In case you’ve never noticed, when we post pictures we almost always just post them in the order they happened that day. Basically when I’m editing photos I start at the beginning, flip through and say, “That’s a nice one, I’ll number it 1. Oh look, there’s number 2.”
So anyway, today I worked on winches in the morning while Ali took the kids out for their morning walk (that makes them sound like dogs). The winches have a tendency to slip while under load, requiring me to actually cinch the lines off as opposed to just wrapping them through the self-tailers and leaving them. I had cleaned these previously, and now after taking them apart again I get the feeling that the problem doesn’t have anything to do with the lubrication, or the little spring pin things, but has more to do with worn gears. They are all looking pretty rounded and I’m not sure what can really be done about it other than simply replacing them with new gears.
During Lowe’s nap Ouest and I went out for a picnic. But first we walked up to the top of the nearby bridge for a view of the boat in the marina. We’re in Marina Fonatur which consists of nothing but that single dock and all those buildings. Kind of funny that to run the place there is a guard, two dock workers, a lawn guy, two cleaning ladies, and three office worker ladies. I’m pretty sure there are more employees than there are boats.
After bridge pics we went down and had our picnic where Ouest surprised me by wanting our picture taken together dozens of times. She was just being a goof, but it made me happy nonetheless. We then walked around and she pointed out things she wanted me to take a picture of. She’d then look at it and then ask to do it too. So I’d hold the camera while she lined it up and pushed the button. She was quite excited.
Lowe napped too long for us to have enough afternoon time to really do anything, so we spent the rest of the day around the boat playing and reading. The end.
9 Comments on “Start to Finish”
We like the squeezy ones:-) keepem’ coming.
Pat as a machinist with over 20 years in the business the only gear that looks slightly worn is the Spur Gear in the middle now i am only looking at the picture to evaluate the gears but i think there is enough there to still operate okay. Hope that helps
I’d say those gears look okay…Is the drum_actually_rotating_backwards_when the sheet or halyard slips?
Tom
Great. I got lots of feedback, here and by e-mail, on the gears, and without fail they’ve said the gears look okay. So that’s the good news. Now I have to figure out what is really going on. When they slip the winch makes a loud sort of “clank” noise. I’ve never actually seen it happen, so don’t know exactly what is slipping, I just know that it is happening. I guess on this next passage I’ll try and pay close attention to try and figure it out once and for all. The weirdest thing is that it happens with both the starboard and the port winch. Thanks for chiming in.
Hi Pat and Ali
I have been following your Blog for years, and thoroughly enjoy it.
With regard to the winch problem, just a thought, if you can rig up a strong enough “Block System” and work the one winch against the other, you should be able to see what is slipping and might be able to solve the problem before your next passage. Hope this advice will help.
Kind Regards.
Pat,
I have the same issue with one of my winches. Its probably the piece that is actually worked by the spring. I think I’ve heard them called “pawls”, but I could be wrong. Its the one part of the winch that should not be greased BTW. They will eventually get worn down by the drum and are the sacrificial part of the whole winch. Easier to replace them than the drum. Now with all that being said, good luck finding some replacements…. some can be hard to find. Hope that helps!
Tyler’s right about the pawls. A light oil is what they want, not grease. Grease could keep the pawls from fully engaging. Good luck.
Hey guys,
Most of the problems with winches happen when the pawls don’t engage the gears. The grease makes them sticky and slow to return. take them apart, soak every thing in mineral spirits or kerocene, brush all the old gease and dirt out. Dry them thoroughly. Make sure the pawl springs are not broken. When you put everything back together, just brush a real light coating of grease on everything except the pawls and springs. You just want some oil (3 in one or the like will be fine). For grease, the LubriMatic Corosion Control and Marine Trailer Wheel Bearing Grease from Fleet Farm, Wally World or wherever is the stuff. The tubes like you put in the grease guns are the cheapest. That stuff is Calcium Sulfonate based like the high buck tubes of winch grease. If you need springs they are small and able to be mailed to you by a friend. 🙂 Clean and light lube is the important part. Diagrams can be found on line, if not ask me I will find ’em.
Magic
Sorry about the spelling…you get the idea.