and the destruction continues...













My main question is... is my spreader base trashed too?

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My main question is... is my spreader base trashed too?

looks straight to me. i would examine closely for cracks.

spreaders do slide up and down (esp when they hit your trailer yoke or the beach or other)
you can gently bang them up and down a few inches.

So what is supposed to be wrong with those spreaders? They look better than the ones on my boat.

--
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--

Push them back square and follow directions here




Edited by skarr1 on Jun 23, 2011 - 09:12 PM.

For what it's worth Matt, I showed that exact situation to two sets of experienced people. The first were the folks in Carpenteria, at Murrays. The 2nd was a man around 60ish, who had sailed Tornado's at the worlds, built battens for Nacra, built a 6 meter carbon Nacra, complete with carbon mast & battens, & had photos of sailing 36' Cats with Tom Roland. I spent an entire afternoon bending his ear, & being shown a great deal of stuff. I can believe much of what he told me.
A) The Boss at Murrays told me that if the base is bent a bit, just bend it back,it's stainless & can take some deformation without to much loss of strength. It will be OK, as long as you don't bend it back & forth, or multiple times. Examine the bars themselves for cracks, but don't try to bend the tangs straight again. That type of aluminum will weaken greatly if you try to straighten it. He led me through a resolution of forces on those pieces. If they are "square" the entire loading is a compression load, in essence the diamond wires are trying to make the bar shorter. The "ears" serve only to prevent the bar from moving up or down. He claimed not to worry about a little bend in the ears, as long as they are not cracked.
B) I specifically asked the Worlds sailor about that seizing wire at the tips, as I found it a pain to do with the protective end caps on. He laughed & stated that he was not sure why Nacra continued with such a flawed system. The seizing wire is there to prevent the diamond wire from jumping out of the slot at the end of the spreader bar, HOWEVER, it does practically nothing to prevent the end of the spreader bar from moving up or down, resulting in bent ears at the mast end.
He then showed me his carbon mast, & the system he had used for many years. It basically involves throwing away the rubber caps on the end of the spreaders, & simply twisting " a turn of two of lock wire, if I happen to have it handy, followed by this."
"This" was abut a 1/4 roll of electrical tape tape wrapped in a series of figure 8s around the end of the spreader bar/diamond wire slot. It was pulled tight as it was wrapped, & built up so as to form a cap on the end of the bar that would protect the sail. He stated, the damage only occurs if a force can move the spreader up or down, then challenged me to whack the end of the spreader & try to move it. My weeny hit was met with a request to really hit it, "see you can't budge it, you won't bend it, if you can't bend it it's strong. That system of just a couple of wire turns is crap, it doesn't do anything other than keep the wire in the slot."
I asked if rigging tape would be better, & was told no, it doesn't stick to anything. Electrical tape will grip the diamond wires. Work a few tight turns up & down as you continue the figure 8s. He said it had been on all year in the So Cal sun, & he would leave it for another year. If he is willing to trust his very expensive carbon mast to tape, I figured it's good enough for my 5.7.
I don't have a photo of mine taped with me, but can post one tomorrow.



Edited by Edchris177 on Jun 23, 2011 - 08:58 PM.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--

One other item, regarding inspecting for tiny cracks. Last week in Shanghai I found a source of tiny little microscopes, 60X power, with an integral LED illuminator. They are literally about the size of the last joint on your thumb. I thought that resolving power (the ability to distinguish finer detail) would be crap, but was pleasantly surprised. I showed one to my daughter who claimed, "they won't cut it in molecular biology, but they're not bad for the price."
I was thinking they would be great for examining fittings for crevice corrosion, especially if combined with spray on magna flux. They are also great for just looking at small stuff, or giving to kids for birthdays, or whatever. Depending on the volume of order I can get them for $6-$10. I was thinking of charging $2 over cost, & donating the $2 to The BeachCats.
If anyone has any interest PM me. If I can get interest for about 10 of them, I'll get them next time in Shanghai. Your Postal system is way cheaper than ours. If someone would volunteer to distribute, I'd send them all in one box to the volunteer, pre wrapped & addressed, along with a check to cover the postage for all. The volunteer would only be required to put postage on them, then drop them in the mail.
What do you think?



Edited by Edchris177 on Jun 23, 2011 - 09:12 PM.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--

Quote

"This" was abut a 1/4 roll of electrical tape tape wrapped in a series of figure 8s around the end of the spreader bar/diamond wire slot. I

Does this leave any black tape residue on your jib?

I find elec. tape melts in our heat and gets everywhere. if i use elec. tape, i usually try to put a final wrap with rigging tape.



Edited by MN3 on Jun 23, 2011 - 09:31 PM.

EC I would buy one, I have all kinds of 4x, 10x and 15x loupes I use for goldsmithing and stone setting (yes I have many hobbies). A 30x loupe would come in handy

It could leave a black streak on your jib. Easy solution, use white electrical tape. I actually just finished doing exactly what you said last weekend when I finished installing my swept back spreaders. I couldn't get a set of stock Nacra boots for 2 reasons, they were unavailable and the damn postal strike! I used some 20 ga titanium welding wire I had lying about for seizing wire, and i agree with the old guy it doesn't do much. After that I just used rigging tape instead and did a series of tight figure eights to built up a protective boot. Seems very solid even without the adhesive.

Regards,
Dave

--
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--

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Does this leave any black tape residue on your jib?

I should have clarified. I used white on one side & canary yellow on the other, just to see which one holds up better. One other thing Andrew, it was not the regular electrical tape. The rolls say "heat resistant", so it may be OK in your warmer climate. If you can't find it, let me know, I'll send you a couple rolls.
If you wrap it correctly, there should be no exposed sticky side. This heat resistant colored stuff does not seem to be near as gooey as the regular black stuff.
The gentleman used a sky blue, but uop here I have only seen red, white & yellow.

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A 30x loupe would come in handy

It is not the same as a loupe. It is 60X, & thge eye releif is very small. You need to hold it between two fingers, quite close to your eye. The focal distance is also obviously short, as it is such a short instrument. You need the objective within a mm or two. That being said, I can certainly get you one, or trade you for some of your junk!
I know what you mean about the postal strike. A fellow wants a nacra mast ball. I brought it with me to Shanghai, but they wanted $35 to mail it back to the USA, going to look into FedEx tomorrow on the way up to the lake.



Edited by Edchris177 on Jun 23, 2011 - 10:21 PM.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--

Dave, of all the copious pages of babble you post, you have revealed the holy grail of electrical tape. Standard white electrical tape leaves no residue. Now the secret's out. That's all we use. The same is true with colors. Don't use black. So simple a caveman . . . .

--
Philip
--

Wolfman

So what is supposed to be wrong with those spreaders? They look better than the ones on my boat.

I recently demasted away from shore, so my mind is on the "fix if it might break mode".

MN3

Quote

My main question is... is my spreader base trashed too?

looks straight to me. i would examine closely for cracks.

spreaders do slide up and down (esp when they hit your trailer yoke or the beach or other)
you can gently bang them up and down a few inches.

Awesome! didn't expect such an easy solution.

Wolfman

Easy solution, use white electrical tape. I actually just finished doing exactly what you said last weekend when I finished installing my swept back spreaders. I couldn't get a set of stock Nacra boots for 2 reasons, they were unavailable and the damn postal strike! I used some 20 ga titanium welding wire I had lying about for seizing wire, and i agree with the old guy it doesn't do much. After that I just used rigging tape instead and did a series of tight figure eights to built up a protective boot. Seems very solid even without the adhesive.

Regards,
Dave

This boat actually had quite a bit of white electrical tape on it and my dad took most of it off cause it looked "janky". I tried explaining it to him, but some people just don't listen

Quote

of all the copious pages of babble you post

hahah

Sorry guys, if you want me to stop or tone it down I will. I'm just trying to get mystelf to that damned chief ranking !

--
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
--

Mine is wrapped with green and white electrical tape. I bought a multi-color pack way back when I go the boat and I need more now. I us for spreaders, Taping up ring dings, and taping the lock nuts on on spreaders and forestay turnbuckles. I always have electrical tape in my gear box.

--
Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
--

Just went and got a few rolls of white, all the other colors were very tempting though.

I also bumped the spreader with a rubber mallet and it worked perfect.

Thanks guys!



Edited by matt922 on Jun 24, 2011 - 01:06 PM.

Remember Matt, if you loosen the diamond wires a bit, you can move the spreader with your fingers.
I have never used actual rigging tape, the stuff costs more than whats used on our jets for temporay patches. It might be handy at times if it leaves no residue, but who cares about some stikem on the end of a spreader, or ring ding...you are just going to cover it up again anyhow.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--

Quote

Sorry guys, if you want me to stop or tone it down I will. I'm just trying to get mystelf to that damned chief ranking

TONE IT DOWN MAN!!!! hahah, just kidding.. your posts are great... Don't worry at all

Quote

but who cares about some stikem on the end of a spreader, or ring ding...you are just going to cover it up again anyhow.

Well i cared enough to not use it on my spreaders so i didnt get black glue on my jib & ringdings if they are anywhere near a body. i have had crew and myself with black gunk on our clothes/backs that has rubbed off from stay chain plates, drink holders, etc.

Now the cat is out of the bag (white tape).. :)



Edited by MN3 on Jun 25, 2011 - 07:47 AM.

I hear you Andrew, that black stuff is pretty close to what the Alberta tar sands are all about!
I added the second post, but it seemed to be lost in cyber space for a while. In the initial one, I forgot to say that is was the colored tape I was using. It doesn't seem as thick, & I'm not quite sure what the specs are, but the packaging says "heat resisitant".
I had my cat on its side toaday, & unwrapped an inch of it. There was very little residue on the underlying tape. You would not be in any danger of having the stikem rub off on you. A better way might be to add a single layer of rigging tape as a UV pretector.
Rigging tape is so damned expensive, especially for the guys who break their Cats down every day. It might last longer, but I use the white/yellow/red for eveything. Red is the worst as far as longevity in the sun. Red absorbs the longest wavelenghts & breaks down first. Look at a discarded Pepsi can, the blue seems to last, the red fades pretty quickly.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--