spring for a winch

[Guest]

Not exactly easy to help with so little to go on. Many modern aluminium winches use pawls with a common pattern pawl spring that is a tiny double loop with a couple of legs. These are obtainable from major winch manufacturers, often they'll just give you a couple. If your winches are unmarked, presumably they are the old bronze or tufnol types, which used all sorts of springs.

Best bet might be somewhere like Aladin's Cave in Bursledon to see if you can spot a similar old winch. If you have a spar or winch maker in your area, they sometimes carry old bits and pieces of this type that they'll look out for a personal visitor.

Otherwise you may be stuck with buying new winches.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Andrew, The common pattern pawl spring sounds like what was on the winch.I'm here in Belfast and we don't have winch manufacturers here[No jokes about The Titanic please]Would you or anyone else have web addresses or phone nos.of winch manufacturers?

 

[Guest]

I have just bought a 19 ft yacht with 2 winches.A ratchetn worked on one of them but now that has gone.When I took the cover off one there seemed to be pieces of a spring inside but this fell to pieces.Ther are no identifying marks on the winch.How can I get 2 new springs so that they work again.The bottom of the winch has been glassed in and it would be almost impossible to remove.Help.

 

[Guest]

I've found Jeremy Sexton of Navtek/Norsemann Gibb, Southmore Lane, Havant, Hants PO9 1JJ, tel 01705 485777 very helpful for requests of this kind.

 

[Guest]

I had this trouble five years ago. As I was off Lundy at the time I decided to use the spring out of a biro (ball point pen). It was necessary to chop it down a bit with the pliers but it worked fine up to last week. I have already raided the kids pen cases and butchered some springs to likely looking lengths for a repeat job next time I get afloat. It was a bit of a fiddle fitting the bits together last time but I suggest you try this cheap and cheerful solution.

Good luck

Martin D