HARKEN WINCH SERVICING

If you're like most yacht owners, you haven't serviced your winches since you owned the boat. Every year you say this is going to be the year you clean and grease them, but something more important always comes along.

Every winch is different, so there's no good way to memorize how a winch goes back together. However, a winch cannot be put together wrongly because the parts only fit together the right way—with the exception of maybe getting a washer in the wrong place. If you do find yourself in trouble, you can download a parts breakdown from Harken's website. www.harken.com/winches/winch.php
It's a good idea to have everything handy before you start : lots of paper towels, Pawl Oil for Pawls and Springs, paraffin or white spirit, paint can or similar container, small paint brush, winch grease, tools including metric Allen wrenches, access to hot water. Part fill the container with paraffin/white spiritcan and use to clean parts with the small paintbrush (after cleaning, rinse all the parts in hot water).

To disassemble, remove the drum from the base of the winch using the screw at the bottom of the winch handle socket. Simply unscrew it, pull the socket out, and the drum will lift off.

As you lift the drum, be aware the roller bearing cages may momentarily stick inside the drum and could unexpectedly drop out. Make sure they don't bounce off the deck into the water.

Now you can remove all the gears and bearings for cleaning. Even though the winch only goes back together one way, it won't hurt to take a good look at everything. Most importantly, remember where the washers and other little items go. It's hard to figure out their location. Don't waste time worrying about the larger gears and drive shaft. It's easy to find their homes. Pulling the gears and bearings out is actually quite simple and doesn't require any tools or skill. They just slip over the gear shaft.

Take the gears and bearings and place them in a the container, and clean with the brush. Don't forget to clean the gear ring on the inside of the drum. Now that you've removed the grease and grime, rinse the parts in hot water to remove the mineral spirits. If the spirits are left on, it breaks down the grease.

As you put the gears back into place, take a close look at how the pawls are working. If they don't open and close smoothly, then the drum could spin backwards. If there's any question that the pawls are not working properly, it is much easier to replace them and the little springs. It is very important NOT to grease the pawls because grease causes them to stick. And if they stick, the gears won't engage. To lubricate your pawls, use any light oil that might be on hand; 3 &1 oil, or Harken pawl oil.
The final step is to place all the winch parts back into the base where they belong. If you do end up with extra parts, you'll have to go back through each part and play detective until its home is discovered. Also, it's not a bad idea to periodically give the shaft and gears a spin to make sure you are on the right path. Remember, in most cases winches are used in pairs. Clean one winch at a time. If you become confused as to where a part goes, you can look at its mate for the answer.

Once you are certain the winch is reassembled correctly, lightly brush on some clean winch grease. Some owners think that because they won't get around to servicing their winches for a long time, the smart strategy is to pack them with so much grease they will last for years. This is a bad idea and only makes a big mess down the road.

Now that the gears and bearings are all in place with new grease, all that needs to be done is to remount the drum and replace the screw.