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How To Quickly & Easily Service Your Feathering Propeller & Rope Cutter Technical Sailing
Feb 8, 2024
La maintenance de routine des hélices est un élément essentiel de la propriété du bateau.
En ce premier mardi technique de 2019, nous vous montrons comment entretenir votre hélice et votre coupe-corde.
Comme mentionné précédemment, nous aimons le bleu Locktite en tant que filetage pour ce type d’emploi. Le lien pour cet élément essentiel de la boîte à outils est ici:
//Creative Commons Attribution Licence video (Reuse allowed)
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0:00
Hello again. Oh, well, the sun's up in the sky and it is a little bit warmer. Anyway
0:29
early launch. So just this is a little bit of technical stuff and probably only really
0:33
important for those of you who've got feathering props, but also just prop service. So this
0:38
is our prop. It needs a couple of things and a couple of things changed every year. One
0:44
of those is the anode. The anode sits at the end of our propeller. This is the anode that
0:50
gets the most wear. The prop essentially is the biggest metal thing exposed to the elements
0:56
And so really these small anodes go very, very quickly. So one of these is seasoned
1:01
And the other thing I need to do today is these. These little spaces, they are sacrificial
1:09
spaces and those spaces, we have a rope cutter. Now, for those of you who don't have a rope
1:13
cutter, if you are going long term cruising, I would really seriously suggest you get one
1:19
It has dug us out of problems so many times. We were going to get one, we weren't going
1:25
to get one. Literally it has kind of, I don't know, I think it has stopped the Coast Guard
1:31
being called at least twice because we were able to motor with a rope around the prop
1:37
because it literally shears through it all. But these have plates, they've got little
1:41
plates inside them. It's literally like a rotating pair of scissors, the one we've got
1:46
is an ambassador rope cutter. And there are two little plastic disks, there are little
1:52
spaces between the disks and they need to be replaced as well. So that is a job to do
1:56
This morning I've got other work to do, but it's too cold for the epoxy to set. So I've
2:01
got essentially a spare day. So why don't I just show you what I'm doing? Another thing
2:05
is for today's fun and games is blue Loctite. Now, Loctite, for those of you who don't know
2:12
it's a type of thread locker. There are different incarnations of this. Some works in the wet
2:16
some works in dry, some is stronger. I tend to use blue Loctite and I keep multiple bottles
2:21
of this lying around. Literally thread locker is such an amazing thing to have on a boat
2:27
Again, the action of it is that as you basically put a little drop on the thread of a screw
2:33
as you kind of put it into a hole where it's kind of like going into metal. And as you
2:39
exclude all the air, the anaerobic, the lack of air causes it to set. So it's like a liquid
2:45
plastic that sets when there's no air. So this stuff is brilliant. So anyway, we've
2:50
got to take the proper part, take the rope cutter apart, change the anode, and then you've just got
2:55
a little bit of work to do. And then again, before we get this prop back in the water
2:58
we will just fill it full of grease again, just to make sure that the bearings are really kind of
3:02
like working for the season. Anyway, on with the day. So as you can see, this is the remains
3:13
This is one season's use of our anode. It is always invariably much, much worse
3:25
when we are in marinas. Stray currents in marinas absolutely destroy these things
3:31
Not our boat, we are completely earthed, but other people have boats that have stray earths
3:36
And so let's just ease that off. So that, you can see that, that is the remains of our anode
3:47
And again, for those of you who don't know, the anode is sacrificial. Zinc is more attractive
3:52
to electricity than the brass of this prop. So rather than stray currents
3:59
eating away at our lovely prop, it sacrifices the anode. So again, just to show you, one anode, that's one season for us. Incredible
4:15
So the next job to do is to clean the screws, just to clean any scale or mud or debris from
4:20
the threads. Once that's done, just clean any residual mud from around the inside of the prop
4:27
And then we get to reapply the anode. So first we're just going to offer up the anode
4:33
just to make sure they've sent us the right size, make sure the screws fit into the holes
4:38
add a drop or two of thread locker or Loctite, put that in there and then just tighten it up
4:45
add it to the propeller and just screw it in. And that is it. Simple job, easy to do
4:51
It should take you less than half an hour. Okay, so this is our rope cutter. It is still fiercely sharp and the discs here
5:09
in fact one of this is completely gone. Now these are a little bit tricky to get off. So what I've
5:13
got to do is get all these allen keys out, pull this apart, try not to cut my fingers to ribbons
5:18
and then replace this disc with a nice new one. So there we go. That's the job for now
5:25
So with the blades of the rope cutter removed, we can now apply these lovely two new discs
5:31
We also need to spend some time here getting the residual strands of polyprop rope from around the
5:38
cutter. And if you look at this, that's the old disc completely worn out. So the abrasion and
5:44
the action of those two opposing rope cutting plates cause those to wear out. They actually
5:50
wear out far faster where there's silt in the water. So for those of you who keep their boats
5:55
on mud moorings, be aware that the maintenance schedule is different. As you can see, we've got
5:59
some strands of that pesky rope all still intertwined with our rope. So quick clean
6:05
of that with a screwdriver, making sure not to scratch the surfaces. And reassembly is exactly the reverse process of disassembly. There are four retaining screws that
6:14
need to be reattached. You put the sacrificial plates on, tighten everything up by hand and a
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little bit of thread lock as with everything in those screws, just to ensure that they don't work
6:25
loose. Simple job should take you no more than half an hour. Again, please watch your fingers
6:30
with these things. Rope cutters are fiendishly sharp. And there we go. About half an hour later
6:35
still 10 fingers all intact. We have both sacrificial discs back in place, located the
6:41
right way around. And just one final job just to make sure the prop turns freely and does not bind
6:47
So another job done. Let's move on to greasing the little beast. And just to make your life easier
6:52
I'm going to put a link below to Amazon and the thread locker that we use. It's blue thread locker
6:57
medium strength, able to be removed with hand tools. Whatever you do, do not use a
7:02
red thread locker for this application. You will struggle to get your screws out at a later date
7:19
Now, greasing your prop is fairly easy. You need to look at the instructions for the propeller that
7:24
you have. But in the case of our propeller, there is a little grub screw. You literally use an Allen
7:30
key to remove the grub screw. You then attach a grease nipple to the hole where the grub screw came
7:38
and then attach a grease gun to the grease nipple. Now, the grease in the grease gun has been supplied by the manufacturer's propeller
7:48
so contact your propeller manufacturer to make sure you have the correct viscosity of grease
7:54
Now, one reason we do this is obviously to fill the mechanism for the feathering blades
8:00
with grease. But another secondary factor that we get from this is that it flushes out any residual
8:06
salt water or debris that has accumulated inside the boss of the propeller during the season
8:11
So finally, we remove the grease nipple, apply a little bit of thread lock
8:16
to the grub screw and reattach it. And that is a simple, simple job
8:21
And one final job is to use an old, old wire brush just to remove any scale deposits or rust
8:28
from the propeller. It's very important to try not to actually score or mark the propeller because it
8:34
will just lend itself to building up debris faster. But a light polish and then a damp cloth with
8:40
maybe some polishing agent and we're free. The propeller is as good as new and ready to service
8:45
for another year. Thank you so much for watching this week's video. If you like what we do and you want to see what
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we do every week, then please hit that subscribe button. Cheers, bye
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