Lewmar 43 Self tailing winch (circa 1980) reassembly

[Binkyburdett]

Dear all, I took all my winches apart for cleaning, lubrication and new pawls. My sailboat has 4 different kinds of Lewmar winches and all went back together again no problem except this pair of self-tailing single-speed Lewmar 43 (around 1980) winches. Once the drums are placed back over the spindles, the upper crown and self tailing arm are placed on top no problems. Then I am supposed to insert two semi-circular bronze collets that insert into keyways cut into the spindle to hold the whole thing together vertically and place the black plastic cap over the top and secure with four stainless screws. The thing came apart easily enough but when trying to place the black plastic cap over the collets I cannot get it to fit over the two bronze semicircular pieces as their circumference once fitted in the keyways is bigger than the recess on the cap underside that they should fit into. It looks as if the collets need to be compressed radially somehow before the cap can fit over and screws inserted. I attach photos of the general arrangement. I messed with this for over an hour including trying to compress the collets with large flat bladed screwdriver and hammer. Im going to end up damaging parts

In first photo we see upper crown and self-tailing arm placed on the drum awaiting securing with the collets and the cap and screws

In the second we see the two bronze collets inserted into the keyways in the spindle.

In the third photo we can see ho the collets should fit into the underside of the black plastic cap

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I cannot find any Lewmar service guide online that covers this model

Cheers

James

[pcmm]

I have the same winches on my boat. Where did you get your rebuild kit from? something doesn't look right there. In your second picture, you seem to be using different collets than the first picture. The collets should be little and just a bit bigger than the shaft. Just enough to keep it all together. Not like what you have in the third pic.

[roverhi]

Lift the inner shaft, the one the hex winch handle slips into. These set slightly low and need to be lifted about an 1/8th of an inch for the half moon pieces to slide in. Took me about an hour of swearing to get those pieces back in the first time I tried to reassemble them.

[Binkyburdett]

Hi PCMM, no, they're the same collets in all pictures and all four from both winches (two on each winch) are identical. I don't think the winch has been rebuilt, think all parts are original

[Binkyburdett]

Roverhi, I'll try this, lift the inner spindle a bit. I'll let you know if it works, thanks

[Binkyburdett]

Roverhi's solution worked perfectly. Lifting the spindle slightly reveals a keyway that the collets slot into

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Lift the inner shaft, the one the hex winch handle slips into. These set slightly low and need to be lifted about an 1/8th of an inch for the half moon pieces to slide in. Took me about an hour of swearing to get those pieces back in the first time I tried to reassemble them.

Oh and I thought I was the only one who had trouble getting them back together before realising what was wrong. We need a T shirt for the club.

Pete

[Binkyburdett]

Got the service manual as a PDF from Lewmar UK. Its too big to attach but I can email to anyone who wants it

[TheThunderbird]

I have 14 winches onboard.

Anyone volunteering??

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Lift the inner shaft, the one the hex winch handle slips into. These set slightly low and need to be lifted about an 1/8th of an inch for the half moon pieces to slide in. Took me about an hour of swearing to get those pieces back in the first time I tried to reassemble them.

LOL I knew immediately what the issue was and you beat me to it.

This is why it's a good reason to disassemble, clean, and reassemble your winches when you're at the dock. If you have an issue with the winch when underway, knowing how to take it apart and put it back together correctly can be important.

Years ago on a trip back from Bermuda on someone else's boat I came on deck to discover crew having hastily disassembled a winch to fix an override. They could not get it back together because they didn't know to lift the spindle to slide the keys in. I think at some point in the chaos the self-tailing arm went over the side, too.

[Howler]

I recently serviced my Lewmar winches. It was recommended to do it aboard at dock to keep all the pieces in one place. It worked fine, but in spite of attempts to protect the boat, it made a mess from all the dirty grease. Any tips for keeping the boat clean while rebuilding winches?

[td0tz]

Originally Posted by Binkyburdett

Roverhi's solution worked perfectly. Lifting the spindle slightly reveals a keyway that the collets slot into

Or why we love this site!

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Howler

I recently serviced my Lewmar winches. It was recommended to do it aboard at dock to keep all the pieces in one place. It worked fine, but in spite of attempts to protect the boat, it made a mess from all the dirty grease. Any tips for keeping the boat clean while rebuilding winches?

Plenty of rags, and there should be very little grease. Maybe a teaspoon per size 43 winch?
Now I’m no expert but I really only grease the bearings lightly, everything else gets covered in Corrosion-X.
Grease seems to turn to wax pretty quickly, and I am just a fan of Corrosion-X. It is not what is supposed to be used. I’m trialing it.
I have learned that once you do it once, then after that it takes maybe ten minutes to clean and lube a winch.
I use a Lowe’s bucket and mineral spirits to clean everything, after the first time, it’s easy, first time was way overdue and I had wax grease to remove.

[Howler]

A64pilot, How do you remove any wax grease that gets on the fiberglass?

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Howler

A64pilot, How do you remove any wax grease that gets on the fiberglass?

I have loads of blue masking tape and mask off the immediate area and that seems to keep almost all of it off, however if I make a mess, Mineral spirits seems to do the trick so far, and if it didn’t, my next go to would be Acetone. I don’t believe Acetone will harm fiberglass resin if just used to clean, however it’s a stronger solvent than I’m comfortable using unless it’s needed.