ride up, we have to ask
what factors would make it ride up. One possibility it that the JIBSHEETS
themselves are pulling the assembly up. If the sheet block is located
extremely far aft for the headsail, it tends to pull the clew upwards. Are
you using the same sheet lead blocks for the stormjib as you normally would
for the genoa? Not only would that possibley explain why the CDI rides up,
but it would also give you really lousey shape on the storm jib. The foot of
the storm jib would be too tight/flat, and the top of the leech would have an
excessive amount of curve.

Fifth: Solar Fry mentioned the possibility that the furling line might be
causing your problem. While a bad lead on the furling line might cause it to
wrap badly and therefore jam, I doubt that it would cause it to ride up under
sail.

I can't think of any other possiblilties that might explain your problem with
the CDI floating upwards and jamming, but maybe there's something else going
on that I just can imagine without seeing it. Please let us know if you still
have a problem with it or if somebody sent you a tip that solved the problem
for you.

Best,
Judy B