Periodicity

  • Annual

Dates performed

  • Port secondary (44): 2022-05-31
  • Starboard secondary (44): 2022-06-08
  • Starboard primary (54): 2022-05-19
  • Port primary (54): 2022-05-16

Materials Needed

  1. Brake cleaner
  2. Mineral spirits
  3. 3 in 1 oil
  4. Toothbrush
  5. Flathead screwdriver and/or an awl (to remove stuck on grease)
  6. Needle-nose pliers (if side tangs are firmly stuck)

Images

Winch service before

Winch service before zoom

Procedure

  1. Get a box to put all the parts in. The top of a box for reams of paper was perfect.
  2. Unscrew the top plate (might need to tap a screwdriver in the groove on top to get it to turn.
  3. Take note of the location of the small tab on the plastic rings that hold the line while winching. That angle is what holds the self tailing tang in place and you’ll want that angle to be correct when you put everything back together.
  4. Remove the side tangs holding the center rod in (see figure below). This might require needle nose pliers or tapping the tangs out of place with a flathead. Apply some WD-40 and/brake cleaner as needed to help break them out.
  5. Pull the center rod straight up out of the top. For heavily soiled winches, it might need to be pried out.
  6. Use a flathead screwdriver to remove the pins that hold in the two sets of gears. Note that the pins are different diameters, so don’t worry about getting them mixed up.
  7. Remove the gears. Be careful because both gear sets have a small plastic washer at the bottom, as well as three rod bearing housings inside the center hole of the gears.
  8. Carefully remove the pawls from both inner gears. Warning the tiny springs are extremely hard to see and can zoom away quickly, so be sure to do this over the box and to use your hands the best you can to keep the spring from jumping away.
  9. Soak all parts in mineral spirits and scrub with toothbrush. Scrape away old grease that won’t brush off using a flathead or an awl as needed.
  10. Let everything completely dry (this might take a couple of hours or more.
  11. Reinsert the pawls and springs, then add a drop of 3 in 1 oil to each one. Do not apply grease to the pawls and springs.
  12. Put all the parts back together.
    1. Apply the thinnest coat of super lube possible to all parts (other than the pawls and their springs). Less lube is better than more.
    2. The most counter-intuitive part is that the gear set that is nearly equal in size has the larger wheel on top when installed.
    3. Look carefully at grooves, ridges and the like. No feature of any of these parts is accidental, they are very well engineered.
    4. Be careful when sliding the gears back in because the small washers on the bottom fall out if not held in place during installation.
  13. Using brake cleaner, clean the winch housing and its gears thoroughly.
  14. Place the housing back over the winch after it has been assembled.
  15. Align the tang (see step 3) and replace the metal self-tailing top guard.
  16. Replace the top plate (after applying a thin coat of grease), and hand tighten.
  17. Boat drinks.

Winch side tangs