Old winch maintenance

[rwsouthwick]

Now that the rains have started in SF, I'm starting to tackle some indoor work. I want to clean and grease the original South Coast winches on my commander, but don't have a clue how to get them apart and get the housings off.

Can anybody give me some pointers?

-- R

[Bill]

SouthCoast are very simple winches. Use the handle to remover the large machine screw in the top and slip off the drum. All will be exposed! The pauls, those little steel flipper things with springs behind them, are removable for cleaning. Should be two on the main shaft and two in the assembly that sits on the top of the drum. Oil 'em, but don't grease 'em. Coat the spindle lightly with marine winch grease. Ditto any wear spots. Now you're done and you can try to get both pauls to close enough to slide the drum back on . . .

[Hull376]

And........ make sure you don't pull off a pawl and spring and lose lose them. Things can go flying around like like grass hoppers. Maybe put a plastic bag around the winch when pulling the body off to catch any flying pieces........ just in case.

[Rico]

I've undertaken this little project as well... I am able to disassemble the top portion of the winches easily (using the handle as a screwdriver on the large crew on the top of the winch) as these seemed to be well maintained... (Oddles of grease in them anyway...)

I have taken the bases off, and have noticed that the 6 bronze screws are quite dry and weathered on both winches... (I broke one off just poking at it even thoug I've been soaking tem in lubricant to ease removal...)

I am hoping that these bolts are all replaceable from the top... :o and not cast into the winch base... :eek:
Before I take all these all off to a big surprise - does anyone already know the answer???

Thx!

[mbd]

I have 6 x 2" bronze wood screws securing the base of the winch to the wood winch pad. Shouldn't be a problem finding a replacement. I had to pry the winch base off however, as it had butyl sealant underneath.

Also, I was under the impression you DON'T want to grease winches... (?)

[bill@ariel231]

My south coast winch on the mast works just fine will a shot of McLube once a season.

The old-school merriman winches in the cockpit were long overdue for replacement when I got A-231. The Barient 18s in place there now get a light application of lithium grease every other season (to much grease and the pawls will stick). :)

[Tim Mertinooke]

I use white lithium grease for my winches. Like Bill said, the key is to not use too much as it will cause them to stick. I was always told by many in the know that greasing them was an annual event. If there is old grease gummed up inside the winch it would be a good idea in my mind to remove it before re-greasing.

[Rico]

Any insight into the bolt situation...

I am hoping that the 6 bolt bolt heads are exposed (and not cast as a part of the winch's lower base) and that the bolts holding the winch to the boat are easily replaceable...

mbd seems to allude to this, but I want to make sure as I am quickly running out of bolts... :o

Thanks!

[bill@ariel231]

I didn't find any bolts under my cockpit winch bases (my bases are solid blocks of wood). So for my boat there were 6 wood screws holding each winch in place. Some of the other commanders on this site used a hollow fiberglass winch base. These should have through bolts that can be cut if necessary and replaced with stainless fastners.

On the mast, my old bronze south coast winch is held on with 6 small machine screws tapped into the aluminum spar. the only way they are going to come out is with a drill, but since that winch works i'm going to leave it alone.

by the way there is no need to remove the winch base for cleaning and varnish. if you plan to use the winches you have, only the top section needs to come off for cleaning and grease. if the winch is stubborn a little heat will help with dis-assembly.

[mbd]

Rico, for clarification, and because I'm worthless without pictures, when you say 6 "bolts", I'm assuming you're talking about the 6 woods screws attaching the winch to the wooden "pad"?

Like this...

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=3351&stc=1&d=1149477722

From the Dismantling Coaming Pieces (http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?t=1377) thread.

More Useful threads:
http://pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?t=44
http://pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?t=162

[Rico]

Yes!, but in my case they are 6 bronze bolts aince I have those nifty fiberglass bases instead of the wooden block.
I've got it now....Sorry for the confusion. I had disassembled them previously out of curiosity and since my winches had quite a bit of grease on the bottom the smoothly countersunk heads were not visible at all as they was covered with grease imitating a nice solid surface... This is why I did not remember seeing fasteners...

I've now taken them apart completely and when I cleaned the lower portion, the bolt became apparent.

Thanks for the insight though.

Antonio

[ebb]

The older the winch the more attention they need to keep them happy.;)