On our sail from Port Townsend to Everett, we had some issues with the winches. During the first tack, one of the winches reversed. Thankfully we didn't have the handle in and my wife's fingers were far enough away from the drum. Servicing the winches quickly moved up the priority list.
Pulling them apart revealed the problem. It looks like the past few services just removed the drum and applied more greese. The pawls on the main shaft were encrusted with dirt and inoperable explaining the loss of the second grear. The outside pawls were packed with greese and would only engage intermittently explain the reverse.
I soaked them in kerosene, scrubbed for a few hours, and dryfit them to check operation. They function much better, but I'm a little concerned about the rust on some of the parts. Should I use an abrasive to remove the rust or simply grease it up (lightly this time) and call it good?
Pulling them apart revealed the problem. It looks like the past few services just removed the drum and applied more greese. The pawls on the main shaft were encrusted with dirt and inoperable explaining the loss of the second grear. The outside pawls were packed with greese and would only engage intermittently explain the reverse.
I soaked them in kerosene, scrubbed for a few hours, and dryfit them to check operation. They function much better, but I'm a little concerned about the rust on some of the parts. Should I use an abrasive to remove the rust or simply grease it up (lightly this time) and call it good?