{Stus-List} Winch Cleaning

Wed Feb 21 21:36:57 EST 2007

Last winter I cleaned my winches  in the solvent tank in our shop.  The tank has a small pump that circulates the solvent (varsol or equivalent) though a hose with a small brush attached.  It cleaned the old hardened grease off nicely.  Then following advice on this list (or maybe the Pearson list) I added a drop or two of motor oil to some white Lubriplate grease and mixed it well.  The oil thinned the grease out a little and then I used the mixture to lubricate my winches.  It seemed to do a dandy job.
regards
Bob

Bob Skene & Susan Wall
Box 57,
Oxdrift, ON   P0V 2J0
(807) 937-5493
http://my.drytel.net/rskene/
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert Howard 
  To: cnc-list at cnc-list.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 4:14 PM
  Subject: Re: {Stus-List} Winch Cleaning

  Ed,

  Below is a really good bit of guidance I received on the subject from one good list member. Gives a good start to finish account. Recommends kerosene for the cleaning.

  Good luck,

  Cheers,

  Robert
  s/v "Skylark"
  (C&C 27 Mk V #18)
  Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba
  ...about two-and-a-half-months 'til launch -- although hard to think about such things with the current blizzard out there!

  From: Richard LaBella <labellar at optonline.net>
  Date: Thu May 4, 2006 2:20:32 PM America/Winnipeg
  To: cnc-list at cnc-list.com
  Subject: Re: {Stus-List} Winch servicing
  Reply-To: cnc-list at cnc-list.com

  Robert,
  Yes, definitely use a cardboard box around the winch to keep falling parts out of the drink. And yes, use the Lewmar grease AND lube. I have used many different greases, etc for over 20 years and have settled on the Lewmar stuff - use very little & it goes a great way, lasts long & keeps on lubeing.

  A few other things you may want to consider as it sounds like your winches are really overdue for a thorough cleaning.

  1. Until you are familliar with the inner workings of a specific winch only disassemble one of a pair so if you run into the inevitable leftover part or which way does this go question, you can look at the other winch as a reference.

  2. Disassemble as much of the winch as is possible - the first time you may want to actually remove the entire winch from the deck as there are sometimes gears and the main shaft that are only removable if you get at it from the bottom.

  3. Be very careful when removing/re-installing pawls. The little springs just love to take a flyer where you will never find them! I usually have one fly off when re-assembling - so watch it. And Pawls can easily be reinstalled backwards, so watch it.

  4. Get a gallon of kerosene and a small plastic bucket just a little bit larger than your largest winch head. Fill the bucket with enough kero to totally submerge the part(s) being cleaned, including the drum. And then use a nail brush to scrub the parts - especially the bearing cages. Once cleaned dry them off.

  5. Get a pack of those small "Tin Handle brushes" that plumbers use to lay on flux and use that to spread a small amount of grease on the bearing cages - inside & out. Then roll the bearings around with your fingers to spread the grease. You don'
  t want to fill the cages totally with grease since they will then more easily trap salt and cause problems later.

  6. I only use grease on bearings & gear teeth, nothing else. Everything else, especially pawls get a thin coat of oil. Pawls get more. I also check & re-lube the pawls a few times during the season.

  7. Reassemble, have a beer & then go sailing...

  One last thought. I used to overhaul winches each spring until I found siezed up winches one spring. Quite a bit of salt had mixed with the grease and really went to town over the winter creating pits on the inside of the drum. Now I clean the winches each fall and cover them so no water gets in them over the winter.

  Hope this helps.

  Dick LaBella
  Blaze, #725
  C&C30 MkI, Hull# 495
  LI, NY

  Soft-Tech Solutions, Inc.
  282 Timberpoint Rd.
  East Islip, NY, 11730-3323
  (631)277-4725

  A twenty-two year Customer Relationship and Practice Management technology practice that focuses on providing practical solutions for today’s business world. We help our clients win more customers, and retain them, by cultivating relationships with customers through the application of software technology, methods & procedures to automate their operations resulting in more effective operations and improved teamwork.

  - Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Consultants (an affiliate of Vertical Marketing, Inc., with regional offices in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and India) http://www.vermar.com
  - TimeMatters/BillingMatters Certified Independent Consultants (CIC) http://www.timematters.com

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  labellarj at worldnet.att.net Soft-Tech at worldnet.att.net

  ~~~~~~~~~~ Sent via GoldMine integrated e-mail ~~~~~~~~~

  Confidentiality Note: The information contained in this email and document(s) attached are for the exclusive use of the addressee and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If the recipient of this email is not the addressee, such recipient is strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distribution or otherwise using this email or its contents in any way.

  _______________________________________________
  CnC-List mailing list
  CnC-List at cnc-list.com
  http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com

  On Wednesday, February 21, 2007, at 12:51 PM, Ed wrote:

    I am about to start servicing my winches and have a question - For a cleaning fluid the lewmar manual says to use White spirit, paraffin (not petrol).  What the heck is that?   What do other people use?  I was kind of planning on just using a little gas.

    Thanks
    Ed
    C&C 32
    Va Beach

  <image.tiff>

    Never Miss an Email
    Stay connected with Yahoo! Mail on your mobile. Get started!_______________________________________________
    CnC-List mailing list
    CnC-List at cnc-list.com
    http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  _______________________________________________
  CnC-List mailing list
  CnC-List at cnc-list.com
  http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://cnc-list.com/pipermail/cnc-list_cnc-list.com/attachments/20070221/b3b7d8fd/attachment.html 