Hi,

I've been sailing 2 years with the cam cleat from Harken below and they don't grip anymore.



If you open them up you can see a little iron that makes the cleat euhm ... cleat.

Can you replace these or amend them so the cleat closes again?

Thanks.

Gill

Yes. The little bolt in the middle of each cleat allows it to be replaced. However, that may be penny wise and pound foolish. The spring inside each cleat also wears. It might be as well to replace whole thing.

Search for "cam spring" at the Harken store http://www.harkenstore.com .

Are you sure the problem is with the cleat and not with the rope? They should easily last two years.
Something that I found can make a difference is the bracket that goes over the cleat, it adds some stiffness to the whole construction.
Also try cleaning them and spraying plenty of sailkote on there.

Now that you mention it! When I've had this problem in the past, the teeth were eroded in the sheeting direction.

I wonder if my sheets accumulate salt and grit, and are filing down my cams every time I sheet!

Gill and Pete,

The newer LINES (not rope, you are on a boat) can overheat and melt the plastic cleats. Last year I burned out a Harkin cam cleat .... it had a groove the same diameter as the line through the middle of the jaws of the cleat. So I replaced that plastic camcleat with one with metal in the jaws.

HarryMurphey

Check this out.... http://blog.apsltd.com/search/label/How%20To
How to rebuild a Harken Cam cleat... if your springs or bearings are bad.

However, if your using the plastic cam cleat just go out and buy an aluminum one and you be all good.

Thanks for the information guys.
I've checked again and it is indeed the spring that has worn out (pretty quick I must say -> 2 years?)

It are the cleats for the mast rotation, so that aren't used that often. I always uncleat them after sailing and clean then with fresh water...

I'll buy those new springs!

Thanks.

This my friends, is why they make aluminum cams.

Dont get the plastic ones.

Gill,

Just a suggestion ... I'm not sure how your mast rotation system is confiquired, but I replaced the Jr Jam Cleats used on my TheMightyHobie18 and P19MX with "spinlocs" several years ago .... my (now 14yr old) niece whom races with me, could not release the mast rotation and outhaul lines ... she would struggle, I even found it difficult at times to release the rotator and ouhaul lines. So I installed the spinlocs on the boom .... a BIG improvement!!!! Megan loves those "puppies", just taps them and they release ... and very easy to adjust. You need to install a "fairlead" in front of the mast rotation spinloc so the line enters the spinloc in-line with the spinloc. the spinloc works better and you don't creat a side-load on the spinloc that could break/tear it off the boom (especially when gybeing/tacking).

A fairlead would help the camcleat also I would believe ... could the springs be failing because of "side-loading"??? I wonder????

So maybe you want to give them a try for those applications ... instead of the camcleat. Our roundings of the windward mark have greatly improved as our ability to "switch" gears from upwind to downwind mode is alot smoother. (I didn't use camcleats since they would stick-out/overhang the sides of the boom. I was afraid that if you got smacked/hit with the boom you could be killed by the protruding camcleat.)

Harry Murphey

PS: "puppies"- used here as American slang of indearment ... everyone loves puppies and not as a actual canine/dog being attached to the boom.

Strange, I have found that the "puppies" ability to hang onto an old piece of line quite inpressive.

If the little guys could just stay on the round boom it might just work.

If they are the "carbo" cleats and you can see a line groove, it's time to replace the cams and springs.

If they are the aluminium version and you can see any silver on the teeth(the anodizing is worn through), then it is also time to replace the cams and springs.

FWIW, I haven't personally seen Harken cams plastic teeth wear out, but I have had to replace the springs. I try to only keep my boats 4 years between upgrades (aka new boat), if that's any measure of time.

Mike

I hate to say this guys but Harken hardware hasn't been in the last 5-10 years what it used to be. I was lucky enough to have recognized the early signs back in 2000 and 2001 and opted for a mix of components on my own homebuild boat.

The cam cleats I'm using are Ronstan and not a single one has failed on me yet. On the other hand I can name tens of incidents where the Harken versions failed on other (F16) boats.

For a while now I have been shaking my head at people who want a full harken fit-out on their boat and are willing to pay extra for that. I personally wouldn't even accept that at a discount !

The policy that has worked for me so far is the following :

Small well aligned blocks and cam cleats = Ronstan
Small block subjected to abuse = ONLY harken all stainless small block (actually the cheapest Harken components available!)
Auto Ratchets : Riley, Ronstan (post 2005) and I think the newest Harken are okay for a try too
Metal and plastic hardware like shackles and handles, beads = Wichard, RWO
All purpose and spare blocks etc = RWO, Seasure,
Rudder pintles = Vidana
Traveller tracks = only ball bearing I-tracks from Ronstan, I hate recirculating systems. Use only the 6 wheeled or more cars on high performance cats and you'll be happy ever after. Again, cheap and absolutely no issues with dirt, salt or even track damage.

I dislike jam cleats with a passion as none of them seems to work as expected or when they do then the eat through the lines too quickly.


So my advice would be to replace them with either Riley cleats or Ronstan cleats, I prefer the last. Their is only one real drawback with the ronstan cleats. They typically (if not exclusively) use plastic
guiderails. When the line is misaligned it will cut through these guide rails rather quickly. Especially the spi halyard cleat suffers from this. One solution is to remove the plastic guiderails and just fit a metal eyestrap to the top of the cleat using the same bolts that hold the cleat to the beam. The line can now never escape the cleat but pulling it into the cleat under a large angle is sacrifized. When the latter is necessary then going for the Riley imitation is an option as these are supplied with metal guide rails. For much less used cleats like the downhaul cleats, the plastic guiderails of the Ronstans are sufficient and I still don't have any meaningful wear on them there. Additionally, the plastic guiderails are easy to replace.

Good luck !

Wouter

FWIW, I've always found Harken equipment to be quite dependable. But then, I'm typically using their stuff that has been tried-'n-tested for many years...micro blocks, bullet blocks, 2-1/4" mainsheet systems.

I did have an issue a few years ago though with one of their plastic cams as others have mentioned. The cam was used on one of the exit blocks for my downhaul. The downhaul line wore a groove into the cam and it wouldn't hold...had to just tie it off for the remainder of the race. So I plan to stick to the aluminum cams in the future.

sm

Blasphamy!!!

yeah, well...I've had nothing but good experiences with Harken hardware and pretty often is some pretty rough circumstances. I've had great experience with their travelers - change the bearings annually and don't put lubricants in them. Lubricants make it more likely for the bearings to slide instead of roll and once they slide, they create a flat spot on them which leads to more sliding and more flat spotting.

I've used some Ronstan cleats and hardware here and there and it also seems to perform quite well. I think the thing you need to walkaway from this thread is that the hardware is usually designed to carry and operate with a certain load and in a certain position. No matter who manufactures it, you need to take care that you are using the gear in the appropriate manner - i.e., don't use a plastic fairlead when you will be drawing lengthy bits of line at off angles - it will burn. Use metal fairleads here. Don't use a plastic cleat on your high load applications - read the specifications.

also make sure you pull the line up (and out of the teeth) when sheeting in... i burned through a ronstan spin halyard cleat in a few months.. not thinking about the line angle.

What do you think about liquid dishwasher soap?

Liquid soap is a good trick to load bearings, but if you're squirting soap in there as a lubricant, you trap sand and (as Jake already said) preventing the bearings from rolling at the same time. You'll have etched, flat bearings in a fairly short period of time.