Association Forum - Swing keel cable and turning ball replacement

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Swing keel cable and turning ball replacement

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Captnkev25
1st Mate

Member Avatar

USA
36 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/23/2011 : 18:35:25

Hi all. New owner and member :) I grew up sailing my aunts O'day 25 and this is my first boat. Bought her the end of last season (I'm in NY) and haven't really gotten to sail too much yet. Looking forward to this season.
Ive been doing some preventative maintenence and recently replaced my keel lifting winch. Couldnt do the cable because the boat was resting on her keel in the fully retracted position.
Can anyone provide me with some step by step instructions on replacing the cable, turning ball and volcano tube? The boat is still out of the water and I'd rather do it myself than pay the yard to do it. I spoke to the yard manager and he agreed to lift me up and jack me up higher so I can lower the keel and get to the clevis pin. It all seems fairly straight forward. This is how I see to do it. Am i missing anything?? Lower keel onto the ground to provide access to the pin and put slack in the cable, remove pin on outside and disconnect from the winch inside, pull cable out, remove volcano tube and turning ball, replace turning ball, feed new cable up into cabin passing AFT of the turning ball, slide volcano tube over new cable into place and tighten hose clamps, attach cable to keel with new pin, attach running end of cable to winch crank up while keeping tension on cable to avoid overrides. That's how I see to do it. Is the turning ball accessible from the top? Do I replace the ball first or cable first? If anyone can see anything I may have overlooked or can give me some pointers on techniques or things to watch out for I'd appreciate it. I realize the importance of this mechanism so I'm just covering my bases for safeties sake.

Thanks Kev

Kevin (1984 C25 Standard Rig, Swing Keel, Traditional Interior)

Edited by - on

Davy J
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1511 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2011 : 04:16:44

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Do I replace the ball first or cable first?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I just replaced cable, turning ball, hose and winch. I pulled the cable out first, then replaced turning ball, then install new cable.

The only tip I can provide is this: Bring a wire coat hanger, you will bend it into a "J" hook. You can use this hook to hold the turning ball while you install the pin. Once the pin is in, you simply drop the coat hanger down to the ground

Edited by - on

TCurran
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2011 : 04:38:42

Kev, replaced my cable, ball, etc last year. I think you got it, your plan sounds pretty much exactly how I did mine (except I didn't replace the winch last year, see the topic "Keel Winch Failure"). I do like Davy J's coat hander idea.

And welcome to the forum.

Edited by - TCurran on 04/24/2011 04:40:19

Captnkev25
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
36 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2011 : 05:06:19

Thank you both for your replies. The boat is new to me so my replacing all of this is more for peace of mind than out of necessity. I have no idea when the last time it was done was. The winch I believe to be original as it was rusted as all get out. After reading your post Tom I consider it money well spent. Not everyone that happens to will make it out of that situation with just having to replace the winch lol. Thanks for the welcome and be prepared to be getting a lot more questions as time goes on.

Edited by - on

Frank Law
Navigator

Members Avatar

USA
159 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2011 : 09:00:59

Kev---- when you get the hose off of the volcano tube the turning ball is easily seen and can be worked on easily.. Just make sure cable rides on the ball. The turning ball pivot pin is only held in place by the hose .
Frank

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2011 : 17:58:00

You've got it...my tip is to use a hole punch to line up the ball from one side, then insert the pin from the other. It's also a little fussy clamping the dead-end of the cable to the drum...spend the time and get it set right - it's a short stub and the cable is stiff...a nut driver or ratchet, rather than a crescent or pliers, is best to secure the nuts on the keeper plate at the drum. I also replace the keeper nuts and bolts as part of the project...good luck!

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.