[C320-list] Gori prop problem

[Scott Thompson]

When I dove under the boat I grabbed both blades and tried to slam them 
open pretty hard. In the past, doing this repeatedly has usually let me 
eventually work them open all the way. Not this time. Do you think 
putting the boat in reverse is really going to generate more force than 
that? In reverse, it's only the centrifugal force working in your favor. 
The angle of the blades is actually trying to fold the prop when it's in 
reverse.

Going forward could be a problem. I'm on a mooring, and would have to 
tie up stern to the buoy to power up in forward with no risk of hitting 
the chain. I've never tried that.

I've always thought the geared design was better than ungeared, until 
now.  Maybe next year we will try some propspeed on the gears. The 
waterproof grease obviously doesn't keep the barnacles off.

On 8/6/2012 3:03 PM, Jeff Hare wrote:
>
> Since you've gotten them to unfold some,  I'd probably start the engine, put
> it in reverse first and rev it up a little bit.  They'll try to open further
> under engine power.
> Then idle back and try forward.  If they didn't open very far, changing
> direction may allow them to reverse.
>
> I'd bet that you just need to break up the barnies a bit.  The gears are
> supposed to self-clean but if they're pretty gunked up, it may take a bit to
> get them fully opened.
> Once you've got them opening up full, you might want to go motor around,
> coast to let them close, then open them up in reverse.
>
> Unless there's some mechanical problem, they'll probably clean themselves
> out with a little engine time.
>
> -Jeff
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Scott Thompson
> Sent: Monday, August 06, 2012 12:54 PM
> To: Catalina320.org
> Subject: [C320-list] Gori prop problem
>
> It's been a terrible summer for sailing for me, between too busy at work and
> too hot on the water. I went to the boat yesterday for the first time in
> over a month and dove to see how bad the prop was. The good news is that the
> Propspeed seems to have kept most of the hard growth off my Gori 2 blade
> folding prop. The bad news is that I can't unfold it all the way. The blades
> unfold smoothly until they reach about 90 degrees to each other, but I can't
> get any more motion than that, and certainly not the 180 degrees I need for
> proper motoring. I tried scraping out as much junk as I could from the pivot
> area, but couldn't make more than minor progress on getting the thing to
> unfold.
>
> Does anyone have suggestions or tips before I take the step of getting the
> boat hauled?
>