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How do I take my 1974 model Lewmar 8 winches apart?

  • 01 Jun 2017 22:23
    Quote
    Reply # 4875467 on 4873191
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Thanks, Chris,
    your suggestion makes sense. However, today I had a nice, quite long daysail in Ingeborg. It appears that my rinsing and oiling of the drum bearings and pawls (these were more or less stuck) has solved 95% of those winch problems I described. When used as a snubbing winch (most of the time) the sheet winch worked perfectly well with the ratchet sound from the pawls being sharp and “new”. Even when winching in the sheet by using the handle, this worked well. Still there is some friction in that plain bearing of the spindle. I must see what I find.

    There is another possible method than spraying this or that in: With the drum off and the drum bearing lifted up 2-3mm (until that Bakelite sheave stops it), I can get to the drainhole at the bottom end of the winch base. If I manage to plug that hole, temporarily, I can just fill the base with White-Spirit or whatever and thus flood the plain bearing. By operating the spindle for a while, I bet the dry grease will be dissolved. Final challenge then is to get some oil back onto that bearing.

    One may still wonder how those Bakelite sheaves were fitted in the first place...

    Arne

    PS: Ingeborg went like a scalded troll today, with her new antifouling on  -  but that belongs to another topic...

     

    Last modified: 02 Jun 2017 21:39 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 01 Jun 2017 20:54
    Quote
    Reply # 4875324 on 4873191
    Anonymous member

    Arne.  From what I have read and heard that bakelite sheave is guaranteed to break if you try to get it off.  I have had good results cleaning bearings like this with Paslode nail gun cleaning spray.  This stuff is designed to clear carbon deposits and oil from a nail gun and would be my choice for final cleaning.
  • 01 Jun 2017 09:42
    Quote
    Reply # 4873981 on 4873191
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    David and Nicholas,

    thanks for your quick response. The name of the modern Lewmar may be Evo Sport, but they are still basically built up as my model from the Jurassic Age. I see that the Evos can separate the top of the drum, but that is probably just to be able to fit them with self-tailers, I guess.

    The main difference is how the drum bearing and spindle is held in place. On the Evo, there is nothing preventing one from removing the two-part drum bearings. This gives access to those plastic retaining keys, which hold the spindle.

    On my winces, that Bakelite sheave is preventing the single drum bearing from being lifted off. My guess is that the sheave has just been pressed down over the spindle and is meant to sit there forever. One option is to cut it off and make a copy from a sheet of neoprene rubber. As it is now, I can move the spindle up and down a millimetre or two, but something inside it blocks it from moving any further. I must try and feel down the hole in the spindle to see if there is some sort of slots there with pins in them. Too dark to see anything down there. If it turns out the winch can only be dismantled from the underside, the combination of WD40 and a heatgun will have to do. There is a 2-3mm drain hole at the bottom of the base/column, which will let out the excess oil, melted grease, and dirt.

    Cheers, Arne


    Last modified: 01 Jun 2017 09:43 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 01 Jun 2017 07:50
    Quote
    Reply # 4873875 on 4873191
    Anonymous member

    Hello, Arne.  

    Your downloaded photos name the winches as "Evo Sport" which sounds a bit too modern a name for a 1974 winch.  

    Have you tried contacting Lewmar directly for technical support?  Although they'll probably suggest you buy 2 new ones, they might be able to help.  
  • 01 Jun 2017 07:47
    Quote
    Reply # 4873873 on 4873191
    Deleted user
    Hi Arne.

    I think I have one of these in the workshop and will have a go at stripping it today. It seems your instructions are not for your model/year. Hopefully someone on here has experience of these winches in case I cant figure it out either. I will let you know how I get on. Usually the solution is something so simple that it isnt easy to see. Nick
  • 31 May 2017 22:24
    Quote
    Message # 4873191
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Ingeborg's stiff old winches

    I could need some advise from you! My skills on mechanical mechanics are not that shining.

    Problem is, I have two genoa winches on my IF, Ingeborg, which now have changed roles into winches for the halyard and sheet. Yesterday I decided to open them up and give them some much-needed service, as they felt rather stiff. The winches are Lewmar 8, so I downloaded the instruction from Lewmar, (see Photo 16 and 17 to the left, below). However, when I opened one of Ingeborg’s winches (Photo 18), they were far from like in the manual inside (Photo 19). The outer drum came off easily, and I was able to rinse the pawls sitting on its inside. (Photo 20).

    However, the single drum bearing could not be removed. There is a Bakelite sheave sitting in a notch which prevents me from doing so. Moreover, and maybe for the same reason, there is no way I can get out the spindle in the middle. So far I have managed to rinse the drum bearing fairly well in situ, so at least both winces works well now as snubbing winches. However the spindle sticks quite a bit, most certainly due to old grease ,which is difficult to get at.

    Any suggestions on how to get this thing apart? I have tried the IF homepage, and they had no solution on it (most newer IFs have Selden winches or newer Lewmars). I am very tempted to cut the Bakelite sheave in two with a chisel and see what happens, but removing the whole winch is just about the last option: A former owner who has renovated the boat, has made an elegant inner-liner  in the pilot berths, which blanks off the entire cockpit coamings!

    Now, writing is thinking, they say. A  tenth look at the manual (Photo 16) reveals that the spindle only has a plain bearing, no pin bearing as I thought. That means that any method can be used to remove or soften the stiff grease without being afraid of destroying the rubber-like stuff between the bearing pins. Maybe, if you cannot help me, I must find the secret weapon that my sewing-machine service man taught me: WD-40 and a heatgun. Better than Dynamite, at least (of which I have been thinking of, lately).

    Arne


    Last modified: 01 Jun 2017 09:56 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
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