The Complete Beginner's Guide to Sailboat Winch Maintenance
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2024
- How to disassemble, lubricate, and reassemble a sailboat winch. This video uses an Arco 6 winch removed from a 1981 Catalina 22 sailboat as the example.
More information about maintaining winches is in the blog post that accompanies this video and you can find lots more DIY trailerable sailboat restoration and improvement projects at:
stingysailor.com
I have been working on boats for over 50 years. This is one of the best instructional and encouraging marine videos I have ever seen. Every aspect of the video is perfect. Well done my friend. You are a good teacher. Captain Ron, owner/founder of Inter-Island Marine
Brilliant! Just bought an older yacht and was looking for an Arco service video. Thanks mate.
I thought I might offer a thought. I have stopped using any grease on pauls and springs. I use Harkin paul "oil". Whereas grease in influenced by temperature, light oil is not. Again an excellent video my friend.
Thanks for the breakdown instructions. One thing to consider--I have read in many other places that you should not use grease on the pawls, but should use oil instead.
Same here
Most sources I've seen state that only oil is required on the pawls not that grease is necessarily bad for them. Ostensibly this is because the higher viscosity of the standard winch grease, which is intended for winch bearings that handle much higher loads than the pawls, could slow down or prevent the pawls from engaging the teeth in the drum, especially if too much grease is applied. I can accept that, but if you use a very low viscosity grease like I show, which is NOT intended for high load bearings, and apply it sparingly, it can be completely sufficient. I've been using it for a long time with no problems whatsoever. The stuff turns to liquid almost immediately upon application of pressure. The main issue is that you maintain your winch regularly in the first place and don't neglect it. Any lubricant is better than no lubricant but do use appropriate lubricants whenever possible.
You might add a revision to your description with the exact brand of grease you chose so you can help people not apply the wrong grease. It is not recommended to grease the pawl, use a light machine oil instead on the pawls only. www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/DIY-Servicing-Your-Winches
Oil is good, the problem with grease is that it migrates into the springs and slows the pawls down meaning they may not catch or be slow to catch the gear.
Good to know
Really helpful video, thank you. That’s quite a simple winch - even my ageing memory would probably cope with reassembling it. For anything a little more complicated I’d take a few photos on my phone during disassembly.
Thanks Stingy. Winches have always been an essential mystery to me. Thanks for pulling this apart and showing me how to clean and put it back together. I also now get why the winch covers. I actually thought they looked a bit daggy, like wearing socks with thongs. Useful info here.
Very good presentation. Perhaps you could mention many winches have needle bearings and cages which are easy to manage and do not inadvertently fall out of place. Also mention assembly and disassembly of outer drum usually must be done on the boat in order to hold the machine screws from turning while removing or installing the mounting nuts located on the inside of the boat.
Wish we were showed how to first remove the winch
Thank you. My winches are in need of MX.
mustbe added that the winches came apart fairly easily because they were after all in good shape and maintenance order. Problems start with more complex winches that are stuck just to start with from the drum onwards and you might need and extractor or more complex approaches.... thissaid, great video explanation and images.
Very Helpful - Thank you!
Thanks!
brilliant, that's a great help. subscribed.
Pawls should be lightly oiled. NOT greased!
See my reply above to the same comment made by another viewer 2 years ago.
Many Thanks mate!
For the completely inept among us (me). When you say clean them in solvent.....what type do you use? Do you "soak" the pieces, or spray them and if spray, what you you clean with? Toothbrush or something?
Thanks!
Just about anything that will dissolve the old grease. For example, if the grease is petroleum based, any petroleum based solvent that you have on hand should work: parts cleaner, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, white gas, etc. Let the parts air dry afterward, or blow them off with compressed air. Then wash with soapy water, rinse, and dry again.
Hello,excellent video, thank you ! On the Arco 7 winch can the pawls & springs be taken off & put back on the winch without removing the base? I am trying to do this but am notmaking any progress & any advice would be greatly appreciated ! The base on mine is next to impossible to remove because of an obstruction next to the base.
I can't say for certain since I only have Arco 6 winches but if yours are built the same way, that is, with the hub held onto the base with a snap ring on the inside of the base, then no, you will have to remove the winch to disassemble the hub, pawls, and springs. Sorry, and best of luck.
Hi This is a great video. It helped me service all six winches on my Cat25. A few months on I went to re-install the two Lewmar Single 7's and the core/shaft seems to be too stiff and is difficult to remove it from the inside of the drum. Likewise to remove it or rotate. Is it possible that the black shaft has swollen? Cheers and thanks for the videos!!
I don't think so. Was this before you serviced them or after? If before, they might be seized due to corrosion. If after, did you reinstall the pawls in the correct orientations?
@@stingysailor5677 Hi again. Yes all the palls are good. It's just the black shaft gets stuck inside the casing. Weird. Thanks anyway. Great videos.
How to Bolt it on without deassembel?
Screws are not locked to rotation.
So you must take apart the upper part again.
Hi, Nils
For this type of winch, the only option is to mount the base first and then assemble the drum.
What solvent?
Hey man, I have a question about sealing the winch to the deck when reassembling. What is this butyl tape you speak of?
From "Sailboat Hull & Deck Repair" by Don Casey, a poly sulfide sealant is recommended. Often called "Thiokol". Any thoughts on this?
Thank you,
-Paul
DO NOT GREASE THE PAWLS!!!!!
It's not a big deal, really. See my other reply below to Capt Chef Mark.
Most of the video was out of frame.
I'm not in the frame because I'm not trying to be a TH-cam celebrity. It's more important that you see what I'm doing.