Lubricated Spinlock Clutch

[lehighsail]

At the end of last season I washed and lubricated my Spinlock clutches. Now I find that when I try to engage, the little flipper inside does not drop down to grab the line. If I lift up the top handle and push the little flipper inside down, it works. It is doing on both port and starboard triple clutches. Did I do something wrong. I did not take them apart then and would like to avoid taking them apart now if possible. Thanks.

 

[justsomeguy]

Um, on the premise that there are no stupid questions, what type of lubricant did you use?

 

[lehighsail]

Superlube

 

[Ron20324]

..., the little flipper inside does not drop down to grab the line. If I lift up the top handle and push the little flipper inside down, it works...

Gravity isn't what is use to be, eh?

 

[Roland5048]

I'm probably going out on a limb, here, but the viscosity of Superlube might be too high for that application. I use it to lube my head pump per Peggy's suggestion. Works great for that. Thanks, Peggy. You might want to just clean it all out and start over. The grabbers, for lack of a better term, on the Spinlocks on our charter boats fall and we have to hold them up while we lower the lever.

 

[Gunni]

Congratulations Lehigh, you are going to be be removing and stripping your Spinlock clutches to remove that grease. They require no grease. Spinlocks require only a freshwater rinse. If they stop working you rebuild.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Congratulations Lehigh, you are going to be be removing and stripping your Spinlock clutches to remove that grease. They require no grease. Spinlocks require only a freshwater rinse. If they stop working you rebuild.

From the Spinlock Hardware FAQ - "On XAS, XTS and XCS clutches a light grease can be used on the handle bearing to keep a smooth action. ZS Jammers as well as benefiting from plenty of water flushing also require a light grease on the upper and lower bearing surfaces."

A couple of our Spinlocks do something similar to what Lehigh describes. I haven't found a solution and it doesn't seem related to when and if I lubricate them.

 

[Gunni]

Just like you can render a winch inoperative and unsafe with grease, you can make a clutch stop working with improper lubrication. Your clutch cam assembly is shot. Distorted spring, worn cam axle, bent frame or some combination of. Determine the model and order a new one so that you have it when you strip down the non-working clutch. Most common on high sustained loads like halyards. Make sure you clean any grease off your lines.