greasy and messy
If you're like most sailboat owners, you
haven't serviced your winches since you owned the boat. Every year
you say this is going to be the year you clean and grease them, but
something more important always comes along.
Without sugarcoating the job, cleaning winches is a greasy, messy,
pain in the @$$ that intimidates even the most boat-savy person. However,
winches need to be greased because they are among the most expensive items on the boat!
Abstract Puzzle
Every winch is different, so
there's no good way to memorize how a winch goes back together.
However, a winch can not be
put together wrong because the parts only fit together the right way—with the exception
of maybe getting a washer in the wrong place. While I'm trying to piece my
winch back together, I like to think of it as an abstract puzzle. If
you do find yourself in trouble, you can download
a parts breakdown off Harken's website.
www.harken.com/winches/winch.php
Getting Ready
It's a good idea to have everything handy
before you start because you'll be too greasy to dig around your clean boat
for needed items: lots of paper towels, mineral spirits, coffee can, small paint brush,
winch grease, tools including metric Allen wrenches, access to hot water, and cold beer.
The paper towels let you keep the mess under
control. Pour the mineral spirits into the coffee can and use to
clean parts with the small paintbrush (after cleaning, rinse all the parts
in hot water). The cold beer ... well hopefully you know what to do
with that. Beer can also induce a friend to help you
clean a winch or two.
To take off the drum remove the screw in the winch handle socket. |
Disassembly
To disassemble, remove the drum from the base of the winch using the screw at the bottom of the winch handle socket.
Simply unscrew it, pull the socket out, and the drum will lift off.
As you lift the drum, be aware the roller bearing cages may momentarily stick inside the drum and could unexpectedly drop out. Make
sure they don't bounce off the deck into the water.
Now you can remove all the gears and bearings for cleaning. Even though
the winch only goes back together one way, it won't hurt to take a good
look at everything. Most importantly, remember where the washers and other
little items go. It's hard to figure out their location. Don't
waste time worrying about the larger gears and drive shaft. It's
easy to find their homes. Pulling the gears and bearings out is
actually quite simple and doesn't require any tools or skill. They just slip
over the gear shaft.
cleaning
Place gears and bearings in coffee can. Soak in mineral spirits.
|
Take the gears and bearings and place them in a coffee can. Cover the parts
with mineral spirits and soak.
After soaking, take the small brush and work
the old grease off the part. Don't forget to
clean the gear ring on the inside of the drum.
Now that you've removed the grease and grime,
rinse the parts in hot water to remove the mineral spirits. If the
spirits are left on, it breaks down the grease.
reassembly
Do not grease pawls. Lubricate with 3 & 1 oil. Replace if not working smoothly. |
As you put the gears
back into place, take a close look at how the pawls are working.
If they don't open and close smoothly, then the drum could spin backwards. If there's any question that the pawls are not
working properly, it is much easier to replace them and the little
springs. It is very important NOT to grease the pawls because grease
causes them to stick. And if they stick, the gears won't engage. To
lubricate your pawls, use any light oil that might be on hand; something
like a 3 &1 oil.
The final step is to place all the winch parts
back into the base where they belong. If you do end up with extra parts,
you'll have to
go back through each part and play detective until its home is discovered.
Also, it's not a bad idea to periodically give the shaft and gears a spin to
make sure you are on the right path. Remember, in most cases winches are used in pairs. Clean one winch at a time. If you become confused as to where a part goes, you can look at its mate for the answer.
Final Touches
Lightly brush on clean winch grease. Do not overpack. |
Once you are certain the winch is reassembled correctly, lightly brush on some clean winch grease.
Some owners think that because they won't get around to servicing their winches for
a long time, the smart strategy is to pack them with so much grease they
will last for years. This is a bad idea and only makes a big mess down
the road.
Now that the gears and bearings are all in place with new grease, all
that needs to be done is to remount the drum.
Links:
Brion Toss article: www.harken.com/winches/BrionToss_Winchpower.php
Harken article: www.harken.com/winches/Harken_WinchesMagnifyPeoplepower.php
Harken article: www.harken.com/charts/captivereelwinch.php
Mike Lee is the technical expert at Harken's Newport Rhode Island office. He works closely with naval architects, boat designers, and boat
captains, specing custom winch and hardware packages, and figuring out the best deck layouts for the projects.
