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Winch servicing lubricants

5596 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  pdqaltair
I come from the Mercedes enthusiast community into sailing, and take my service procedures and research methods with me. I'd like to begin by saying that I've found some nice products that I use on our low RPM roller bearing assembly and pawls of sailboat winches. (Barient 22, two speed with self tailing)

If you have a particular selection of lubricant I'd be interested in hearing them, the usual advice for "boat trailer bearing grease" or "3-in-1" doesn't seem complicated enough to me so I researched a few;

I'm using Fuchs Silkolene Pro FG2 as was recommended to me by OpieOils of the UK, over other options I asked about for sailboat winches. It's water resistant bearing grease used for it's low rolling resistance on high speed automobiles, motorcycles, etc..

Pedro's and Phil Woods bicycle grease is also available, but havn't use it.

Swepco 101 is a another fantastic Moly-rich grease with much of the properties above and feels like a buttery cream.

My pawls are doing great with Ardent Reel-Butter fishing reel lubricant, designed for salt environments and light action.
Other light weight oils are Mouse-Milk, used by turbo engine guys to lubricate the pivot point of the wastegate actuator.

If anything is rusty or corroded, I soak it in a mix of water and Esprit Rust Remover over night. Great for spraying down parts assemblies to prevent rust.

Reassembly goes great with a dab of 3M Marine Grade ant-seize on the right threads (If using a torque wrench, remember to always remove 20% of the final torque rating of anything using thread lubricant to account for the additional bolt stretch, but not a concern on winches and hand tools.)

I may seem overboard on my selections, and maybe when I have a wife and kids and a lot less time I'll think different, but I currently order engine and hydraulic fluids in up to 5-gallon containers so I can't imagine how a person could find satisfaction at Walmart or Ace/TrueValue hardware. It's been 8 years since I've stepped foot in an autoparts store for anything but PowerService or oil disposal, and hope to find another forum roamer who has gone the extra distance to find good lubricants. Anybody?
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I'm not trying to be nuts with the oil, but good oil is hard to find. Trying to prevent this:
http://www.oldgmctrucks.com/photos/FlatTappetCamTech_files/image004.jpg
Yes, 5-gallon buckets is a bit of lube and would have preferred smaller bottled quantities, but broken down into F-style 1 gallon jugs my lady doesn't know it's in the house :)
10,476 post?! Did you write one on sliding surfaces and tribology?
Not for the winches, but for two other diesel motors, should have been more articulated to separate my thoughts... :) [insert picture of winch soaking in $200 bucket, me smoking a cigar in shorts]
I was explaining that I couldn't imagine somebody being satisfied with a generic lubricant, retail store style, as I research and research to become satisfied; this time a bucket was the smallest available unit for my two MB engines and Volvo-Penta. Also, I don't cruise great distances so don't have to purchase something because it's available, but wouldn't mind topping off with Delo or anything close to it. The X-200 SAE 20 I purchase comes in a minimum of 5-gallons, it's what's spec'd for the Volvo-Penta MD2 and many others and this stuff is really nice. The other 5-gallon unit I purchase is Moly-Bond 15w-40 for an OM602A in a 190D. The SWEPCO 306 was not pumping my lifters at idle and chose Schaeffer over Brad Penn, I DO wish Schaeffer had gallon units. I'll go through that 15w-40 in about a year, the SAE 20 in about two. None of this was fun to buy, but maybe I'm traumatized by seeing how fast people wear through their things and talk about "re-powering" or "failing smog" (California talk).
I'm still laughing at the thought of 5-gallons of "winch oil".
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