Lift wire maintenance

During the last sail the swing centerplates lift wire got jammed into the case somehow, so the plate couldn't be raised via the control line in the cockpit. A small thing causing a major problem.

So it was back to the wylo yard to see what was causing this. 

Teria with big cousin a wylo2

Teria was set up on the keel stands so the centerplate could swing freely.

Inside the upper stainless lift pipe was removed. A storage locker was built around it so some gentle persuasion with a chizel and hammer here and there gained enough space to remove the pipe.

I used a lever handle with the lift rope wrapped around to free the stuck rope/wire join. Luckily the join didn't break in the process. It's a very small space in there. I often wondered what went on inside the lift mechanism, the rope to wire join was revealed for the first time.

Lift wire to lift rope join revealed.

Lower lift pipe and lift wire

The wire has a soft eye and swage, the rope has a soft eye and whipping.

The problem was the swage had got jammed into a slightly smaller hole (<5mm diameter) in the top of the case at the base of the lower lift pipe. The hole may be lined with a metal bushing glassed in to take the wear of the lift wire angling across it, but its really too inaccessible and small to see exactly how its made in there. The jam problem may have been caused by shortening the lift wire an inch or so during the centerplate restoration last year.

The rope-wire join looked good enough for reuse. But to avoid a re-run of the jamming i filed the rough bumpy bits off the swage, reducing its diameter a mm or so. After reassembling the upper stainless lift pipe , the tail end stopper knot was retied 6" shorter. This should prevent the swage from reaching the small centercase hole (which caused the jamming) when lowering the centerplate next time.