Corrosion on Lewmar winch drum & bearings

[Maxo]

Yesterday I took a 20 year old Lewmar 40 two speed winch apart to service it. I have owned the boat for just over a year and thought it would be good to service it. About 3 weeks ago the winch spun freely when it was put under load and I was worried that something was wrong.

I was right. After following the directions in Nigel Calder's book it was easy to take the winch apart completely. Thats where my worries started.

One of the plastic cages for the bearings at the bottom of the winch is broken (called roller bearing assembly on the lewmar site). There is pitting in the inside of the aluminum drum where the bearings touches it.

I will be going to the Lewmar agents here in Cape Town later in the week, but would be interested in getting suggestions on what to do. The Lewmar website does list the cage as a part that can be ordered.

Should I sand or turn the drum so that the pitted area is smooth? If I did this would it remove some of the anodising - would this lead to corrosion? Would this not mean that the bearings do not fit properly on the drum? If I don't smooth the pitted area will the bearing cage break again?

Some ideas would be appreciated.

Regards

Max in Cape Town sailing a Cascade 36
Sailing Yacht Nolwandle

[sailingdog]

If the area is corroded, the anodization is gone anyways... so turning it or sanding it isn't going to affect anything.

[winchspares]

Originally Posted by Maxo

Yesterday I took a 20 year old Lewmar 40 two speed winch apart to service it. I have owned the boat for just over a year and thought it would be good to service it. About 3 weeks ago the winch spun freely when it was put under load and I was worried that something was wrong.

I was right. After following the directions in Nigel Calder's book it was easy to take the winch apart completely. Thats where my worries started.

One of the plastic cages for the bearings at the bottom of the winch is broken (called roller bearing assembly on the lewmar site). There is pitting in the inside of the aluminum drum where the bearings touches it.

I will be going to the Lewmar agents here in Cape Town later in the week, but would be interested in getting suggestions on what to do. The Lewmar website does list the cage as a part that can be ordered.

Should I sand or turn the drum so that the pitted area is smooth? If I did this would it remove some of the anodising - would this lead to corrosion? Would this not mean that the bearings do not fit properly on the drum? If I don't smooth the pitted area will the bearing cage break again?

Some ideas would be appreciated.

Regards

Max in Cape Town sailing a Cascade 36
Sailing Yacht Nolwandle

Hello Max
Tech info for you.
The anodised surface has a limited life span, Due to the constant wear between the stainless steel roller and the anodise surface ,it eventually breaks down,
once it breaks down the underlying surface corrodes and expands, this has the effect of slowly crushing the bearing , hense a stiff or slow turning drum.
Not much you can do.
short term as you say clean the corrosion away, if the corrosion is deep you may have to get the drum machined out to size .
If your winch is 20years old , it is a wave-grip design, -stem dia 45mm, drum internal dia 55.0mm
After keep the drum well grease but it will not last ( soon corrode again),you need another drum + bearings.
If you don't mind me suggesting look at web site-- WinchSpares.com
you can get help there.
Hope the above helps
cheers

[sailingdog]

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