Winches | Sailing Wisdom
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Winches are incredible machines, but they need to be well maintained to remain a dependable component on your yacht. Winches might seem complicated, but the routine maintenance is very easy and simple to carry out. In this video, I show you the correct way to service your winches, and also my personal favorite way to service my own winches on my own boat.
Personal favorite winch lube: amzn.to/39d5kcD
Lewmar winch lube: amzn.to/3jllYvm
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Thanks for the tip on your preferred oil. Just my retentiveness, but I prefer getting all the parts spotless before applying new lube and reassembling, including getting all the gears and pawls out and scrubbing em off. If any signs of corrosion, I buff it off and get it smooth and shiny again. No lube is totally dust, grit, salt proof so I like to get the old stuff off before on with the new. Takes more time, and maybe overkill, but I gotta be me...
👍
This would be my technique also. Has anyone used a light oil spray to protect from rust? Also, the housing looked pretty gnarly in the video. How are those cleaned up to look nice and shiny?
k1mgy I clean my winch insides in household kerosene. The housing buffed gently with chrome/stainless cleaner.
Could not agree more plus a little light oil on those pesky springs
I agree with the total disassembly, cleaning THEN lubing to maintain the winches in as-new condition, more work, but worth it.
Great video, Herbie! The wife and I decided to make a drinking game out of this one. Every time you say “it gets stiff” or “service your winches” you have to yell “that’s what she said” and take a drink. 🍺
🤣🤣👍
Thanks so much for these videos. Your style reminds me a lot a Pat Childress's work.
There are guys who do everything PERFECT in a full shop. Great, but not really practical on a mooring.
There are a ton of yahoo's who just "go for it" and hope for the best. I'm not betting my wife's life on that!
Then there are a few guys like you and Pat (RIP) who do a safe good quality repair under less than ideal conditions.
You deserve more hits, I'll see what I can do to help with that over the Winter.
Thanks. Love your vids. Learning
Gunked up grease doesn't stop working, it becomes a marvelous abrasive.
Very true! That’s why I prefer the chain line on my own boat. It lubricates but doesn’t gunk up
This is super quick! I'm servicing the winches solo on my new (to me) 30ft Beneteau. I've been doing it the "long way" and it's taking days!
Thank you for this. I just shared this with my son who is having some winch issues on his boat
Great DIY video! Now I know I can service my own winches without fear of screwing it up, thanks Herby.
Photos on your phone at every step also helps a newbie. Every brand is slightly different, of course.
Cheers Herb. You're a wonderful source of information and just as importantly an excellent communicator. 👍
Thanks for sharing, love to see and learn how to maintain / use a sailboat. Have an awesome day :)
Great video & tips on servicing, stay safe
Herbie, you do you and keep informing us on what you do to your winches. If it works for you and you can sail all the miles you have sailed without issue Bravo! I think you said "This is what I use on my winches" about ten times. Your winch, your lube. Thank you guys for another great video with great tips and ideas.
I just wanted to make sure no one thought that the chain lube was the approved method. It’s worked for me for almost 10 years so I thought I would share it with people. It sure is easier than the other method 😉
Wow! That'll teach you to share your own techniques along with every detailed caveat and explanation a sailor could ask for. He does it this way. It works. It's different than most people. Do it the way you're convinced is correct. Gotta figure folks are watching with the sound off.
Nice simple explanation. Thanks
Nicely done, It's normally amazingly simple to service things that have a "you have to take to a dealer!!" sticker on them.
Thanks it was very helpful
You’re welcome
Great video!
I've been looking for a video on winch maintenance! Thanks!
Excellent explanation and great tips! Very good camera work enhances the tutorial. I'm ready to service all my wenches-when I get one. 🤩
Thank you!!
Love this! Had been wondering how the gearing worked in a winch.
Huh, this was surprisingly easy. Thanks a ton!
Glad I was able to make your life easier
@@RiggingDoctor Can you do one about Winch sizes?
Thanks for all the answers below on not needing to do the deep cleaning thing. My winches are also old and worn looking, but still work fine. Off to find some of that Finish Line lube. Same concept applied to my motorcycle chain years ago. Use the right product, and things just work better in harsh conditions.
It’s been great! It’s available at bike stores but overseas I have had trouble getting it until I realized I could order it from Amazon. I included a link in the description to the exact lube I buy from Amazon in case you can’t get it locally.
great video!
I have heard that the winch pawl needs a different kind of lube if you use the Lewmar. You use bicycle chain grease on those so you are giving great advice.
Hey Herbie! You must six sense , because you come out with videos that I need, funny thing is I was about service my winches , right on queue, you making the videos I need!!! OK.... I am going to buy lotto, please ,make video how to pick right numbers... I promise will share the winning .... uncle BOB needs new 80 foot sailboat.... I mean uncle Bob needs new pair shoes hehehehehe.... LOL......
4th 5hing you'll need is extra pawl springs. Mine always seem to fly away home. But then a year later I find them buried in the carpet. Good video
At least you were able to find them again! I always use the box or towel method on other boats to catch the jail brake parts. Thankfully the winches on our boat don’t have any jumping bits so I can safely take them apart while sailing if they start squeaking while underway (when we sailed to the Bahamas, I forgot to do my maintenance on them that year and ended up working on the halyard winches at the mast en route to Bermuda)
1: "Cut a hole in a box", 2: "Put your winch in that box", 3: "Make her open the box... and that's the way you do it!"
Great, informative video. From one old MBer to another...why didn't you clean the old s$it off the winch before servicing?
I wanted to, and it’s on my list of stuff to do, but we had a lot of projects that day and not much time. Getting the winches lubed was more important than getting them clean pre-crossing. Now that we’re on the other side of the Atlantic, I’ll get them cleaned up finally.
I had autoplay on and I swear you were talking about servicing your WENCH on your boat.
Haha! 👍
So I don’t have a boat - don’t intend on servicing any winches - but still this is great fun to watch - how do you do that, make it so entertaining . . . . .
you are the best kind of viewer haha
I’m so glad you liked it, that makes me happy :)
I use motorcycle chainlube which sticks on to the gears and doesn't run everywhere.
Those Barlows are sure easy to service. My Andersens are a bit more complex and you do have to worry about the winch pawls. I have always been an advocate of thoroughly cleaning all the parts before regreasing. I know that is what Andersen recommends in their service instructions. Unfortunately thorough cleaning may require removing the winches from the boat.
Are those Anderson or Barient winches. Im in a serious need of cleaning and lube them up. Im having a hard time finding Barient paws and springs
Have you thought about using (something like) the Inox lanolin spray to protect the non-lubricated surfaces rather than just a light spray oil? That's designed to stick and stop things rusting without being muck-accumulating. I'm a longtime fan of it in on tools, and I expect it also works with salt water.
I use lanolin on many parts of the boat, but I didn’t know it came as a spray! Mine is a small pot of good smelling brown stuff that is more like a paste than a gel. If the pot is out in the sun for a few hours, it will get a little runny, but as soon as it cools it goes back to being a thick paste. I will look for the spray! Where do you buy it?
Hi Hurby. Have you ever sailed an aerorigged boad. I've just been out on one and i can say once you get used to it it's so simple. Singlehanded is easy. NO rigging ho ho ho. Love your movies.
I have not but I did see a boat with that rig in Queensway Marina in Gibraltar
You are or were a bicyclist? Love Finish Line Wet for my bike chain, but surprised that it does well in a marine environment. I recall a study on bike chains, which showed that you don't really need a lubricant to prevent friction on a pristine chain. There is almost no reduction of friction by adding any lubricant to a brand new clean chain. The benefit of a good chain lubricant is that it reduces the amount of dirt and water entering the chain, keeping it from becoming an old chain.
look up "finish line wet lubricant msds" => "Lubricating oils (petroleum), C15-30, hydrotreated neutral oil- based". Likely a mixture of mostly mineral oil with some wax. Good video, I wont be using grease either now.
Thanks Herb Easy-Peasy. All my winches are Barlow on my Colvic Victor 40 Ketch. I didn't know the winch number denoted the force multiplier - you learn something everyday thanks to you! ROB
personally i use a bit of sail cloth or a blanket the box seems like it be a pain to maneuver around it
The box is a pain, and it has to be big enough to work inside of yet still fit on the boats deck or cockpit. I usually end up using a towel.
Herb, your tech videos have always been informative and helpful. I have to take exception to this one. Oil does not have the same lubricating qualities as grease, mainly the lasting effects needed to have annual service. Case in point, the initial scene when you showed the winch sticking and that layer of corrosion inside would have been prevented had it been annually coated lightly with grease. That is a result of dry metal on metal contact. 40+ years in aviation has shown me many times what happens when there is a lack of or improper lubrication......parts wear out or worse, they break. I would not be so quick to suggest what you have shown here is enough. Especially if one of the viewers have new winches , still under warranty and in need of a claim. Good luck getting anywhere on that claim if during inspection, all that is found is a thin film of oil. Like you said, servicing winches once a year is no big deal, why not do it the right way?
I agree that oil does not have the same properties as grease, and chain lube does not have the same properties as grease or oil. Chain lube is not oil, it’s lube, otherwise they would have called it chain oil (which is something else entirely). The sticking winches came from 9 months of no use. I have seen it in winches that are also maintained with winch grease. The corrosion inside is because these are rather old and very used and never rinsed with fresh water.
I’m sorry this video was not as useful to you as my other videos have been, and I can assure you more technical videos are on their way 😎
Oil and grease are both LUBE, even water is a lube although a poor one.
What the maker of that chain lube (oil) calls it doesn't change it's function, allow metal to metal contact slide. While your chain oil may work short term, I seriously doubt that it is performing as grease would be after a year.
I will continue to tear down, degrease, inspect, grease and reassemble. It's very simple, recommended, and reassuring that it's been serviced properly for another year.
I look forward to your videos!
Safe travels!
My clients Looma have asked me to see you in court.
That seemed like a lot of oil add to lube the winch. Do you ever have it leaking out from the winch onto the deck?
It holds onto metal really well so it stays in the winch. If any does drip out, it will occur while you are pouring it on and that’s your clew that it’s enough! It wipes up easily with paper towel and can be cleaned later with a biodegradable dish detergent.
Rigging Doctor , thanks for the reply and the hack 👍 I have lots of wet bike lube on hand so will try this on my next winch service.
We tear our winches all the way down. We soak and clean each part, and then put them back together. They are spotless and well lubed inside and out when we are done. We do this at least once a year.
Yes, that is the proper way to do it when you use winch lube. If you don’t, the old winch lube that is full of dirt and grime will begin to harden and the winch will fail.
This is why I was showing you this trick with chain lube because it doesn’t collect dirt and therefore doesn’t need the cleaning step which makes it so much easier!
It’s just a trick that I have been doing for 8 years now on my boat so I wanted to share it with everyone in case someone wanted to know an easier way to service their own personal winches.
sorry i missed your live show, there were many Q's i would liked to have asked. so i'll start here :-)
1. could you show me/us how to reef your hank on sails while sailing? including your main if that's a hank on? like you, i don't like all this electric stuff.
2. instead of winches, could you not use multiple blocks for raising/lowering your sails?
1. We do just that in an upcoming episode when we are rigging the boat to leave Spain and sail to Gibraltar.
2. Lots of older boats had this very system. It’s a 2:1 setup with the halyard originating at the head of the mast, running down to a block on the head of the sail, back up the mast to a shiv where it then returns to the person on deck who is hoisting the sail. It’s twice the line but half the load!
@@RiggingDoctor can't wait to see it. thanks.
No problem with the oil seeping on your deck on hot summer days?
good question!
The chain lube is designed to hold on to a quickly spinning bike chain as its pelted with mud, sand, water, and dust that it just sheds off while continuing to keep the delicate chain links lubricated. Being inside a winch is like a vacation for this material. It holds onto the surface of the metal and lubes everything inside the drum. If any does drip out (or if you put a bit too much in there) a small drip will form from under the drum that can simply be wiped off with a paper towel. If it’s going to drip, it will drip while you are doing it.
@@RiggingDoctor Thanks for the follow-up. I'm going to look for this chain lube at the local bike shop.
um you just oiled it, no solvent and brush to clean it up first?
When you use the chain lube I showed, it stays clean in there. Those winches have been maintained this way for 8 years and crossed an ocean to spend a year bathed in Sahara dust (that stuff gets into everything). Yet when I opened them up they were clean and ready for new chain lube. If I used Lewmar grease, like I do when people pay me to service their winches, I have to clean out the old grease first before I can grease them up with stuff that will trap and collect dirt for a year!
Didnt know no it was so easy on a Barlow. Good chain oil tip too, thanks.
denny be , I had Barlows and so easy to clean and put back, just which the pull and the spring.
@@CaptMarkSVAlcina Thanks Capt!
Which Grease?
The correct one: amzn.to/3xKt7RR
The one I use on my own winches: amzn.to/4cHNtdp
👍
Much better doing it at dock than needing to do it while underway. Personally, wenches are more problems than they are worth. Keep it simple.
There is no fighting that rust. That needs to be replaced
😂 rusted to the point of needing replacement. That’s a good one!!
Next time something rusts on your boat and you replace it, I’ll pay the shipping for you to mail me your discarded “rusted” item 👍🏻
I would much prefer to service a wench rather than a winch, but that's just me. I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes.😁
The wenches near the equator have smaller drums covering their gears 😎
@@RiggingDoctor I like to play the drums!😂
You didn't lube the bearing on the drive shaft. The splines hardly need it, but the bearing sure could.
In all other channels I see them taking them completely apart, and using a minimal amount of grease. This is 100% oposite of that process. Is your process selective to your brand/model?
When I bought the boat, I did it the proper way the first time and took everything apart, cleaned it all, greased it all and put it back together. The next service interval, I looked at all the work I had in front of me (10 winches) while I was working on my mountain bike. I thought about the properties of the chain lube I was using on my bike and how it would provide the protection and lubrication needed to the winch parts but hopefully would not collect all the dirt and grime!
I gave it a try and it worked exceptionally! When I opened them up routinely that first year just to check on things, it was all looking great and staying clean in there! I did take it all apart that the next time to see what happened inside the pawls and everything but it was all clean in there. So I only use chain lube on my own boat from then on!
If you use grease, you will need to take it all apart and clean it out every time. If you use chain lube, it just stays clean so all you need to do is reapply.
LIke greasing auto wheel bearings, back when people did that.
These comments....:) It's like they didn't listen to your words.
I know! Right?!
I enjoyed your DIY winch service. I can't imagine paying someone to do that, unless they have more money than brains. Everytime you held something over the water(in the video) I cringed. I would prefer the oil even if it meant doing it twice a year.
I felt that about most of the jobs I did on boats. They were very easy and simple, but they wanted to pay me to do it instead of doing it themselves 😐
I think the equipment most abused and neglected on many boats is the furler. Of course, I believe you do not use one ?
Indeed we do not
I repaired so many of them before we left to go cruising that I took mine off for the simplicity of hank on sails. As a result we have had years of problem free cruising with furler related issues ⛵️
How to service a winch in three easy steps!
Step 1. Grab your wench.
Step 2. ...
Step 3. Repeat from step 1 until done.
🤣
Winches, boxes with holes and it feels stiff CZcams gone strik you down lmao.....
Can you show a Lewmar winch next time you help somebody, please.
Absolutely! They are really popular on a lot of boats and I used to work on them often in Baltimore. Next time I meet someone with a Lewmar, I’ll ask if I can film it :)
I do not know enough about current events to follow this conversation 😕
🤣
@@RiggingDoctor My all-time favourite movie! You might just enjoy it. Snake.
@@deadcrow.... Yeah but I am a small snake with one S lol!
:)
I'm afraid the entire "clean it up" part of the video went missing?
By using bike chain lube, the winch stays clean and therefore I don’t need to do it. I mentioned in the video that if you use Lewmar winch grease, you will have to clean it up first, then grease it again. I have been using chain lube for 8 years on those winches and sailed across the Atlantic to spend a year in an area where Sahara dust gets into EVERYTHING! And yet the winch was still clean inside.
This feature alone is one of the many reasons that I use bike chain lube on my own personal winches.
On a 30+ year old winch that’s been used hard to get across an ocean: yes.
There is a difference between “clean” and “polished”.
A lot of cyclists are using a wax on their chains now. YT GCN etc
I feel like a dinosaur that’s melted from the ice with my 26” wheels and antiquated technology hitting the trails of today!
@@RiggingDoctor I'm 58 and used to road race when I was in my teens - go on, tell me your problems, LOL!!!!! But if you check out the pros and cons of the wax I'd like your thoughts on it. wax should not RUN like oil and I think it was good for not holding grit etc, but I don't remember - did I mention I was 58 LOL!, LOL!.....
I’ll look into it!
Ii is not good advice to service winches without including a through cleaning of the winch internals. Without cleaning the internals over time will accumulate contaminants and debris, leading to component damage and possible failure of the pawl operation, which would be a risk to life and limb.
Yes, if you use winch grease. Winch grease holds dirt and makes a mess that needs to be cleaned out every year during servicing. This is why I shared my little trick of using bike chain lube instead. Chain lube is designed to shed dirt and filth which keeps everything inside the winch cleaner so when service time comes, all you need to do is relube the internals. The winches in this video have been serviced with chain lube for 8 years, and after our last transatlantic we have been covered in Sahara dust on the southern coast of Spain for the last year and they are still somehow clean inside!
Hello Herb, sorry but I disagree on it: Lewmar manual clearly states that first you need to clean all parts with paraffin oil (I tried it and it works fine). Also: grease should only be used on the sprockets (lightly), and lewmar oil needs to be used for the springs. This way you did not check the springs. Paraffin oil also keeps the rust away.
And this is why I use Lewmar products when I work on other people’s boats. For my own boat, I use chain lube and it has been a breeze for years! I am simply putting this information out there and if someone wants to use Lewmar products as they are supposed to, that is fine; but I did want to share my own personal favorite product as well because it makes life so much easier and makes the chore of servicing the winches a quick task.
@@RiggingDoctor hi, the issue is not what lubricant you use but how. You did not inspect the spings at all - which are the most fragile part of the winch - that is why thy are part of the repair kit. Spraying the sprockets with some cleaner is just not the proper and thorough way to service the winches - unfortunately, the inside of your winch with the surface rust is an example of not proper maintenance. Again, you service your winch as you like - but doing such a job for money is a different story. I do respect your knowledge about rigging - I suggest you to stay at rigging jobs.
Tibor Kiss this is why I explicitly said that when I do a paying job on someone else’s boat, I do it the proper way, “but on my own boat” I do it this way. I said that many times to avoid people freaking out about this.
The reason you need to clean the springs is because the springs get full of grease and the grease gets full of debris, and the debris solidifies the grease so that the springs can’t work. If you hear the pawls clicking, it’s because the springs are working. When you use bike chain lube, everything stays clean and the springs stay happy and working. When you run the bike lube through the sprockets you can clearly hear how they are doing. A quiet winch is a winch that’s about to fail!
The corrosion on the winch frame is from years and years of constant use in a very punishing environment. I open them once a year to lube them, and the surface has gotten a little rusty since the last time I opened it.
These winches are in constant use since we never motor, so they really get used hard! The chrome plating is coming off in places exposing the bronze beneath and there is a little corrosion on the frame inside the body, but these are not show winches, these are real winches that get used.
I could do a video where I unbox a brand new winch and everything is shiny inside, but I decided to show a real working winch that is over 30 years old.
I can't believe you would simply re-lube the gears, without first cleaning them...
When you use chain lube, they don’t get dirty and therefore don’t need to clean before re-lubing
He makes a fairly big mistake here. He doesn't clean the bearings before oiling them. They should be cleaned every year using something that will dissolve grease or oil. I use kerosene and soak the bearings in it for a few minutes. An old toothbrush helps finish the job.
With chain lube, there is nothing to clean because the lube doesn’t hold dirt and grime like grease does. It makes life so much easier which is why I use it on my boat. After 8 years of doing it this way, I decided to share it with you all!
I would not let you near my winch! Ever heard of cleaning off the old grease, dirt, and salt?
That’s what I do on other people’s boats because I use lewmar winch grease on them. I have used bike lube on my own winches for 8 years and they are always clean inside! No dirt or grease to clean out because the chain lube doesn’t hold it in like winch grease.
Mee too😡 Always clean 👍 before greas 👌
I once had mud wasps make a nest in the big winch (not really sure how they got in there) and that I had to clean out. But with the chain lube, it’s stayed clean in there. Sailing on the south of Spain, everything on the boat was permeated by Sahara dust but the winches still looked clean inside!
It’s all about what oil you use 😉 they all lubricate but some make more work for you next time!
I think you are maybe missing the point that he has done this for 8yrs like that and the winch looks like that - 8yrs of NOT stripping it down fully and cleaning it and it STILL looks like that - very little 'old grease, dirt and salt'
Lubricant technology has improved leaps & bounds recently & the modern chain lubes are a marvel of engineering
(and remember grease is just base oils with thickeners (soap or clay) to make them sticky (calcium sulphonate in the case of lewmar winch grease)
You don't need a thick layer of any lubricant, you need a film to help keep the metal surfaces apart and to protect them from the environment. That film has to be just thick enough to lat until the next application.
Ok to show how to service winches but man do it right!!! I can't believe you mentioned cleaning out the grit, dirt and old grease but then just added some oil and left it dirty!!!
That grit is gonna kill your bearings. Also oil is not as good as grease as will run off that is why the manufacturer specifications call for a waterproof grease at the correct viscosity.
Definitely clean off all old grease and remove gears and all bearings to check for wear as the bearings often get cracked cages. You also didn't even mention the digs and springs they should also be cleaned, checked fir wear and lubricated.
Sorry nice video but very poor service on the winches. PLEASE if showing other people how to do things then at least show them correctly.
Bad advice, all should be clean and rust free,. grees on gears and a little oil on springs. I thinks you should go back and read the dentist manual. ie how inportant cleaning is. Have loved your blogs up to now. But this one disappointed me and had to come back to add my rant Sorry.
After 8 years of servicing these winches the east way with chain lube, I wanted to share this trick because it’s so much easier than winch grease. When I worked as a rigger in Baltimore, MD, I used winch grease on other boats all the time and every year I had to clean out the grease I placed last year. They were paying jobs so I used the correct stuff, but on my own boat I was using chain lube and loving life.
It’s been a long life for these winches that are well over 30 years old and still going strong so I decided to share this little trick with you all.
Then one day said ,red ridenhood it stoped. your life is so full you have no time to maintain correctly . Then pass on bad habits. Time to rethink my friend.
@@RiggingDoctor
Like I said, there is the proper way and then there is this trick that works just as well and takes no time at all. There are a lot of projects and maintenance to be done on a boat that is perpetually moving as we cruise from port to port. Making maintenance easier means that a cruiser can actually get it all done in time to enjoy the port they arrived in.
You can clean the deck with a tooth brush or a large wide brush. Both get the job done but one is a much more efficient use of time.