Cleaning Winches

[savoir]

Did you look at these kits ? The price isn't too bad. Pawls last about 3 - 5 years.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...classNum=10231

[Down2TheC]

$5+ for a pawl is what I'm hoping to avoid. I know machinists and I'd guess that it's about a 5000% markup. You'd think you could get a bag of 50 for $50 and be done with it. Oh for an aftermarket, WestMarine-free solution. Though I'm expecting to have to suck it up.

[savoir]

Don't hold your breath.

[SaltyMonkey]

kerosene and an ol tooth brush

[Down2TheC]

Originally Posted by savoir

Don't hold your breath.

True that.
Definition: Marine. (adj) - financial term denoting a 50%-100% price increase

You can't simply clean those pawls forever. Had one fail on me once on a self tailer and it's a pants filling experience when it happens while nobody's touching it.

[GypsyHawk]

Amazing. Such a routine job and so many approaches to cleaning. I have always used petrol (gasoline), toothbrush, then very light lubrication with proprietary winch lubricant.

An aside - I was amazed how much easier maintenance was on my current winches (Andersons) compared to previous (Barlows).

[Hyprdrv]

To answer your original question the pins on the gears do pull up. You may have to use a thin putty knife to get under the heads but they will pull up. I had cleaned the 3 manual winches and had my lovely wife come up and see how they compared to the electric winch when hand spinning them. Weeeeeeeeeee went the manuals. w.. went the electric. Somewhat surprised myself I gave it a whirl. The damn thing was tight. I started to take it apart and discovered the entire interior was badly gummed up (the worst yet) and had the same problem getting the pins apart from the gears. I soaked everything in Mineral Spirits, I even took a Dremil wire brush to the real bad parts, Lubed per instructions and reassembled to find the electric was also a 2 speed in manual. The first time the Admiral tried a winch under load she commented (something she normally doesn't do for anything mechanical) how easy they worked now. Well worth the trouble and time to insure they worked perfectly as well as reduce loading on a VERY expensive motor on the electric one.

Steve in Solomons MD

[rdkinard]

How long should it take a skilled mechanic to service a Lewmar 48 self-tailing winch?

Last year the Marina took 26 hours to service 7 cockpit winches vs 9 hours average the previous three times.

I think we were ripped off!!

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by rdkinard

How long should it take a skilled mechanic to service a Lewmar 48 self-tailing winch?

Last year the Marina took 26 hours to service 7 cockpit winches vs 9 hours average the previous three times.

I think we were ripped off!!

Takes me a couple of hours, but thats taking time and care cos it's my winch. I would expect less than that if I was paying a service tech to do the job.
If you have the receipt for the previous years, take issue with the yard.

[Hyprdrv]

I agree with Nigel, 2 hours per winch is about right but dependent on how often you service them. The manual says 3 times a year. I have owned my boat for 3 years and didn't clean them for that time. Do to being slightly more complicated the Electric one probably hadn't been cleaned in a very long time. If I maintain the winches twice a year based on the fact I'm not cruising, I figure it would get down to maybe an hour at the least but the results are worth every second to do it right and the "butter" feel when using them is "priceless". The Electric wench I mentioned above took me close to 6 hours to do the 48's took me 3 hours, not as bad condition.

Steve in Solomons MD

[savoir]

Three times a year is too much unless all you do is put a few drops of oil on the pawls. Once a year is fine for greasing. Twice a year won't hurt or anything but isn't really necessary.