Winches how often

[nnelson1]

do you clean, regrease, etc., yours?

I just got my first boat and have heard a lot of different opinions. What say ye, Macgregor sailors?

Nick

[kmclemore]

Well, winch manufacturers will tell you to do it annually, however, I think it depends a great deal on your conditions. If your boat's in a salt-air envrionment getting weekly usage, yes, do it annually by all means. But if you're only in fresh water and only occasionally use the winch, you can probably go 3-5 years or maybe more without any strip-down. Just be sure to use a top quality marine grade grease when you do the initial cleaning and lube.

Just IMHO, of course... your mileage may vary.

[argonaut]

Careful with the grease there Hoss... there are parts you want to grease and parts that need a lightweight lube like oil, or you winches won't work right after you're done.
Two contributions that might help.
Sailnet Winch Maintenance Article
Also, APS sells the Lewmar Winch Maintenance Kit
Nice thing about the kit is not only does it have the correct lubricants but it also includes those pesky little parts that go "ping" and fly through the air and disappear into your lawn when you take the winch apart. (pawl springs)

[Catigale]

Sigh - four years and I havent touched mine. Fresh water sailing mostly, but occasional week trips into salt. I wash everything heavily with fresh water when I come back from a salt water trip.

Sigh..another item for the list this fall.....

[Tripp Gal]

It really doesn't matter if you keep your boat in salt or fresh water when it comes to annual winch maintenance. There are other factors that affect the winches including oxygen and heat.

Oxygen, it doesn't matter where you are, oxygen is an oxidizer. The winch grease is subject to oxidation rates no matter what kind you use. The longer it is exposed the more it oxidizes, and the more it oxidizes the thicker and stiff it becomes. While thick and sticky may seem like a good thing to protect the winch, oxidized grease is not a good protectant. The grease when old actually loses it's lubricating properties and the increase in friction of the less lubricating grease creates unnecessary friction between the parts inside the winch when it is used. The friction causes you to work harder, and the winch to have to deal with heat and wear not normally found when the grease is fresh.

Heat from the sun as well as friction are grease enemies as well. The hotter the environment the quicker the grease starts to oxidize and skim over. Then the same thing as above happens.

Don't be naughty and ignore your annual maintenance. It gives you a chance to clean the nasty old grease off, clear out the bugs that seem to find their way into the winch housing and live, and you really need to closely look at each pawl, gear, spring, and pin in a winch and make sure you don't see gear wear, metal bits in the grease, sagging springs, sloppy pawls or broken plastic rollers in the bearing cages.

Be nice to your winches, they are expensive buggers and can make your day miserable if they are bound up, slipping due to poor pawl care, or even the barrel fails. Cast aluminum has been known to have failures which often times can be seen as stress cracks before they break apart completely on a breezy afternoon. I saw a lewmar aluminum can do just that last summer on another boat. They came into the marina with a 5"X6"X4" triangle missing out of the drum with spider cracks at each corner.

If you use your boat every weekend, then you ned to service every 5-6 months. If you use it once a month or less, service it annually.

Off my soapbox now.

[richandlori]

Maybe I'm missing something, but, mine showers every morning and makes monthly trips to the salon for extensive overhaul maintenance, which cost me more in one monthly trip than I spend on maintenance for a whole year.

Lubrication, well that just to personal.

Rich

[Lloyd Franks]

How does one grease a winch? I looked at mine today, then tried to lift the outer housing...No go. Do they pry off? Is there some bolt or screw that is hidden? Thanks for your help.

[Tripp Gal]

What brand and model do you have? It depends entirely on that information whether you have to remove the bolts that go through the deck, have a keyed body, or other mechanism. The reason I ask for the model as well as it can vary within the maker how they come apart.

[Moe]

Download the Lewmar manuals in the Owners Manuals thread

The Lewmar #6 is so easy to tear down, clean and lube, and reassemble, there's no excuse not to do it annually.

Cut a hole in the bottom of a shoe box that just fits over the drum to catch any parts that may fall. Then remove the circle/spiral clip and lift the drum off.

[Loala]

This is a great thread.

Is there a trick to re-installing the pawl & springs?

[delevi]

I had my boat for 4 years, mostly salt-water use and never did any maintenance to the winches. They work as well as they did from day 1.
Moe,
Speaking of how easy it is to remove... What do you thinkg the odds are of replaceing these with self-tailers while using the original bolt holes?

[Loala]

Hi.

They are starting to get hard to turn. Prolly haven't been oiled since 1996! LOL!!!!