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I have had mine off for several months now. Just don't seem to find time to fix the velcro. What are these things supposed to do anyway? The winches look great, not even any seagull poop on them. Are they just there for looks?
the plastics do degrade with sun exposure. Maybe not so much up north, but definatly down in the tropics. They start off smooth and black and eventually get chaulky with what looks like crystals in the surface
My family's boats have always had them and so have my boats. But lately I've questioned it too. There really isn't much of anything to corrode - the winch is chrome plated bronze and covered in grease. Only the springs and pawls are steel, and they're slathered in grease too.
My car stands a better chance of corroding and it doesn't have a cover.
My previous boat had Lewmar self tailers. The tailers had a plastic part to prevent the line from going under the self tailing part. The sun degraded that part and it broke. I think a cover would have prevented that. The part was like $5 so it was no big deal to replace.
My current boat has old Barients that are all metal. It came with winch covers that I used for the first year. Now the covers just sit in a lazarette.
When I had black anodized Barients, I think the covers were definitely worthwhile... They could help prevent the winches from getting too hot, and thus inhibit the grease from liquefying...
Since I've switched to stainless Andersens, that's probably not as critical, but I continue to use them anyway, figure it can't hurt... I still imagine the possibility they keep the heat down is likely the primary benefit...
The PO of this boat advised me to always use the winch covers, stating that w/o them he had to rebuild the electric Lewmar 65s once a year. We do and it's been 3 years with no problems so we will continue to use them on all our winches.
Here in Seward we get lots of coal dust and glacial silt. Winch covers probably help to keep some of that out of the innards of the wenches...and winches.
My previous boat used to get shadowy streaks running down the gelcoat below the winches. I believe they were caused by minute amounts of oil and grease that was washed out of the winches. Also, if you sail in salt water and have taken apart winches that were not lubricated frequently, you may have seen salt caked into the winch grease. I believe sunbrella or similar winch covers helps prevent both these conditions.
I just disassembled one of my Barient 28ST's, and there was a shocking amount of sand/dust/grit in the works, and on the coaming beneath the winch base.
I suspect that the biggest benefit of the covers is to prevent so much of the dry stuff from blowing in/up/around the winches, although the ideas about reducing heat and water intrusion have some merit as well.
We have four covered and one uncovered(never got around to replacing the missing one). The covered ones spin nicely the uncovered one sounds like sand has made it's way into it. It still works but takes more maintenace than the covered ones. So if you have them I would use them. my .02 cents worth.
We have four covered and one uncovered(never got around to replacing the missing one). The covered ones spin nicely the uncovered one sounds like sand has made it's way into it. It still works but takes more maintenace than the covered ones. So if you have them I would use them. my .02 cents worth.
Nice direct and unbiased comparison. Your observation agrees exactly with what Don Casey says in one of his books (I think either This Old Boat or his canvas book): winch covers reduce the need for winch maintenance.
The "Winch Hats" in the photo look like a great idea. Does anyone know where I can find some as i have done a search online without success. Seems like the only way for water to get into winches (unless you put the deck underwater) is for rain to work its way in from the top and this would stop it.
Thanks!. I found them using "Whitworth winch hats" as the search criteria and they are $27Aus a pair. Not had any luck finding them in the US but will keep looking. How do they handle strong wind??
The self tailers on my primaries clearly show UV bleaching. I don't expect it to cause a problem, but suspect a cover would have prevented it. I also tear down the winches about every other year to clean and re-grease (btw, pawls are oiled, never greased). There is always way more dust and crud in there than I expect. Not sure if a cover would help that.
I'm not inclined to add them, as I leave the jib sheets attached to hold the furler in place.
One of the things I like about the winch hats is that they cover the top of the winch so hopefully preventing much of that bleaching problem you mention Minnie. Otoh, because they only cover the top you can still leave lines in place.
I pulled down and serviced our primaries a few weeks back after three years use. (Yes I meant to do it a year earlier but but but). While they need a bit of grease and oil they were surprisingly clean inside.
Huzzah for the winch hats ? Maybe though out side curtains do cover the winches when we are not on board. Even so I'm sure they didn't hurt.
Funnily enough I was at the boat the other weekend and thought to myself "I wonder if anyone makes a sort of hard rubber hat to keep the water out of the winch". Turns out they do, even though it doesn't seem to be available in this part of the world. I might see if my assorted brothers down under can send me a pair.
Yes you can order direct. if you go to whitworths.com.au, search winch hats (they are a bit hidden but will appear on page two) you can order for delivery world wide.
As a newbie I'm using them. ?? I'm assuming they will help the winches look new longer. My boat was new when purchased but nearly a year old since built. I had already noticed some corrosion etching on the drums of my Harkens. I'm using Blue Performance Covers (Defender) which were slightly less expensive or about the same as having them made with Sunbrella. The fit is fairly snug and on my primaries you just need to make sure you align the seam with the Genoa Sheets to get good fit. They have these plastic retainers inside that snap on to the top of the drum. You have to give a pretty good tug to get them off.
Halloween is coming. You've given me an idea. The largest winch cover might fit by big head. ;-)
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