Cleaning old winches. Good tip/bad tip?

[Vara]

Having acquired a couple of very old sheet winches (I don't at present have dedicated spinny/cruising chute winches).

I set about fettling them. At some stage they had been liberally greased with something unsuitable which had turned into a hard varnish like substance.

The first winch I tackled with paraffin, tooth brush, screw driver etc, it took about 2 hours to get it to an acceptable level of cleanliness, a dirty and unpleasant task.

Second one I popped all the bits into the dish washer on top wash, came out immaculate, dry and shiny with no effort on my part and no apparent harm came to DW.

 

[rob2]

Sounds like a good result. Just remember that nce degreased, it'll come out of the dishwasher very hot and can rust very quickly. It's probably a good idea to spray with WD40 a few moments after coming out of the machine - then you can get on with the proper lubrication once it's cooled and you can handle it.

Lewmar have a maintenance guide on their website, but the basics are a very light smear of waterproof grease on the majority of parts, but light machine oil on the pawls and springs so they don't get stuck in grease.

Rob.

 

[Leighb]

Did SWMBO know about this?

 

[Vara]

Did SWMBO know about this?

Window of opportunity as she went to the gym this am.

She's working tomorrow so the running rigging is going in the washing machine.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Having acquired a couple of very old sheet winches (I don't at present have dedicated spinny/cruising chute winches).

I set about fettling them. At some stage they had been liberally greased with something unsuitable which had turned into a hard varnish like substance.

The first winch I tackled with paraffin, tooth brush, screw driver etc, it took about 2 hours to get it to an acceptable level of cleanliness, a dirty and unpleasant task.

Second one I popped all the bits into the dish washer on top wash, came out immaculate, dry and shiny with no effort on my part and no apparent harm came to DW.

Personnally I'd stick to the parafin/toothbrush approach as there are plastic/composite bushes and sleeves that could be adversley affected by too much heat. Use Marigolds if you're concerned about preserving your manicure.

 

[little shack]

Great if you can do stuff in washing machine.Just don't do what I did with my sail covers forgot to adjust temp they went through on a hot wash and shrank looked like nora battys stockings.

 

[prv]

I'd also worry about small parts being blown around by the water jets and ending up being flushed out of the machine with the dirty water. Perhaps a mesh bag or plastic basket of some kind?

Pete

 

[Lakesailor]

Our DW has a filter screen. Still don't think I would get sanction to use it for degreasing though.

 

[johnalison]

Personnally I'd stick to the parafin/toothbrush approach as there are plastic/composite bushes and sleeves that could be adversley affected by too much heat. Use Marigolds if you're concerned about preserving your manicure.

I think I'll do the same. The last time I stripped mine down I washed the paraffin off with white spirit, which at least made it a bit less messy.

 

[pvb]

Just remember that nce degreased, it'll come out of the dishwasher very hot and can rust very quickly.

Aren't most winches made of non-ferrous materials?

 

[CreakyDecks]

If you regularly have small parts to clean Maplins sell nice little ultrasonic baths, only about £40. They are designed so CDs and DVDs will fit into them and about 3cm deep.

 

[Vara]

Well looks like it's the usual 50/50 consensus.

IMOD, pawls, springs, and the plastic caged bearings were not put in dishwasher, it was just the big all metal bits, which came out gleaming, I seriously doubt that 90°C would damage chromed bronze, brass or stainless steel.

I wouldn't use this approach for composite winches.

Any way the deed is done, time will tell.

 

[neil_s]

Yes - I had the caked on dry grease, too. I have tried oiling all the winch parts this time. They whizz round luvly, now.

Neil

 

[dt4134]

An alternative method if there's lots of caked gunk, is to dose everything liberally in 3:1 oil, put them back together, then go out and use the winches. Then take them apart again and the gunk should be softer and easier to remove.

 

[rob2]

Yes, the structure of the winch will usually be non-ferrous, but the gears are usually steel (the OP didn't state which make and model) and will rust if not greased.

Rob.

 

[aquaplane]

The trouble with dish washer powder is it's quite caustic. The grease it's designed to remove is animal fat so caustic turns the fat into soap then it washes off. The caustic also dissolves aluminium very well so my Gibb winches wouldn't like it at all.

The grease on mechanical stuff is petrolium based hydrocarbons which are highly unlikely to dissolve in aqueous solutions. There is probably grease in your dishwasher now but it may wash off over time.

Petrol, paraffin, white spirit, and stuff like that work on that sort of grease.

 

[rotrax]

Having acquired a couple of very old sheet winches (I don't at present have dedicated spinny/cruising chute winches).

I set about fettling them. At some stage they had been liberally greased with something unsuitable which had turned into a hard varnish like substance.

The first winch I tackled with paraffin, tooth brush, screw driver etc, it took about 2 hours to get it to an acceptable level of cleanliness, a dirty and unpleasant task.

Second one I popped all the bits into the dish washer on top wash, came out immaculate, dry and shiny with no effort on my part and no apparent harm came to DW.

Hi, This dishwasher trick was my method of cleaning motorcycle engine parts after they had been bead blasted. The tempreture change loosened the glass beads that were stuck to the crevices and microscopic indentations of the internal parts and shifted them a treat! The bits came out so hot they dried very quickly. They did not corrode after cleaning in our enviroment but that is a possibility as a previous poster suggested. We had a dedicated old dishwasher for this purpose-First Mate would not have been amused had I sneaked into the kitchen when she was not there...... It was amazing the amount of glass blasting beads that got into the filter from parts that looked and felt clean. Blasting beads can knacker an engine very quickly so cleaning was a very important part of a post blast cleaning session. As motorbike cranckcases and top end components are aluminium alloys they looked like new afterwards. A top tip from the origional poster!

 

[pvb]

Yes, the structure of the winch will usually be non-ferrous, but the gears are usually steel (the OP didn't state which make and model) and will rust if not greased.

I'm surprised. My Lewmar winches have bronze gears and the steel bits seem to be stainless steel. It seems strange that any manufacturer would use rust-prone material in something as exposed as a winch.