Lewmar 8 mast winches servicing?

[pconcann343]

hello all I have a 1976 pearson 30. my winches on the mast need to be serviced and I was wondering if anyone has any tips? thanks!

[Gary Mc]

They are pretty simple, you might well need new springs and maybe a pawl or two. Any of those from Lewmar should work.

Just take it apart, clean it with a cheap paint brush and mineral spirits in a wash tub.

Inspect, replace parts required, grease it with Lewmar winch grease, and put it back together.



It will sound and work much nicer.

[bstreep]

What Gary said.



Take them apart one at a time. Take photos with your phone. If it's been more than a few years, get some new pawls and springs, along with some grease. A pickle bucket and 2 gallons of mineral spirits. The first one will take you 3-5 times longer than the last one! This is a pretty rewarding job, the first time you do it. And yours are easy. The big ones we have on our boat are really complex.

[Pete7]

Put an umbrella upside down under the winch before you take it apart, you really don't want to see a spring or pawl bouncing off the deck over the side.

Pete

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, pconcann.

Lewmar Winch Service Manual Standard and Self Tailing Models 6 to 66 (B2304 Issue 6)
➥ https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default...304%20iss6.pdf


I encourage anyone, who downloads useful documents, from links (links often go ‘dead’ with time), to then upload the document to our
CF Document Library Downloads:
➥ https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/downloads.php

Lewmar Winch Service Manual Standard and Self Tailing Models 6 to 66 (B2304 Issue 6)
➥ https://www.lewmar.com/sites/default...304%20iss6.pdf

[pconcann343]

Thank you all! The manual was especially helpful.

[Ken Pole]

Be prepared for sticker shock on the small parts.

[kish]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Put an umbrella upside down under the winch before you take it apart, you really don't want to see a spring or pawl bouncing off the deck over the side.

Pete

in the absence of an umbrella, a towel or two spread out on the deck and a wrapped towel or cloth around the winch body as it is being lifted off of its base will be of benefit. Don''t ask how I know this

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Put an umbrella upside down under the winch before you take it apart, you really don't want to see a spring or pawl bouncing off the deck over the side.

Pete

Very important...
I was going to suggest something similar (large plastic basin).

[singlespeed]

Ditto on towel spread out under the winch. I use a cheap plastic basin with a "U" shaped hole cut out of the side near the top, held in place with bungees around the mast. Put a small dish towel in the bottom of the basin. This allows you to service the winch and hopefully contain any parts that fall. A pump up cooking oil sprayer fill with degreaser works well. Standard spray bottle sprayer frequently break down after short periods of use with degreasers.

[guyrj33]

it's my understanding that parts for older Lewmar winches are no longer available. Best not to loose any.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

We just re-did ours. Albeit they were 20 year old Harkens and not Lewmars, I believe the mantra would be the same. Use the winch grease sparingly and the pawls and springs get light oil and not grease.

Many Youtube videos on winch servicing which we found helpful.
(NOTE: I did not watch this particular video so hopefully they are not greasing the pawls/springs. The Harken videos were adamant about not greasing pawls)

Beginners guide below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjKPt2ca7yI

[Exctyengr]

You have received excellent advice in earlier comments so I won't add to them. Except to double underline the posts that caution against losing parts. The pawls are spring loaded with real tiny hairpin springs when you remove the keeper and pull the drum off of the axle, EXPECT the springs, pawls to go flying. So do it with care. You might get lucky, if these have not been serviced in 20 years, the internal grease might just hold everything together.
Good luck

[George DuBose]

When I wanted to clean the two Lewmar two speed winches on port side of Skylark's mast (Pearson 36-1) the POs obviously hadn't maintained, probably didn't even use, the grease was like a stone. Because I couldn't remove two gears in the frame and the frame needed to demounted from the mast to access these gears, I was advised to use Zip-It paint remover to soften the grease. Then lots of mineral spirits to clean out the Zip-It. Big towel tightly wrapped around the base of the mast to catch the nasties.

[Hoodsail]

I have Lewmar winches from 1978 and just rebuilt 2 of them last year. Bought springs from west marine, but were pricey considering its a piece of wire with a loop...didn’t need any pawls so not certain if available...will find out this season when I rebuild the remaining 4..thnks