Gibb winch spring

[ColinR]

Hi, does anyone know if its possible to get springs for a Gibb winch? or pawls? They are quite different to Lewmar ones, much more complicated.

thanks

 

[Hadenough]

http://leemingpeel-springs.co.uk/?gclid=CKX278OY2ckCFUETGwodVDMFUQ

These bods are very helpful.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

If you can't find a 'proper' torsion spring that fits the Gibb pawls you can easily adapt what you do find. The course that I would take would be to modify the pawls themselves such that I can use whatever spring is readily available.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Aah I see its a single speed jobbie. I had a pair of ST25s that would accept Lewmar springs. Never had to change springs on my smaller ones.
Springmasters of Redditch would be worth a try (ring rather than trawl their website). I have heard of people making replacements out of paper clips, guitar springs and the like using thin nosed pliers. I don't think they have to be that precisely made to work although lewmar would probably disagree.

 

[Burnham Bob]

Guitar strings do make usable Springs. You want an unwound 3rd (G) from a set of 11s. The guitar shop will know what you mean! That will
be the heaviest gauge you can get so best for spring making. Needle nose pliers and wire cutters will be all you need. I had to make spares for my old Gibb winches.

 

[vyv_cox]

Guitar strings do make usable Springs. You want an unwound 3rd (G) from a set of 11s. The guitar shop will know what you mean! That will
be the heaviest gauge you can get so best for spring making. Needle nose pliers and wire cutters will be all you need. I had to make spares for my old Gibb winches.

But will rust of course. You can use 7x7 marine shroud or guardwire cable, 4 or 5 mm is about the right size. You only need a few inches so an offcut will be enough to experiment with.

 

[Poignard]

Try Cliff Mogridge t/a Winch Servicing

http://www.winchservicing.com

 

[Burnham Bob]

my guitar strings have never rusted! sweat and beer don't affect them!

 

[vyv_cox]

my guitar strings have never rusted! sweat and beer don't affect them!

Mine also, but they are nylon!

 

[ghostlymoron]

Are the proper ones made of some special 'spring steel' ? Tempered in a particular way?

 

[vyv_cox]

Are the proper ones made of some special 'spring steel' ? Tempered in a particular way?

Most springs achieve their strength and 'springiness' by hard drawing, rather than heat treatment. As do wire cables and guitar strings. Heating them to red heat would destroy their properties but it would not be possible to re-create them by subsequent hardening and tempering.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I was told, when I had Gibb under-lever winches, that Harken springs fit, but I never had occasion to test in. In any case those springs looked rather different from the ones in the OP: they were more like clothes-peg springs with a coil in a hole.

 

[andygc]

I had replacement springs for my Gibbs made by Airedale Springs (www.airedalesprings.co.uk). My winches have three different springs - one for the pawls on the top handle halyard winches, one for the locking pawls on the bottom handle sheet winches and one for the bottom handle pawl. The wire's a bit thicker than my thickest banjo string, so I don't know if using a guitar string would do the job. I just sent them one of each tatty spring with some photos of how they fitted and they made them to shape to fit properly.

Harken springs don't fit - or those off any other winch that I could find spare springs for. The pawls shouldn't need replacing. They are a pretty sloppy fit, but that doesn't stop them working.