Jib Halyard Issue

[Boom Up Bob]

Hey there, I’ve got a problem on the jib halyard on my Halman 20. The main halyard runs up and down easily as it should, but my jib halyard jams up (just recently started doing this). When I pull the halyard down, it runs smoothly as it should until I get the tail end all the way to the bottom of the mast, however when I try to pull the halyard up, I can feel it’s not as smooth and when I get the end about 6’ off the deck, the halyard starts getting bound up until it gets to a hard stop and won’t pull up anymore, but then it will pull back down smoothly. I have no idea what’s causing this and am wondering if anyone has some recommendations on what could be the cause and how to go about inspecting and fixing the issue. I’m hoping to be able to fix it without having to haul the boat out and drop the mast and drill the rivits out of the end caps for inspection. I’m thinking about getting a borescope and running it up from the bottom of the mast to see if anything is hanging up inside. I’m just lost as to what would cause the halyard to run smoothly when I pull down but it jams up in the same spot everytime on the way up. Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[jehardiman]

Welcome to the forums.

What material is the halyard? Is it wire to rope? Internal? Any work on the mast recently?

 

[Boom Up Bob]

The halyard is a solid piece of double braid rope. I recently replaced both halyards and ran new coax through the mast, I’ve gone out a few times since then and the halyard worked perfectly fine, then suddenly it just started jamming up.

 

[Blueknarr]

Did a previous halyard contain any metalic elements?
Are there any signs of chaffing on the halyard?
Wire halyard groove compression posts at the spreaders and other internal mast fittings. Soft halyard can snag in the old grooves.
Did you change diameters of rope?
Incorrect rope/shive diameters can lockup under load. As can worn shive/axels

Also check the jib/forestay
Any reversed hanks
Damaged luff track/cord
Miss aligned prefeeder


Is it possible to determine if the problem is location or load related?

 

[philSweet]

Any chance you managed to wrap the halyard around the coax? Ask me why I ask this question. The wrap would slide down and the coax, halyard and the through-bolt for the lowers tang all conspired to lock up the halyard at about half way. Pull down and it would release.

 

[Boom Up Bob]

I used the same type of rope and diameter as the previous halyard which had no metallic. So far I haven’t been able to notice any chafe

 

[Boom Up Bob]

Phil I’m thinking that might be a possibility for me since I ran both a new halyard and coax although I did chance both of them through with paracord to pull my new ones, I suppose there’s a chance I did get them wrapped somehow. How did you find that out and what did you have to do to get the halyard free?? That was the first time I’ve ever replaced anything running through the mast. I’m assuming I’d have to pull the halyard all the way out and run it through again, but the only way I know how to do that is by chasing it through with a small rope and using that to pull the new line through, but that way wouldn’t do anything to fix the wrap lol. Thanks a lot for everyone taking the time to help me out!

 

[Will Gilmore]

If you have a kink in the coax, it might not be wrapped around, but simply catching it until it jams in the sheave or at the spreader bar.

Is is possible to thread a plastic conduit up the halyard on the inside of the mast?

Try pulling down tighter on the coax cable, then raise the jib.

 

[Boom Up Bob]

Thanks Will, I could thread plastic conduit on the halyard and try that but I would have to take the mast off and drill off the rivits on the end caps. I’ll try pulling on the coax and see if that help, I never thought of that

 

[seasquirt]

Is there a bridge or other convenient feature you could moor next to, and climb up to look directly at the mast top ? The coax does sound like a likely culprit. Have you seen the 3 zip tie method of stopping wires from banging inside a mast ? There is a pic on here of it.

 

[Boom Up Bob]

I haven’t heard of the 3 zip tie method?? I’ll have to look for that and see what it’s all about. I did send my girlfriend up the mast (she weighs about 120) to inspect the mast top and everything looked good from what she could see, I wish I would’ve thought to have her pull on the coax though to snug it up but I suppose I can do that from the bottom so I’ll try that today and see if it helps

 

[Boom Up Bob]

The problem is definitely location related. The halyard jams up regardless if I am hoisting a sail or if the halyard is unloaded