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Winch servicing and greasing


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I know this have been up before but two bad cases last week promted me to post again. When you service your sheet winches do not fill them up with grease. After you have cleaned the bearings and gears just put a thin film of the right grease on the parts. All excess grease will only sit and gather salt, sand and other rubbish and in the end clog up the winch.

 

Use the right grease and not some grease you found in the bilge that looks allright. In one of the set of winches I worked on the grease had hardened to the stage where the gears hardly moved. Use the grease the winch manufacturer recommends. It will save time and money in the long run.

 

So clean and grease your winches at least every one to two years depending on the make, use the right amount of the proper grease and if you don't want to get dirty get someone in to do the job.

 

Also worth meantion is that selfadjusting selftailers on winches work with springs that do the adjustment. If you leave the sheets in the selftailer when not using the boat the springs will get soft quicker and will need to be replaced earlier then if you take the sheet out of the selftailer when not in use.

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Also worth meantion is that selfadjusting selftailers on winches work with springs that do the adjustment. If you leave the sheets in the selftailer when not using the boat the springs will get soft quicker and will need to be replaced earlier then if you take the sheet out of the selftailer when not in use.

 

I just learnt something new, thanks.

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F Ed, I use "Superlube". It's fully synthetic, will not mix with water, will not dry and harden, and is very thin, so does not get sticky and it is clear in colour, so it does not stain anything.

I keep a tube of it on the boat all the time as it is great for electrical connection protection, thread corrosion protection through to lubricating. Also very good for fishing reels because of it's light weight.

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silly question time, nylon bearings do you grease them or leave them dry?

 

We put a thin film of grease on the nylon parts. The grease we use is a synthetic grease with teflon similar to the Superlube that "Wheels" use. The grease coats the surface and will stay on without getting hard for up to a year.

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Nylon needs to have a synth lubricant, because Petroleum products will eventually break nylon down.

Another product that could well be worth investigating is a Teflon spray made by Metafex. Spray it on and it leaves a coating of white pure Teflon on the surface. I haven't used it on a winch, but i have a can and a winch i need to do a clean and lube on, so might try it and see how it goes.

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I have older style Claveco winches (I think they were first used in an ark somewhere)... Question is, should I remove the whole winch and take home to service, or just undo the 3 screws on the top? Am I likely to loose some important component overboard, if I do that.... (Im a virgin winch b$@ch, as you can tell).

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If that is the one with the copper "springs" if you can call them that, then yes you can service them on the boat. But they are a pig to get back together. Only in how you hold your mouth, which corner you stick tongue out of and the fact you need ten hands with wafer thin fingers. But no they don't tend to fly, at lest on their own accord. However, if itis the one that uses real springs, then yes you can have them zip off to never land. And you probably won't know till it comes apart. So good luck with the surprise.

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First time I tried servicing my old Wilkies was at anchor in Moorea, of course soon as I opened it a spring flew over my shoulder and made a splash 20 ft away. Put on a mask and snorkel and got it back!!!!!

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We used to use grease but it gums up the works when mixed with salt etc. We now just use CRC and relubricate about once a year. Some people reckon CRC can cause wear but we have been using it a long time and you don't have the mess associated with grease.

Superlube is great for lubricating boat toilets

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