Jamming spin lock clutches

[super g]

On my 40ds I have several Spinlock clutches and most are now causing issues. The main halyards ,12-14mm, work fine but on the thinner 8mm they have a tendency to jam. After closing the clutch it can be extremly difficult to pull any more rope through though once moving works perfectly. They look clean and work smoothly but it seems as if they need adjusting so the cam doesn't grab so tightly when first.

Any ideas?

[Don Reaves]

My traveler clutches have always done that. I've found that if I'm pulling the line through the clutch while closing it, this problem doesn't occur.

Of course, if there's a fix, I'd like to hear about it too!

Don

[MartyB]

Spinlock has different cams for the same size clutches depending upon the line size you are using. It might be that you are using too thin of line for the clutch?!?! altho I would expect the issue you are having with too thick of line before too thin.........

Marty

[rene460]

Hi clouds,

I suggest that it is that the ropes are too small, allowing the cam to rotate too far.  The recommended range of rope sizes is given in the catalogue and you have to order the correct item for your rope size.  You may have got away with it while ropes and cams were new if your size is borderline, but a little wear and the issue appears.

I do not know I'd the alternative cams are available as replacement item, or if you need new clutches.

However an alternative fix is to strip the sheath off a length of the larger rope size and thread it over your rope.  Hold it in place with whippings at each end and some cross stitching.  All harder to write than to do.  This increases the thickness of your rope so it grips and slides properly.  Also replaces the wear part of your outer sheath in the process.   This procedure is of course most useful for ropes that are always gripped at about the same place.  For a rope that is gripped over a wide range of positions, it may be easier to use two or three shorter lengths of sheath  to cover the range rather than try and slide a very long length over.

rene460

[super g]

Thanks I agree the clutches must not be designed for 8mm. Guess I'll have to live with it though one or two I can upgrade the rope diameter.

[krawall]

Do you regurlarly "service" them?

What we are doing, and it may not be proper, but to clean / lubricate them with *cough* WD40 *cough* and we never had this problem with small or big ropes. What we experienced in the past was that the cam got sticky and when you closed it, it wouldn't move itself into position but would jam down on the rope. WD40 solved that and we had never had this again.

Tom

[ianpowolny]

You need to know which clutches you have such as: XTS or XAS. These clutches have specified rope size ranges. We have XTS with a range of 8mm to 14mm and generally use 12mm rope but the topping lift is 8mm and all works fine.

You can buy replacement clutch parts once you know which clutchs you have. www.spinlock.co.uk/en/categories/hardware-1/spares

Ian

[MartyB]

The XAS has two sizes of cams, one from 1/4-1/2" or 8-14mm, the other is 5/32-5/16 or IIRC about 6-10 or 12mm or so. The latter also does not have quite as much holding power IIRC.
I have both sizes of cams/clutch's on my boat, depending upon the line and its purpose. THen again, with a 28' LOD boat, I do not have as many larger lines as one would have with larger boats.

marty

link to a XAS sizing
www.westmarine.com/buy/spinlock--xas-powerclutches--P002_064_001_504

XTS specs, that also has two cam sizes...
www.westmarine.com/buy/spinlock--xts-powerclutches--P002_064_001_503