Schaefer 2100 Furling & Lower Bearing Assy

[BillBerner]

Mates -
Anybody who is having a tough time furling or unfurling their genoa might want to keep reading.
I was having a lot of difficulty furling my 135 genoa. I'd resorted to sometimes taking it through a winch which wasn't appealing.
My first attempt to solve the problem was to re run the furling line through outside stanchion blocks to a swiveling cam-cleat that I mounted just aft of the propane locker. It was some, though not a huge amount of help.
Next I removed the genoa and flushed out both the upper and lower bearing units. The upper seemed fine even b4 I flushed. The lower was very very tight, and the flushing didn't do anything to help.
I used a halyard to support the mast and removed the lower bearing unit.I was pretty much unable to rotate the inner drum at all. The bearings were totally frozen in their races.I soaked the unit in hot water on the boat, followed by using some small circlip pliers to try to free them up individually. Some marginal success, though enough of the bearings while not totally frozen, were still hung up enough to prevent the rest from moving freely.
I took the unit home and boiled it for an hour. This actually helped alot. While not rotating completely freely, its now in usable condition. I can rotate the inner drum by hand, relatively easily.
I'm going to give it another good boil, and hope that improves things even more.

[RFBaker167]

I replaced the fuller drum last summer, apparently corroded due to salt water. Shaffer provided new drum bearing and my rigging shop installed it for 250 with new furling line.
Regards, Bob Baker #167

[Hans v. d. Weijden]

I had the same problem already back in 2011. At that point in time I contacted Schaefermarine and they told me that this particular bearing had a design issue. The part number of this bearing is 33-049-A.
They shipped me a new one for only $ 130,- excluding shipping cost. It arrived within one week in the Netherlands.

Hans v. d. Weijden
Swan #254, Ermelo (The Netherlands)

[Guinevere]

Replaced ours last year. Schaefer service was top notch. They acknowledge an issue with the original design and have opened up the tolerance on the bearing races and added a flushing hole. Total cost was $165 delivered. New drum spins effortlessly!

Bob