Hi, I have dug out an old North sails Power XT Extension but the outer Rope stopping big washer thing had a crack and it made the ratchet system slip. I took the bolt out from the centre and tried too glue the big washer thing but it wouldn't stick.

I contacted Duotone but they no longer supply any parts for older models like this.

Anyway after quite a bit of playing around with bolts etc I managed to fix it and it actually works better then it did originally.

I had to put a bit of epoxy on the thread where it goes through the ratchet and then sand it and put a standard washer on each end and a Nylock nut so it won't come undone.

I really rate these extensions and this one is for my daughter who is just getting into the straps and planing around Poole harbour and as she's light etc it makes life a lot easier to downhaul bigger sails.

It looks a bit agricultural but works really well.

Not sure how the pully wheel makes the rope slip? Mine keept sliping because of the lack of tension from the 'rope guide' (not sure what to call it). I made a 5mm Shim from a window wedge to sit under the guide it has worked ever since. At the time of the Power XT they changed out the plastic guide for a metal clip, but I found that kept breaking. I have also found I can't use the original/OEM rope, I think I'm using dynema rope.



Good XT Euro Pin returning fully

Euro Pin clip not fully returning, lost the rig a few times before I worked out what was happening.





Newer style, clip kept breaking, Original style.

Slippage is usually because of the rope. Make sure you've got the 4.2mm stuff.

My main issue is the C-clip likes to pop off. Gotta hold the shaft "up" while cranking on the downhaul to prevent that.

I've also had the crank handle decide to switch over the "loosen" mode and flop down, putting a huge hole in the deck of my board... made for a frustrating repair: imgur.com/a/ectBWNg

My rope was slipping as the pulley wheel was cracked and the bolt goes into it, so as I tensioned the rope the pulley wheel was slightly wonky and therefore the other side was slightly under less tension, the bolt that I put in can be tensioned just right and the whole thing is way more stable.

Other than duotone original rope. is there anything else that works ( i.e available at yacht chandlers) that does not slip. i have found my new power xt is slipping after 1 year of use. presume rope needs replacing ( even though it looks fine).

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Captain_Morg said..
Other than duotone original rope. is there anything else that works ( i.e available at yacht chandlers) that does not slip. i have found my new power xt is slipping after 1 year of use. presume rope needs replacing ( even though it looks fine).

Flip the rope around the other way. Should get another year out of it

nice- will give it a try

I think there is more to it than just the rope, so I guess I go against the grain a bit. On my newer Power XT which is the last of the North Branded Power XT, same as the current design I am still using the original supplied rope which measures 4.6mm. It doesn't get used much as it's dedicated to my 4m Severne sail. There is as much importance on the the 'Rope Pressure Leaf' as there is on the rope. I found on the original Power XT that the 'Rope Pessure leaf' would lose tension over time allowing the rope to slip, replacing the rope did nothing until I replaced it with a larger rope, (Dynema)4.8mm and a pain to get through the holes but I use it as a loop and go system so only threading it once. As above I had ended up placing a wedge to increase the pressure applied by the 'rope pressure leaf'. I have some new spare Dutone rope which measures 4.4mm and I can get it to work but with extra wedges to provide the required pressure on the rope. My rule of thumb test has been if I can do a linear pull of the rope away from the base and it grips, it will grip when I downhaul it, if not I need more pressure on the 'leaf'. I would check the 'Rope Pressure Leaf' and the spring that sits underneath it, as well as the rope.

I used to fix a lot of these way back when, it's amazing what you can do with a dremmel and a small ball nose bit