Ronstan Ballslide Batten Systems (PDF)

INSTALLATION MANUAL

Car layout, foot/membrane selection, receptacle and intermediate car fitting, loading the sail into the luff groove and care of Ronstan Ballslide™ Series 6 and Series 8 batten car systems, with the car/foot identification and replacement parts chart.

DocumentRonstan Ballslide Batten Systems Installation & Maintenance

FormatPDF · 2 pages · 0.5 MB

LanguageEnglish

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Car Layout Feet Installation Parts Maintenance Products

Ronstan Ballslide Batten Systems — Installation & Maintenance

Selection and Distribution of Cars

In general, use one Ballslide™ car with receptacle for each batten, an intermediate car between battens, plus one above the top batten and one below the bottom batten.
Do not place cars too close to the reefing points: this can transfer to the cars the heavy load that should be taken by the reefing hook.
Fit a top track end stop so that, fully hoisted, the top of the sail cannot go up the mast to where the headboard car interferes with the halyard sheave.

"Narrow" Feet (cars RC261xx, RC263xx, RC281xx)

Select the foot that fits the luff groove of your mast. Note the foot/membrane number moulded into the part and use the same number on all cars.
Unscrew the two attachment screws on the car and press one foot into place on each end of the car.
Apply a drop of Screw Lock to each screw before securing the foot.
Run a car fitted with feet up and down the whole luff groove to check for consistent sizing: mast extrusions can vary over their length.

"Wide" Feet (cars RC264xx, RC265xx, RC284xx)

Wide feet are supplied as an additional product to the cars: order separately, 1 pair required per car.
Apply a drop of Screw Lock to each screw before securing the foot.
Run a car fitted with feet up and down the whole luff groove to check for consistent sizing.

Batten Receptacle / Link

Each batten receptacle comes with 3 sets of screws: (1) receptacle to stainless steel link; (2) receptacle to sail canvas less than 3mm (1/8") thick; (3) receptacle to sail canvas more than 3mm (1/8") thick.
Press the fork of the stainless steel link over the luff of the sail.
Position one half of the receptacle and secure it to the fork of the link with the No. 1 screw.
Drill holes in the canvas under each of the four corner holes in the receptacle.
Place the other half of the receptacle on the opposite side of the sail and secure it with four screws and nuts: two holes take screw heads, the other two take nuts.
Fit the receptacle/link to the batten car, observing the UP sticker on the car.

Intermediate Car

Remove the pin by pushing up the bottom end of the pin with a screwdriver.
Place the webbing loop around the plastic bush.
Position the bush in the car and re-insert the plastic pin from the top of the car.

Installing the Sail on the Mast

Widen the luff groove directly above the gooseneck to take the length of the longest car body and the width of the feet. The headboard car has two car bodies, but they go in one at a time, so the opening only needs the length of a single car body. The widening can be on one side only.
Temporarily remove the pivot pin of the headboard car so the two cars can be inserted individually; re-assemble once inserted.
Feed the intermediate and batten cars into the feeder hole in the correct order, observing the UP orientation.
Line up the top edge of the bottom end stop with the top of the widened section.
Drill and thread holes for the bottom end stop and secure it with at least 2 screws; the end stop covers the feeder hole.

To remove the sail, unscrew the bottom end stop and take all cars out; the headboard car comes out one car at a time after removing the pivot pin.

Car / Foot Identification & Replacement Parts

Ronstan Ballslide car and foot identification chart, narrow feet N1 to N9 and wide feet

Car	Series	Feet	Replacement foot set	Replacement ball
RC261XX (narrow)	Series 6 – 41mm (1 5/8") wide	2 × foot sets (N1 to N7) and 2 × screws included	RC20101	581002 – 6.35mm (1/4")
RC263XX (narrow)	Series 6	2 × foot sets (N8 & N9) and 2 × screws included	RC20102	581002 – 6.35mm (0.25in)
RC264XX (wide)	Series 6	Not included – 1 pair per car, order separately	See wide feet below	581002 – 6.35mm (0.25in)
RC281XX (narrow)	Series 8 – 51mm (2") wide	2 × foot sets (N1 to N7) and 2 × screws included	RC20101	581004 – 8.00mm (0.315in)
RC284XX (wide)	Series 8	Not included – 1 pair per car, order separately	See wide feet below	581004 – 8.00mm (0.315in)

Part no.	Description
RC20101	Replacement narrow foot set N1–N7 (Series 6 & 8): 2 × foot sets and 2 × screws	View part →
RC20102	Replacement narrow foot set N8 & N9 (Series 6): 2 × foot sets and 2 × screws	Ask us to source it →
581002	Replacement ball, 6.35mm (1/4") diameter (Series 6)	Ask us to source it →
581004	Replacement ball, 8.00mm (0.315in) diameter (Series 8)	Ask us to source it →

Wide Feet (includes washer & screw)

Foot	Series	A mm	B mm	C mm	A in	B in	C in
RC20111	6	13.0	20.0	10.4	1/2	25/32	13/32	View foot →
RC20112	6	13.7	20.0	12.5	17/32	25/32	15/32	View foot →
RC20113	6	13.7	20.0	11.0	17/32	25/32	7/16	View foot →
RC20114	6	13.7	20.0	11.5	17/32	25/32	7/16	View foot →
RC20115	6	12.8	20.0	10.5	1/2	25/32	13/32	View foot →
RC20116	6	8.8	16.0	6.6	11/32	5/8	1/4	View foot →
RC20118	6	8.8	16.0	7.6	11/32	5/8	5/16	View foot →
RC20119	6	9.8	20.0	10.0	12/32	25/32	13/32	View foot →
RC20130	8	13.3	24.0	11.4	17/32	15/16	7/16	View foot →
RC20131	8	11.6	23.0	11.8	15/32	29/32	15/32	View foot →
RC20135	8	12.5	24.0	10.5	1/2	15/16	13/32	Ask us to source it →

A, B and C are the foot dimensions shown on the chart. Check your luff groove before ordering.

Maintaining the Ballslide™ Cars

Flush the cars now and then with fresh or soapy water to remove salt deposits between the balls and the car body.
Cleaning can be done in-situ: spray with a hose or douse with a bucket, then use a soft brush.
Do not use oil, WD-40 or other lubricants on the cars.

Need a part that isn't listed? Ask us to source it and quote the part number from the PDF.