C&C 27 Association Forum

Guest

Easylock clutch replacement

My MK V has the original Easylock clutches that have a couple of problems under heavy load:
- line slippage
- difficult to open

While both of these can be dealt with if someone is experienced with these locks
- only partially close the lock while hoisting and then lock it in place as releasing the line from the winch seems to eliminate slippage
- make sure there is pressure from the winch prior to opening
For people that are not experienced with them, or if you need to do something a hurry, this is often a problem.  Their first attempt to open them is always to just try to open them by brute force which takes a while, and eventually leads to broken levers.   

So I either need to rebuild them, which may help with the slippage, or get new ones.  I've been looking at the Spinlock XAS clutches.   The holes are of course in a different spot than the Easylock, but still close enough that I need to offset the whole thing by 1.5 inches or so. 
This leaves a problem of extra holes, relatively close to the older ones.  Not sure if there is any serious impact with respect to weaknesses on the deck.
Has anyone else gone through this?  Any recommendations?

davidww1

Member

Re: Easylock clutch replacement

I replaced all my Easylock clutches with Spinlocks and they are a wonderful improvement over the earlier things. They hold better and they are easier to open under load (though people with weaker hands sometimes find they have to be partly unloaded if a halyard is really tight).

My deck in that area is a real Swiss cheese from the previous owner's mess of gear, but thus far nothing has ripped out (old holes were filled with gelcoat, new items were mounted with fender washers).

The one minor complication in mounting the Spinlocks is that double clutches are wide enough that you have to compensate for the curvature of the deck. I did this by cutting that curvature into blocks of Starboard material with a router. I chose Starboard because I didn't want more wood to varnish.

David Weatherston
Towser, Toronto
C&C 27 Mk IV

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David Weatherston
Towser, Toronto
C&C 27 Mk IV

Guest

Re: Easylock clutch replacement

re: hard to open & close - spray them with teflon spray once or twice a year - that does the trick on mine
re: slippage - if your halyards are worn at the clutch shorten them at the top end by 6" to give the clutch a fresh piece of rope to grab.
or buy spinlocks - the ones on Heatwave sure look nice!
jim

Steve Reid

Member

Re: Easylock clutch replacement

The original Easylock cluthces on Still Knot Working (it no longer Heatwave Jim) were replaced with the Spinnlock XAS and they work great. I also had the same model of Spinnlocks on the old boat and had no real problems with them either. There are a couple of basic things you need to understand about any kind of rope clutch though. It's never a good idea to release a fully loaded clutch, it's best to tale up the load on a winch and then release the clutch, this will greatly extend the life of the cams and your lines as well. I have found that if you are using Spectra or any of the modern low stretch lines that the covers are very hard and will wear the cams, so you need to check the cams several times during the season and replace as necessary. We find that on really high load haylards (Genoa in particular) that it is best to open the cam as you are taking up the haylard, set the tension you want and then close the clutch. This does two things; first it eliminates the cover milking along the core and bunching up. Second it keeps the clutch free of friction and allows it to bight better into the cover at the point you want it to hold.
The cams are fairly easy to replace in the XAS and can be done in about 15 minutes to 1/2 and hour depending on whether you are replacing all of the cams or just one.
I'd advise caution about how you go about relocating new holes in the cabin top, your welcome to come over and have a look at Still Knot Working. If I were you I'd fill the old holes with epoxy to seal them and retain strength, then I'd drill new holes for the new clutches. Drill the holes oversize, fill with epoxy and redrill to the correct size for the fasteners you are going to use. Remember that the fasteners are going to be in shear not tension so you don't necessarily need a lot of back up under the dech.
Steve

Guest

Re: Easylock clutch replacement

just to follow up on this.  I ended up replacing the clutches at the beginning of the season.  The Spinlocks are a great improvement over the old ones.