self-tailers not holding rope

[Modulation]

It's happened fairly gradually over the last 2 years. My Lewmar 40 genoa sheet winches do a great job in hardening in th sail but the self-tailing jaws at the top allow the sheets to unwind themselves almost immediately the pressure is off the free end (they won't work at all unless I keep this in tension).
Is it just wear and can I adjust the jaws in any way to restore the grip?

<hr width=100% size=1>Brendan

 

[Ships_Cat]

Hi Brendan

Having just a few days ago maintained some Lewmar 40's I can comment as follows.

Firstly the crown/stripper ring assembly is not adjustable so providing that you are not using sheets of the incorrect diameter the upper and lower crowns are either worn or there is something preventing their free movement. If they are worn, that is the spiralling out raised grips on their inner rope side surface then they have to be replaced. If they are binding through grit or something then you will have to disassemble the crown asembly (as you will also have to do if the crowns are to be replaced).

There are drawings and maintenance manuals on the Lewmar internet site which you should download, but in addition to those can say the following - I will assume you have not taken one apart before (humour me if you have). You will need a drawing/maintenance manual off the Lewmar site to understand the following disassembly:-

Unscrew the top ring on the top of the winch. These are often tight from overtightening or thickening of the Lanacote or whatever used for anti corrosion. It has an O ring under it - should not drop off but take care in case. If the ring is too tight to remove by hand, a piece of hard plastic/wood against one of the tool recesses on top, and a hammer to that will move it - a metal drift will damage the ring.

Next lift the feeder arm (the bit that curves over the top of the winch and whot you put the sheet over before jamming it in the crowns) noting the position so it goes back where you want it for stripping the sheet to off the winch. You will see the main spindle that the winch handle fits into going down into the winches interior. This is held in position by a small toothed collet each side. These collets also provide the teeth that locate the angular position of the feeder arm - take care that when you remove the arm that the collets don't do the drop, bounce, splash, "oh Dang" bit.

Inside the top of the crown you will see 3 cross head screws that hold the plastic parts of the crown assembly together. Evenly unscrew them and remove them. Carefully lift the whole plastic crown assembly off the top of the winch drum watching for the 8 (from memory) springs that sit between the crown assembly and the drum. They won't do the boooing, splash bit cos you have released the compression on them, they also sit in little recesses, but take care.

The plastic crown assembly comes apart into 3 pieces - the upper crown, the lower crown, and the stripper ring in between. You will see that the upper crown spigots into the lower one, the lower one sliding up and down but pushed upwards by the springs to grip the sheet, and the stripper ring rotates on this same spigot (actually it doesn't rotate, the spigot rotates inside the stripper). You will see if there is grit in these bearing serfaces that the crown assembly will not work correctly. It may also be that there is a problem with the springs, but I would have thought that unusual unless some are missing.

I have come across winches where the stripper ring is a very tight fit on the upper crown spigot - if so take care getting it off not to break it or damage its surfaces with the levering screwdriver or whatever. Sometimes this ring is so tight that the winch cannot be rotated in reverse by hand. If so, what I have done there is lightly sand any rough bits off the two bearing surfaces (the crown spigot and the inside of the ring) and sand down carefully with some fine paper until they are freer - note that they can still be quite sticky but rotate reasonably freely when the whole is assembled, so don't sand until they are loose.

Going back together is just the opposite noting that the crown assembly only fits back on in certain positions and that you must take care to position the end of the arm of the stripper ring correctly inside the metal feeder arm that fits on top of the winch (else you will be unscrewing it all again /forums/images/icons/mad.gif). For the springs under the crown assembly I find it easiest to place them in their little recesses on top of the drum and then carefully lower the crown assembly correctly aligned onto them.

This top assembly is pretty much the same on all their ST winches except on the bigger ones the springs for the crown assembly are on top of the crowns.

If wear of the crowns gripping surface is the problem it may pay you to check that your sheet diameter is not too big for the winch (can be found on the Lewmar site) as this is a common cause of rapid wear.

Have fun

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.

 

[sailorman]

have u washed the sheets to get rid of the salt., softer more flexible ropes work best

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[Joe_Cole]

Are your sheets the right size for the winches? If the sheets are too thick or too thin they may work for a while but once they get worn/dirty the grip will not be enough.

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[snowleopard]

before undertaking the strip-down, test to see if the lower flange of the self-tailer is (a) moving freely and (b) returning to position. the flange should slide down if you lever in the groove (preferably using a bit of wood , not a screwdriver). it should be possible to depress the flange and it should spring back into place.



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[gtmoore]

They don't all do this though do they? I'm sure the Lewmar 30's I have don't have moveable jaws

Not sure about 40's though


<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue>Gavin </font color=blue>

 

[Ships_Cat]

If they are current self tailing Lewmars (been the same from early 1990's at least I would guess), then for all sizes up to the 48 the lower crown should be able to be pushed down as Snowleopard pointed out.

The 50's up are sprung differently and I can't remember if the upper or lower crown moves on those (pretty certain tis the bottom one though) - academic anyway in this case.

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.

 

[gtmoore]

I've just had a look at the Lewmar web site and have identified my winches on the Spares pages as WaveGrip versions produced from 83 to 91. They do have fixed jaws unlike the newer WaveSpring ones that have spring loaded jaws.

It's worth Brendan checking which kind he has before assuming the jaws have seized.


<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue>Gavin </font color=blue>