has any one blown up a ballbearing block befor? the shaft parted the plastic cheeks and came out. balls flew ever where( brand new block(wasnt happy)) a way to fix this would be to put metal cheeks on a block and pin each end is there any out there with metal cheeks? the block was a pj sails i think and a hitec sail winch blew it up running at 4.8 volts. the block was kanting my keel on dry land with no load but the fin and bolb weight the block blew befor my winch parted from the hot melt glue that was holing it in for a trial run[:-banghead]
When the Apprentice knows more than the Mentor its time to quit!
I’ve tried most blocks on the market and you can’t beat pekabe ESPECIALLY for high load applications like canting keels and spinnakers. The pekabe has close enough tolerances that the line won’t tend to get caught between the cheek and sheave. I found thru trial and error though that 90 lb(40kg.) line is the smallest SPECTRA line that won’t get caught like that.
Pekabe blocks should be kept below 20lb’s(9 kg) load. So if you have 4.4lbs(2.2kg.) on a 19"(482mm) fin then you need a 4.25" (108mm) lever inside the boat to keep the load on a block placed on the lever within bounds…That load is calculated at the worst case scenario: keel straight down and the boat knocked flat(keel parallel to the water).
You might want to check out Hales Micro Blocks. They are similar looking to Pekabe, but the sheave is recessed into the side panels to prevent small diameter lines from getting stuck between the sheave and the cheeks.
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[:-bigeyes2]Andy? Do you have a contact for the
<font color=“purple”><font size=“2”>Hales Micro Block?</font id=“size2”></font id=“purple”>[:-disguise]
the pekabe screw heads will strip easily if mishandled because the screws are made of softer metal(looks like chrome plated brass) compared to the stainless steel screws fitted with hales
i replaced the crappy plastic cheeks with home made alloy ones they have done the job so far and look a hell of a lot stronger only time will tell. i ued all the parts of the block that blew up but just made new cheek plates out o 1.omm alloy
When the Apprentice knows more than the Mentor its time to quit!
Pekabes have never failed me in the 10 or so years I have used them. I bought a bunch of KDH because they were like a third cheaper than PKB but the KDH blew out on me after winning two of the first three races at the region 1 US1M regionals two years ago. The block could not be replaced on the spot so I had to retire. The 5 or 6 KDH blocks I had on Hand went to the trash can that night. I was pissed. Anyways I trust the construction of PKB and the Hales look good but I am not trusting one till I see it.