Still, those brackets needed changing.
Just got them in from Rudy at D & R. They're $58 each now.
Nicely rounded on the bottom and the brackets are also properly angled upwards. Seem to be a bit heavier than the originals too.
Still, those brackets needed changing.
Just got them in from Rudy at D & R. They're $58 each now.
Nicely rounded on the bottom and the brackets are also properly angled upwards. Seem to be a bit heavier than the originals too.
Robert LeMasters needs a pair for commander 105 , where did you get them?
http://www.drmarine.com/default.asp
The website is pretty worthless, but give Rudy a call.
I ordered two spreader bases from D&R, real nice people. Same day shipping, $58 per and $7.50 shipping, better deal then having them machined here.
Mine broke in storage with weight of NY snow.Better keep it in the Carribean for the winter! Replace with the jay unit and get over it .Better here than blowing one out in the med !By the way,I move Ariels to warm locations real cheap .Thanks Gerry
I was just over at Robert Lemasters' house checking out his new spreader sockets . Good deal , nice hardware and prompt delivery .
http://www.drmarine.com/default.asp
Just wanted to add something to this - I saw Rudy at D&R for new sockets. They aren't drilled out because they fit more than just Ariels, so you need to be prepared to do that part yourself. I ended up having to "slot" the bolt holes in one of the new sockets to get it to fit correctly, with a 9/16" drill bit. This was my fault for copying the bolt pattern on my only remaining good socket, rather than measuring off the holes in the mast. The other thing is that my spreaders didn't fit in the new sockets. Maybe sloppy casting or an old mold or something, but either way - make sure to measure the OD of your spreaders and ask Rudy to measure the ID of the sockets before he sends them. Maybe you can have him do the cleanup before purchase. Or you can do what I did - put your spreaders on a belt sander with coarse sandpaper and grind those babies down. There seemed to be a lot of material left on the spreaders when I was finished, so I'm not worried about the integrity of the part. I also needed to use a dremel tool with a sander drum attachment to clean up the flat spots and imperfections inside the spreader socket. Everything is back together now though, and she sails great! When you put it back together, make sure the spreaders are angled slightly upward (pointing towards the top of the mast). If you put them on in reverse, they will point downward.
Here we are a number of years later with ongoing problems. Here's some of my opinion on the subject:
On another thread you'll find how one owner made up stainless steel sockets and added a compression tube to his upgrade:
In the Gallery: Rico's 'Commander 155 Mephisto Cat' pg5.
A338, litlgull, has airfoils which is a completely different system.
The original sockets on A338 were mounted to the mast with some very hard setting goop. When they came off discovered that the base of the socket casting had not been radiused to the mast curve and that was why the black bondo was used. However the spreaders sat very well in the sockets. There was no wear & no cracks in the castings - because, imco, the BASES hadn't moved in the decades they were on the mast.
When you think of it, the double or maybe triple duty those aluminum fittings do halfway up the mast is extraordinary. The mast, it could be said, constantly moves in its rigging - and would impact the spreader sockets - even in the marina.
The two humungous 1/2" bolts are mounted thru the centerline of the fitting.
This would mean that if the fitting is left flat it will probably rocker on the mast.
The hard black bondo the mast sockets were smeared on with, did a good job providing a solid base for the tube spreaders.
However most owners will probably use tube rubber to fill the spaces between the bases and the mast.
Imco that will lead to the wear reported on this thread. I believe cast aluminum fittings crack because they MOVE on the mast, not because they are cast and supposedly have a crystaline structure.
When the mast is horizontal you can make little pads for the spreader bases.
Not only are cast spreader bases handed (the cups indeed must incline UP) but they also should be mounted at 90 degrees to the mast centerline.
The center of the mast where we want the spreaders is not a symetrical curve.
So with a piece of mylar taped to the side of the mast, you can cast a couple pads in epoxy, chopped strand glass and cabosil. You have to double-side carpet tape some dams on top of the mylar on either side of the glop - that you place pretty exactly where you want the spreaders to be along the center of the mast. The mast center is not the center of the curve of the mast section. Use a seranwrapped piece of flat stock to press flat your goop cookie and press it as thin as you want, maybe 3/16" at the thinest. This flat should be parallel to the center of the mast, and therfore parallel to the flat of the pad on the opposite side.
After epoxy is set, cut to fit. If you've made the cookie wide enough, you can move it sideways a little on the mast - and get it exactly in the center. Then trim it to fit the base. It will almost be disappeared with the base bolted in place.
If you double the length of the mold form, you'll be making an exact duplicate pad when you cut the cookie in half and end for end the second piece.
Imco this is the easiest way to get an absolutely stable socket for the spreaders AND the lowers. Mast winch pads can be customed the same way.
Instead of pads
If you have access to a spindle sander you can sand/grind a cove into the cast aluminum base that matches the curve of the mast. Reverse the base when shaping, for left and right side.
You can find spindles that use sanding sleeves on the drill press. (Harbor Freight?)
If you have a vise to hold the sockets you might also try sculpting with the hand drill version of spindle sanders. The relatively narrow section of the socket fitting means the curve you are attempting to grind is relatively shallow. And you can grind and try-fit the bases on the mast until you get it just right - aluminum is pretty hard stuff to evacuate with a sanding sleeve. The easiest and most controled shaping is probably done with a table top oscillating spindle sander - because you just hold the fitting and press it against the dancing sanding sleeve. Really control the shaping.
Imco the bolts alone won't stablize the sockets, you need a pad, or a fitted base.
Also imco the base plates or the radiused sockets must be barrier mounted to the mast.
Use 20mil black pipewrap AND TefGel or MareLube 45 to isolate the fitting from the mast. Tape isolates, teflon gel keeps water out.
Maybe aluminum against aluminum is OK, but if the boat is in salt you certainly have some sort of galvanics in the crevis between two alloys. ALL IMCO.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______
Locate & Drill Jig - & Pad making
I found all kinds of Pearson & P.O. "eyeball" mistakes on A338's mast. Made up a 3/4" four side plywood box (actually a square collar) about 6" long that is a SNUG fit on the mast. If you have the sail track on the mast you mark the center of the track onto the box, which also is the center of the piece of plywood there. Imobilize that spot by temporarily blue taping the box to the mast.
Square the collar to the mast with a rafter square. The center of the front piece of ply of your box is the center of the front curve of the mast. The box then shows where the 'center line' of the mast is. Mark the spar at the center. Line up the front and track centers and the long side of the box is then horizontal to the imaginary front-to-back centerline.
The collar can show perfect 90 degree locations on opposite sides of the mast. predrill the 1/2" holes by stacking the ply pieces and drilling both thru on the drill press. Then assemble the collar. Use the predrilled holes to perfectly locate & drill into the mast.
Found that the Pearson factory originally janked the bolt holes for A338's socket bases, one spreader base 1/2" lower then the other and off center by 1/4", as well. They could have used a colar jig to get it right!
Sliding a taped or screwed together collar near your cookie dough will give you an eyeball sightline for the flat you want when pressing your flattener into the wet glop of the cookie base form you've taped on the mast.
Leave the seranwrapped flattener on your cookie until it sets. Make the flattener flat with mast too. Hope the hell this makes sense !
NAMASTE
Last edited by ebb; 07-04-2012 at 08:20 AM.
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