Paraffin to clean winches

[UK-WOOZY]

can i use this to clean my winches before re-lubing them? thanks

https://www.diy.com/departments/b-q-paraffin-4l/257116_BQ.prd

 

[johnalison]

Yes. It is probably less messy than some other things that people sometimes recommend, such as diesel. It can be worth doing occasionally. I wash the paraffin off with meths, which leaves the parts (fairly) clean. Use very small amounts of the right grease and brush it on, avoiding the pawls which, of course, you just oil lightly.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

i have some harken winch grease, what type of oil for the pawls? thanks. winches are original jeanneau sundream ones

 

[thinwater]

White spirits or mineral spirits will work faster and leave less residue.

Harken sells pawl oil, though it is just a light machine oil (non-detergent). Curiously, Anderson and Antal recommend a light coating of grease.

Lewmar Winch Grease does a little better, IMO.
https://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/37_70/features/Winch-Grease-Corrosion-Tests_12090-1.html

 

[VicS]

i have some harken winch grease, what type of oil for the pawls? thanks. winches are original jeanneau sundream ones

This would complement your Harken grease nicely

https://www.marinesuperstore.com/search?searchtext=harken winch pawl oil

but any light machine oil such as "3 in 1 oil" would be suitable.

You should be able to find 3 in 1 in B&Q when you buy your paraffin, https://www.diy.com/departments/3-in-1-multi-purpose-oil-100ml/254584_BQ.prd

 

[ghostlymoron]

I use paraffin to clean old stuff off, Morris's K99 grease for bearings and 3 in 1 oil for pawls. Good tip about meths for cleaning up paraffin - I'll try that next time although it hasn't been a problem before.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

some great advice. huge thanks, really appreciated. great that i can use the oil from b and q as thats on the way to the boat too.

 

[sailorman]

some great advice. huge thanks, really appreciated. great that i can use the oil from b and q as thats on the way to the boat too.

Some use diesel to clean, dont over grease the gears

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Some use diesel to clean, dont over grease the gears

I am one of them. Diesel is always available on board, dries fairly quickly if the parts are left exposed to sunlight and doesn't leave any residue that I can see. One can always speed the process by spraying with kitchen degreaser and rinsing in fresh water to remove any traces of oiliness.
I also apply the new grease very sparingly with an old, discarded, soft watercolour brush.

 

[lw395]

Mostly what I use is lots of kitchen roll to remove the old grease.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Mostly what I use is lots of kitchen roll to remove the old grease.

Well, it all depends on the amount and the state of what needs to be shifted. When I bought my boat I could barely rotate the drums. The boat had been afloat at a marina for fourteen years, just 20 metres or so from a very busy road. The amount of traffic grime and fine clay from when there is rain with a SE wind blowing fine particles from North Africa, accumulated over that time, had changed the (copious amounts of) grease into a thick mud that had the consistency of partly-set concrete. Once I managed to lever the drums off of the spindle the next step was to remove all 4 Barient 26s from the cockpit to the workshop at home where I soaked everything in a tub of diesel for several days before I could proceed with taking the winches to pieces. There was no way that I could have simply 'wiped' the muck away.