Re-greasing Sl555 Sea Tiger Anchor Winch

[johnrobin]

Hello all,

I have a Vancouver 27 yacht that I've almost finished refurbishing and I was given a SL555 Sea Tiger anchor winch by a friend who upgraded his 42' steel schooner with an electric winch. The SL555 was pretty well gummed up and would jam, but upon opening it up it was clear that it probably hadn't been serviced since new. Once the grease was removed it was obvious that the internals were still in pristine condition, so I stripped it down completely and reassembled it and thought that I'd try using gear oil as a lubricant, adding an oil stabiliser which would make it 'sticky' and enable it to work its way around the internals, keeping them nicely oiled. However, when operating the winch it would, after a few revolutions, lock up, until the lever was jiggled around a little, when it would free up for a few more revolutions then lock up again. It would appear that the sticky gear oil was affecting the action of the small springs that operate the two rachet gears. I changed the oil to a transmission oil, with stabiliser, hoping that the thinner oil would overcome the problem, and whilst the lock-up occurred less frequently it would still occur after operating the lever for a short while. I've drained the oil again and will now clean out the insides with a kero wash and compressed air and will pack it with grease this time, as was apparently intended by the maker. I've read the instruction sheet in relation to the disassembly and reassembly of the winch, but in relation to regreasing it simply says "Apply grease liberally to the internals". but before doing so I thought I'd seek some comments from the forum as to the best type of grease to use, and to confirm my impression that in regreasing the internals I should not pack grease around or too near the springs that operate the rachet gears.

I already have a manual Muir vertical capstan windlass installed, which requires me to kneel down to operate it with a winch handle, compared to the Simpson Lawrence which is operated with the lever whilst standing, a much safer and more comfortable position. The SL is relatively overkill for the Vancouver, but for the price of a little more weight the raw power and speed of the two speed SL has a lot going for it.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw the regreasing issue over to the forum to see what the experience of other members might have been when servicing their Sea Tiger.

Kind regards,

John Robinson,

Townsville, Queensland, Australia

[redbopeep]

Hi, John,

We have an electric horizontal Ideal Windlass and use gear lube in the gear box but for the other parts use the same grease on it that we use when greasing the CV joints on our cars. It's an Amsoil product and the added benefit is that it is a pretty purple color . We used the same grease on the manual windlass on our previous boat as well.

I'd suggest picking up a grease that is formulated for wheel bearings for boat trailers if you have concern about the salt water corrosion, too.

[mygoggie]

Only use high melting point water proof marine grease. It is the sticky stuff that you battle to get off you as it stretches like well chewed bubblegum. I do not think a lot of grease is the way to go. You should apply the grease with an old toothbrush and then just enough to cover the teeth's surface. No grease near any of the springs. Only very thin machine oil there!

Anyhow here is the manual http://en.lewmar.com/support/PDF/S-L...er-D1031-1.pdf

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by mygoggie

Only use high melting point water proof marine grease. It is the sticky stuff that you battle to get off you as it stretches like well chewed bubblegum. I do not think a lot of grease is the way to go. You should apply the grease with an old toothbrush and then just enough to cover the teeth's surface. No grease near any of the springs. Only very thin machine oil there

Oh, you've reminded me...some folks very successfully use heavy lanolin grease (yes, the stuff from sheep).

[mygoggie]

yes that will work as well and also make your winch smell very nice! A pleasure to lift the anchor.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by mygoggie

Only use high melting point water proof marine grease.

Why high melting point? This isn't a high heat application.

[MMNETSEA]

Nigel Calder covers this issue somewhere in his Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical-Manual

Check this

Aussie Bookshop

It could be that the springs have stretched thereby allowing the ratchet pawl to disengage ??

The manual states 'Shell Mytilus A Grease' (no longer available) also Shell Alvania -- this is available as :-

Shell Alvania Grease WR (Water Resistant)

TEMP RANGE -20°C <> + 130 °C

Shell Alvania Greases WR are multi-purpose greases based on high viscosity index mineral oil and a mixed lithium/calcium soap thickener. They contain extreme-pressure, anti-wear, anti-oxidation and anti-corrosion additives to enhance their performance in a wide range of applications.

MYGoggie's suggestion re high melting point is well taken - out in the tropics all day out in the sun, a grease which has narrow temp range with the high end below 60°C -- where the deck temperature can easily hit 55°C. Goggie thanks very much for the PDF manual, will add to data bank.

Richard

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by MMNETSEA

Nigel Calder covers this issue somewhere in his Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical-Manual

Check this

Aussie Bookshop

It could be that the springs have stretched thereby allowing the ratchet pawl to disengage ??

The manual states 'Shell Mytilus A Grease' (no longer available) also Shell Alvania -- this is available as :-

Shell Alvania Grease WR (Water Resistant)

TEMP RANGE -20°C <> + 130 °C

Shell Alvania Greases WR are multi-purpose greases based on high viscosity index mineral oil and a mixed lithium/calcium soap thickener. They contain extreme-pressure, anti-wear, anti-oxidation and anti-corrosion additives to enhance their performance in a wide range of applications.

MYGoggie's suggestion re high melting point is well taken - out in the tropics all day out in the sun, a grease which has narrow temp range with the high end below 60°C -- where the deck temperature can easily hit 55°C. Goggie thanks very much for the PDF manual, will add to data bank.

Richard

Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed information

[ontno1]

I have used Lubriplate #130-AA grease on my SL-555 and it seems to work well. It's the same lubricant used in my MaxProp so I kill two birds with one stone. Sounds like the springs are stretched and need to be replaced. Try slsspares.co.uk.