Geared to go

SERVICING a winch may seem a daunting task to many first-time yacht owners in an age where few people work on their own motor cars any more. But it is really not that difficult.

Sure, it's messy and requires organisation and concentration. But with excellent how-to instructions for every winch available on manufacturers' web sites, as well as in the package supplied with new winches, anyone can do it.

The simple one- and two-speed winches seen on most club racers, one-design keelboats and smaller hot-shot ocean racers, with a systematic approach, can be serviced in ten to 20 minutes. I've even seen a winch jammed by a broken pawl on a race boat repaired on the downwind leg of a short course race in time for the next beat.

Besides a thorough annual service, with the winch totally cleaned and new grease and oil applied, the tops should be taken off the winches at least three times a year.

If the grease and oils are still in good shape, it's then just a matter of rinsing any salt and grime off the innards and replacing the top.

If the roller bearings have become encrusted with salt or dried grease, the winch drum will not spin freely and the bearings may be damaged. Besides the reduction in efficiency, without lubrication metals in a winch can degrade and suffer from electrolysis.

Winches need servicing more often in tropical waters where lubricants dry out more quickly in the heat, and after sailing in rough water where they have taken on a lot of salt water.

Opinion is divided among the experts on the value of winch covers. They can keep out grime and on the newer carbon drums they do stop the clear finish over the carbon deteriorating. But they create an environment for sweating inside the winch. If used they should be of light-coloured, breathable material.

Preparation

Have everything you need ready before you start. You don't want to be fishing around the boat with greasy hands for materials you have overlooked. Line up paper towels, lint-free cloth, Allen keys, screwdrivers, a bucket or large can to rinse out the parts, small paintbrush or old tooth brush, kerosene, paraffin, or similar mineral spirits, warm soapy water, appropriate winch grease and oil, the manufacturers' instructions and a pack of spare pawls and springs. The hair springs are easily lost; liable to bound away over the side as you are dismantling or re-assembling the winch.

Work on only one winch of a pair at a time, so that if you become confused as to where a part goes, you can look at its partner for the answer.

Carl Watson, managing director and technical manager of Harken Australia Pty Ltd, tells the story of a crew of a well-known boat at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia having a working bee while the owner was overseas.

"His crew stripped all the winches, put the parts in one bucket and washed them and when it came to putting them back together they had lost track of what goes where," said Watson. "It's always good if you are doing, say, the starboard primary to have the port primary intact. We get phone calls from people; ‘I've got this part left over and don't know where it belongs.'"

Watson says that American-based winch-maker Harken provides schematics for all its winches which the owner can keep in the chart table, available for ordering a spare part.

Dismantling

Almost all models can be fully serviced without removing the winch base from the deck. As you remove each part, lay it out in the order of dismantling on a paper towel or a clean cloth to ensure faultless re-assembly.

First step is to release the screw thread, snap-ring or circlip retaining the top cap on the winch drum.

Lift the top cap and the drum, taking care that the roller bearings inside the drum do not fall out as they lift off with the drum. They have been known to fall out and roll over the side into the water. Remove the bearing cages and separation rings separately.

Remove the pawls and their springs from the top cap after noting their orientation. The tiny hair-thin springs are easily lost or bounced overboard so you should always have spares at hand. Use a blade screwdriver to compress each spring. With the spring between your thumb and forefinger to prevent it flying off, lift out the metal pawl with its spring retained in the pawl.

Next, remove the screws that fasten the gearbox to the base of the winch and lift it off with its component gears, pawls and springs.

Check all components for wear. Look for worn, bent or broken gear teeth and ratchet pawls that appear to be very loose in their sockets. Carl Watson recommends that all pawls and springs should be replaced annually as a matter of course.

Cleaning

Clean all the components with a degreaser like kerosene or paraffin. Use a small paint brush or a toothbrush to remove caked grease and grime. Clean the winch base similarly and then wash all the components thus treated in warm, soapy water to remove all traces of the degreasing solution, which will dilute the grease you are about to re-apply.

Andrew Jackson, who was sailing master for George Snow's record-breaker Brindabella for many years and now retained by Harken Australia for technical service and special projects, says firmly that the gears and other bronze components should not be soaked in kerosene.

Because bronze is porous, oils and grease penetrate its surface and it is good to have them remaining there, especially in the gears. "Oils and greases actually get absorbed into the gearing and if you put them in kero, it pulls all that out, which takes them back to a brand new state and they might gall more easily. Just use the kero to clean off the old grease with a tooth brush, paint brush or cloth, but don't soak them. And make sure you get the kero off."

British-based winch manufacturer Lewmar in its winch-servicing advice warns against using polishes or abrasives to externally clean its alloy winch drums. It says they just need washing regularly with fresh water and drying with a cloth. Non-abrasive liquid cleaner can be used to externally clean the drums of chromed and stainless steel winch drums.

It also warns that some Lewmar winches contain plastic components that may be damaged by inappropriate cleaning agents so manufacturers' directions should always be checked before using any cleaning agents.

Lewmar winches are self-draining and care should be taken to ensure that drain holes are not obstructed.

Greasing and oiling

Once they have dried, the components are greased and/or oiled. The winch makers supply their own brands of waterproof grease and oils, which are basically light SAE 30 machine oil.

Grease all the bearing surfaces and gears. Use the grease sparingly but work it all the way into the gear teeth and rub it into roller-bearing cages with your fingers. Andrew Jackson believes in working oil as well as grease into all bearing surfaces.

Take care not to get grease on the pawls. It will cause them to stick and if they're stuck, the gears won't engage. Use the SAE 30 oil to lubricate the pawls in their seats.

Re-assembly

When re-assembling the winch, in the reverse order of dismantling, make sure the straight side of the spring is the one seated into the slot on the pawl while the dog-leg side protrudes.

Ensure that the ratchet pawls engage squarely in the mating ratchet teeth. Some of them can be assembled the wrong way around, which will result in the winch slipping back under load. If the winch is a self-tailer, be sure to attach the stripper arm in the correct position for the tailer.

As you are re-assembling them, periodically give the shaft and gears a spin to make sure you are on the right tack. Turn the drum slowly and listen for the solid click of the pawls.

Finally, having re-assembled the greased and oiled winch, Andrew Jackson recommends giving the winch a number of rotations at high speed, then removing the drum and wiping away all the excess grease and oil that will have been spewed out of the gears; instead of leaving it sitting there, prone to attract salt and grime.

Barlow, Barient Maxwell spares

Australian Yacht Winch (Sales) Pty Ltd, owned by the Hutton family and managed for the past 25 years by director Allen Hutton at the outer Sydney suburb of St Mary's, continues to make Arco yacht winches and Orca anchor winches and also supplies basic spare parts for discontinued Barient, Barlow and Maxwell winches.

At the demise of these three companies, the Australian Yacht Winch Company developed the capability to supply most of the basic spare parts for their winches. It bought a large quantity of the original Barient and Barlow tooling and the technical data covering the entire period of their existence. If it does not have required spares in stock, it will quote on manufacturing these components.

Allen Hutton also offers some helpful advice on dismantling Barlow and Barient winches if the special dismantling tools sold with them have been lost:

Most Barlow winches and some Barient winches manufactured from 1983 onwards are held together by a retaining nut surrounding the top end of the main shaft of the winches with two 3/16in (5mm) diameter holes, 180 degrees opposed in the top surface of the retaining nut.

The winches were originally shipped with a dismantling tool; nothing more than a bent piece of wire that was hooked into the two hulls to unscrew the retaining nut.

If the tool is lost, try the following method:

1. Insert a 3/16in screw, or a small screwdriver or something similar into one of the two holes.

2. Insert your winch handle in the main shaft of the winch and turn the handle against the screw, in a counter clock-wise direction to unscrew the retaining nut.

Most of the smaller Barlow standard winches and some Barient standard winches require a screw thread to be removed from inside the main shaft to begin dismantling the winch. Those winches were originally supplied with a small plastic part that looked like a handle with 5/16in (8mm) diameter hole through the centre of a star, through which you were able to insert an Allen key to unscrew the fastener, while at the same time stopping the main shaft
from rotating.

If the original dismantling handle is lost, make your own by drilling a hole through one of your non lock-in winch handles. Or you could also use a piece of 5/8in to 11/16in square material (plastic, wood, steel, anything) through which you could drill a hole, hold it with a shifting spanner and unscrew the thread inside the main shaft of the winch.

Maintaining blocks and deck hardware

Frequent washing with fresh water is the basic approach to maintaining all deck and rig equipment. Periodically wash blocks with detergent and water to remove salt and dirt. Dry lubricants that will not attract dirt, such as Harken's McLube, can be used. Never use grease unless specified in the instructions, except in winches.

When water restrictions remove the luxury of routinely hosing down the boat after racing, pouring fresh water over the block is useless if you neglect to spin the sheave.

Periodically remove the lines from rope clutches, open the clutches right up and give them a good squirt with the hose to remove the buildup of fibre fluff that the clutch removes from the rope cover.

Inspect blocks regularly for damage. In particular inspect shackles and swivel posts for cracks, corrosion or elongation. Use Loctite when refastening nuts or screws. Tape over cotter rings and split pins to prevent snagging.

Stainless steel fasteners that pass through aluminium blocks should be coated with anti seize compound. Nylock nuts should be replaced after they have been removed three times.

In corrosive environments, stainless steel parts may show discolouration around holes, rivets and screws. This is not serious and may be removed with fine abrasive.

Be careful when using stainless steel or teak cleaners and other caustic solutions around hardware. They may cause discolouration to the metal.

Traveller cars should also be flushed after each sail with fresh water and periodically cleaned by squirting a solution of water and detergent into ball races, then roll the car backwards and forwards to distribute the solution evenly and flush again with fresh water. Control lines should be arranged so that the car under load does not hit a track-end stop.

Plastic inserts or isolators should always be used between stainless steel fasteners and aluminium components to avoid electrolytic corrosion.

Ronstan recommend flushing the cars of its track and car batten systems now and then with fresh or soapy water to remove any salt deposits between the balls and the car body, to ensure trouble-free operation with its track and car batten systems. Spray them with a hose or douse with a bucket of fresh water then apply a soft brush. Oil, WD-40 or similar products should not be used on the cars.

Ronstan says the precisely-engineered bearing system of its Orbit blocks should be kept clean and free of sand or grit. The blocks and particularly the bearing areas should be flushed regularly with fresh water and periodically cleaned with a mild detergent/water solution. Dry lubricants such as Ronstan Sailfast silicon spray may be used to lubricate the bearing system and ratchet controls.

The Dyneema links of Orbit blocks will eventually suffer degradation from fatigue, wear and ultra-violet exposure. The link should be inspected regularly and replaced if it shows a significant amount
of wear or fibre damage.

For more information see:

www.ronstan.com.au
www.lewmar.com
www.harken.com
www.huttonwinches.com