SL windlass rebuild

[Islandmike]

I have sandblasted the Seatiger case and repainted it, I had some parts refabricated, and purchased new parts from a place in Scotland. Now I am ready to put it back together, my question is how much grease should I put into the casing. When I orginally took it apart it was literally packed solid with grease. Im sure that it was way too much. The main spindle does have a grease fitting however, not sure how much or what kind of grease to pack in. Any help would be great.

[Islandmike]

I wonder... is my post really stupid (believe me I know some of my questions are), is the answer so obvious that I really should know, or are people truely stumped? It is the first time I have posted something with no reply.. I guess the answer is something between no grease and what I shoveled out will probably work, maybe somthing similar to what I put on my regular winches when I rebuilt them and then pump some grease into the fitting...Am I talking to myself here?

[avazquez]

I refurbished my Lofrans Tigres and I used regular bearing grease on the bearings then filled it up with 90W oil.

[svHyLyte]

Mike--

As unlikely as it sounds, the case should be filled with grease and the bottom cover plate should have a good new gasket to prevent leakage.

Cheers,

s/v HyLyte

[avazquez]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Mike--

As unlikely as it sounds, the case should be filled with grease and the bottom cover plate should have a good new gasket to prevent leakage.

Cheers,

s/v HyLyte

That's for the Seatiger?

[Islandmike]

svHyLyte, Wow that is very interesting, thank you very much for your imput. Because it was filled with grease and not oil when I opened it up, I guess I will filler-up with grease and seal it off well.
Avazquez, there are no bearings on the SeaTiger just bushings, I dont think this model was designed to hold oil. Again thanks a million!

[ssullivan]

Mike,

I had the same windlass. Just fill her right up with grease, as you found it.

[Islandmike]

Sean,

And stuff it I will... Thanks

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Island Mike

Sean,

And stuff it I will... Thanks

As a side note, you are getting ready to move aboard and start cruising this spring, right??

[Alan Wheeler]

I think it more in the category of, not really sure. Yes grease, but what type is the issue. I didn't want to comment incase the manufacturer specifies a spicific type.
I don't think you will go wrong with using a high pressure grease with excellent resistance to water washout. Even if you never get water in there, it is stil a good idea. But personly, this is where I like using Synthetics.
A wee side story. Not very long after I was reping for Wynns oils, I went into chandlery. I had a winch come in for service. When I had finished rebuilding the electric motor, I decided to give the gear box an oil change. I poured some Wynns Viscotene into the box. A few days later the customer came back into the shop asking what I had done to his winch. At first I was thinking uhoh, what have I done wrong. But it turned out the customer was stunned at the ease the winch turned over and even more stunned as to how long the winch took to run down after lifting his foot of the deck switch. He said, it has never done that before, even when it was new.

[Islandmike]

Sean,

We hope to move onto the boat around June, work through some stuff over the summer and start south in the fall..

Wheels,

Simpson Lawerence is out of business, however, with the advice I have received here I think you are correct. I will probably use a good high pressure grease that is resistant to water. To be honest I knew there was synthetic oil, did not realize there was synthetic grease. I am going to look into that, thanks for the idea.

[svHyLyte]

The SeaTiger Windlass Manual can be found at http://www.lewmar.com/support/PDF/S-...er-D1031-1.pdf

The original gear-case lubricant was Shell Mytilus A Grease but that no longer seems to be available (at least I couldn't find it!). The Shall Alvania Grease WR2 would seem to be a close replacement. Frankly, however, I think any good high quality pump grease would likely work given the low speed use of the device.

Cheers,

s/v HyLyte