Stiff winches after cleaning

[marty9876]

Hello All,

I have 2x Lewmar 30 ST and 2x Lewmat 48 St winches which are pretty tight to turn/have excessive resistance when turning. I have disassembled the units completely, degreased and reassembled with lightly applied grease and oil (all Lewmar products). This cleaning has ultimately little affect on how much resistance the winches have.

Any thoughts on next steps/which parts I should look at replacing first?

Thanks,
Marty

[Orion Jim]

It's hard to imagine that four winches are experiencing the same issue after they have been serviced. I would suspect the common thread between these four discrete objects, you.
Do you have anyone who can go through the service procedure with you to be certain you are following the steps correctly?

[marty9876]

Let me clarify this a bit, the winches are all in all just as stiff after cleaning as before cleaning. They were stiff to begin with and cleaning didn't help much if any. The 48's are not really bad, the 30 for the main halyard is good and stiff with the other pretty stiff.

Valid point on the common denominator, me. I just didn't make them any better or worse so I was thinking perhaps a wear item.

Cleaning process was to scrub all the parts in a solvent then lightly grease/oil per common YouTube videos.

[neflier]

Do you have a copy of the Lewmar Winch Service Manual? The version I have is B2304, Issue 6. Google should get you right to it.

While I do not have experience with your models, my troubleshooting process for these this type of component is to inspect all parts (bearings, gears, etc) during the disassembly/cleaning process. The inspection should be both visual and with a pair a calipers. When reassembling, constantly rotate and test the components until you notice the point where unusual resistance is first felt. At that time, back up and isolate the part that is causing the resistance. You may need to do a partial assembly to isolate the issue; will the drum spin freely on the base with the bearings installed, but not all gears?

I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but if your resistance is only felt when under load, check how they were installed. I installed a pair of Lewmar winches this year and the installation instructions required the base to be installed so that the line exited the drum directly over where the gear engaged the drum.

A call to Lewmar may also help. I spoke with them prior to upgrading my winches and their tech support was outstanding.

[sv Grateful]

How 'stiff' is 'stiff?'

If you mean that you cannot spin the winch in the palm of your hand, all is well. The winch that goes, "zzzzzzzzzzz" when you spin it is just about out of lube.

If they are stiff as in the stiffness interferes with using the winch under load, or if they are making scraping or grinding noises under load, you have a problem.

[rognvald]

Marty,
If all four winches have the same problem, they were serviced at one time and re-assembled improperly. A winch is a very simple machine: gears, spring-loaded pawls, and roller bearings. Get a diagram, as others have suggested, and take them apart(one at a time) and then reassemble. The only thing that could cause your problem is a missing spring in the pawl(s) or an improperly loaded/positioned gear. I hope this helps.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by marty9876

...Cleaning process was to scrub all the parts in a solvent then lightly grease/oil per common YouTube videos.

A solvent? Why so vague? The wrong solvent could have swollen some plastic parts, like bearing cages.

Per YouTube videos? Says you've never done this before. So I recommend having a professional disassemble at least the stiffest one and determine what is wrong. Improper assembly, etc?

A man has to know his limitations.

[Suijin]

There are some models of Lewmars where if you over tighten the top retaining rings/assembly the winches will be hard to turn. I'm going to bet that's your problem if it's manifest in all four. If any of these components, like the self-tailing arm, are even slightly bent it can have the same result, although it's hard to imagine that happening to all four.

[UNCIVILIZED]

It's really rare to see, but sometimes when guys reinstall their winches, they'll torque down the mounting bolts using a circular tightening pattern. And when doing so, way over-torque the bolts. The first few in particular.

So that by the time they get to the last one, the internal winch body is slightly sprung, & the last bolt won't take but a tiny amount of torque to "seat" it. Since in reality, when doing this, it's not possible to fully seat or properly torque the last bolt or two. And if there's enough torque on these bolts to slightly spring (bend) the internal winch body's base, then it won't turn all that well due to it's internals then having a mild case of interference fits (fitting together).

As I said, rare, but I've seen it happen. And properly refastening the attachment bolts usually sorts it out.

It's also possible to put the winch back onto it's base, one or more bolt holes out from the correct orientation. Which quite often causes issues. Meaning that you may accidentally refasten it 60 or 120 deg. out of position, if it uses 6 fasteners to connect it to it's base.

One other test, is to rule out any issues with the grease you're using. Try stripping the parts down to clean metal again. Then give them a light coat of machine oil, reassemble the winch, & see how it works. If it's easy to spin, then you've isolated the problem. After which, you re-clean things, use a more appropriate grade of grease, & put'em back together for testing.

Sometimes you can get grease that's sat on the shelf too long, & becomes overly viscious & stiff. Even if it's the right stuff for the job.

Also, do the bearings spin freely within their races? How about when they're on the spindle? Meaning spinning freely by hand that is. And how well do the winches turn via a handle, after reassembly, but prior to remounting them on their bases & installing the drums?