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Winch service

Butch Bogan

Member I
When was the last time you serviced your winches? Now is a good time to open these guys up and take a look inside. The attached photo is one of four winches I removed from a customers Ericson 36C that he just purchased. He thought they were supposed to freely turn in both directions.

Can anybody find the pawls in there?

1615852874505.jpeg
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Yup, they should normally be serviced twice per year with good winch grease, oil on the pawls and springs. Mine still look essentially new after 36 years.
Frank
 

Rocinante33

Contributing Partner
When was the last time you serviced your winches? Now is a good time to open these guys up and take a look inside. The attached photo is one of four winches I removed from a customers Ericson 36C that he just purchased. He thought they were supposed to freely turn in both directions.

Can anybody find the pawls in there?

View attachment 37745
I don't see any pawls in there. did somebody remove them or did they jump overboard?
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
At least the grease on the one pictured still has some fluid properties. The grease on mine was harder than candlewax.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
With some effort I have perfected my speech so as to be international. However, there remains residual regional identification. I had a lunch with Stallone in Beverly Hills many years ago during which, after a while, we discussed origins. He has a characteristic manner of speech that is sophisticated, a version not that of the movies, but more in keeping with a silk shirt and nicoise at the Peninsula Hotel. Yet as we spoke, I noticed an almost satiric increase in complementary genesis pronunciations, such that after a while we both laughed. One giveaway word is the very verb to talk. Talking is daunting, even haunting, over coffee--each occurrence a threat of revelation and discovery. You would think it a bond, but it's not. Or at least not, with a movie star.

Yet we all succumb. Listen to my wife on the phone and you are suddenly in Mississippi. But if I mention it, she threatens to snatch a knot in my tail.
 

Rocinante33

Contributing Partner
With some effort I have perfected my speech so as to be international. However, there remains residual regional identification. I had a lunch with Stallone in Beverly Hills many years ago during which, after a while, we discussed origins. He has a characteristic manner of speech that is sophisticated, a version not that of the movies, but more in keeping with a silk shirt and nicoise at the Peninsula Hotel. Yet as we spoke, I noticed an almost satiric increase in complementary genesis pronunciations, such that after a while we both laughed. One giveaway word is the very verb to talk. Talking is daunting, even haunting, over coffee--each occurrence a threat of revelation and discovery. You would think it a bond, but it's not. Or at least not, with a movie star.

Yet we all succumb. Listen to my wife on the phone and you are suddenly in Mississippi. But if I mention it, she threatens to snatch a knot in my tail.
Hahaha! Nice story! My wife, from Oklahoma is much the same. You can call her an "Oakie," but you better have a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, or you are in for a fight! BTW, my grandfather came to California in 1920 from Guymon Oklahoma. He met and married grandma, and he always joked about marrying a "Sherman Oakie," from Sherman Oaks, CA.
 

Bobby Steele

Member II
When I began to try servicing the winches on our E34-2 the grease was more like tar. No idea of when previous owners had bothered to service them. They wouldn’t turn by hand - I had to use a handle just to turn them unloaded. They’re getting better now.
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
Also nice if you can manage to have the right parts kit on hand before you disassemble them. The WM web site is horrible - all Lewmar models listed as “options” under one catalog number. And the warehouse guys always grab the wrong one. :mad:

(Much the same experience with old Evinrude outboards - not sure I’ll ever get that one back together correctly... maybe why there are so many “piles of parts” offered on craigslist.)
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Barient 27 2-spd ST. First time I've serviced it. Had to let the parts soak for 2 weeks in paint thinner then I still had to scrape off some of the final bits of dried grease.

20210404_214716~3.jpg

That's something like 35 different pieces in there....
 

Chris Mc.

Member III
I’m about to tackle this project with concerns of making a mess of my boat. I’m thinking it’s likely best to take the winch(s) home to my shop where the mess won’t matter & I’ll have sufficient cleaner, tools, rags, and bandaids.
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
The best advice I read was to place a cardboard box around the winch while you’re removing it from the boat. This catches any stray parts that may fall out. When you lift the drum off the base, it’s likely there are one or two bearing races that will stick inside the drum, or they may fall out as you’re removing the drum—you don’t want to drop these. The stainless steel center rod is also unattached once you remove the winch top. The rest of it comes off pretty much intact once you remove the 3 hex screws that hold it to the base.

I chickened out and am doing them one at a time to help keep the parts straight.

The large bronze bearing races are riveted together and won’t come apart. The plastic bearings cases are in two halves that just snap together, but if they come apart, the eight or so bearings inside all fall out. I put a zip tie around each one to hold it together while I was cleaning it.
 
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Bolo

Contributing Partner
With some effort I have perfected my speech so as to be international. However, there remains residual regional identification. I had a lunch with Stallone in Beverly Hills many years ago during which, after a while, we discussed origins. He has a characteristic manner of speech that is sophisticated, a version not that of the movies, but more in keeping with a silk shirt and nicoise at the Peninsula Hotel. Yet as we spoke, I noticed an almost satiric increase in complementary genesis pronunciations, such that after a while we both laughed. One giveaway word is the very verb to talk. Talking is daunting, even haunting, over coffee--each occurrence a threat of revelation and discovery. You would think it a bond, but it's not. Or at least not, with a movie star.

Yet we all succumb. Listen to my wife on the phone and you are suddenly in Mississippi. But if I mention it, she threatens to snatch a knot in my tail.
Christian, I know that this thread is about winch repair but I couldn't help but laugh about picking up where someone is from about how they pronounce their words. I was born and raised in NJ, Camden is be exact and I have the scars to prove it (it was a rough neighborhood), but being 100% Polish I lived in what could be called "Little Poland" where Polish was the primary language and English second. So because of that, I'm guessing, I have no regional accent (Not even a Polish one) and most people have no idea where I'm from. I now live in south central PA, near Harrisburg, and I've not picked up any regional accent from here either. But sometimes when I'm very tired I'll slip into saying "worter" instead of water and "kirck" instead of creek both south Jersey pronunciations. As for winch repair, I haven't tackled that job yet on my E32 but it seems that taking the winch off the boat and bringing home would seem like a big hassle compared to doing the work on board. Do most people remove the winch for repair or keep it on board?
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Do most people remove the winch for repair or keep it on board?
Usually Always on board, but very carefully, trying not to lose parts. Last fall I did rebuild all of them at home, because they were off the boat for the re-fit.
Lots easier to do it on a work bench!
:)
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Do most people remove the winch for repair or keep it on board?
If the winches are serviced regularly and just need a wipe-down and a bit of new grease, then on-the-boat is likely fine.

If they haven't been serviced in who-knows-how long, you're talking about hours (to days) of soaking in solvent, then two or three rounds of brushing and even scraping to remove the baked-on gunk. Some parts needed a motor-driven wire brush to remove rust. No way I could have cleaned mine up at the boat.
 

Chris Mc.

Member III
The best advice I read was to place a cardboard box around the winch while you’re removing it from the boat. This catches any stray parts that may fall out. When you lift the drum off the base, it’s likely there are one or two bearing races that will stick inside the drum, or they may fall out as you’re removing the drum—you don’t want to drop these. The stainless steel center rod is also unattached once you remove the winch top. The rest of it comes off pretty much intact once you remove the 3 hex screws that hold it to the base.

I chickened out and am doing them one at a time to help keep the parts straight.

The large bronze bearing races are riveted together and won’t come apart. The plastic bearings cases are in two halves that just snap together, but if they come apart, the eight or so bearings inside all fall out. I put a zip tie around each one to hold it together while I was cleaning it.
The best advice I read was to place a cardboard box around the winch while you’re removing it from the boat. This catches any stray parts that may fall out. When you lift the drum off the base, it’s likely there are one or two bearing races that will stick inside the drum, or they may fall out as you’re removing the drum—you don’t want to drop these. The stainless steel center rod is also unattached once you remove the winch top. The rest of it comes off pretty much intact once you remove the 3 hex screws that hold it to the base.

I chickened out and am doing them one at a time to help keep the parts straight.

The large bronze bearing races are riveted together and won’t come apart. The plastic bearings cases are in two halves that just snap together, but if they come apart, the eight or so bearings inside all fall out. I put a zip tie around each one to hold it together while I was cleaning it.
Have box & ready!
 

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