Cleaning winches

[Greenhand]

We cleaned our first winch yesterday. We didn't find it nearly as complicated as people seem to make out, but it took two of us four hours. I am pretty sure it took me a full hour just to clean the drum of all the gook in its teeth and grooves.

Please tell me this will be an easier project if we keep up with it regularly!

The one disassembly thing that did slow us down a little was that the main spindle would not come out (this is a 1987 Lewmar). We removed the sleeves and cleaned everything from below, and nothing looks like untoward wear given that it is nearly 30 years old, but we did find this to be of concern that the teeth on it might be bent.

[Stumble]

If a winch is serviced regularly (once a year) it only takes a few moments to pull them apart clean them and put them back. I figure about an hour a winch for mine. If you let them sit and the greese turns into tar it can take days. When we bought our last boat one of the winches had to be unbolted and soda blasted to get all the crud off.

A stuck spindle could be because of something bent, but it could also be that the old greese was glueing everything together. Try a quick disasembly now that it's clean to see if its still sticking.

Bent teeth are rare, but certainly could happen.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Stumble

If a winch is serviced regularly (once a year) it only takes a few moments to pull them apart clean them and put them back. I figure about an hour a winch for mine.

SNIP

Once I realized you were a lawyer I quickly understood how a few moments could turn into about an hour.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Once I realized you were a lawyer I quickly understood how a few moments could turn into about an hour.

Stone cold....

But so funny!!!

[Blue Stocking]

Greg,

You gets your breaks on Broadway, as the saying goes. This bunch is a tough audience

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Once I realized you were a lawyer I quickly understood how a few moments could turn into about an hour.

Hoo-haa! Best one-liner of the day, Tom!

Jim

[Stumble]

Lol.

A few minutes to clean, an hour to disassemble, clean, drink a beer, put it back, over bill for time spent, ect...

[Greenhand]

Today's winch took eight hours. However, there were some technical difficulties putting it back together. He put one of the gears in upside down, we rearranged everything to make all the gears mesh, then it wouldn't all go together, so we tore it apart and tried a few more times before realizing that the problem was an upside down gear. He also kept trying to put an O ring on too late, until that finally clicked. All told, 12 "man hours" in disassembly and cleaning, 2 "couple hours" in reassembly.