Maxwell 14 single - speed winches

[Tallgrass Sailor]

Has anyone recently either overhauled or disassembled, cleaned/lubed and reassembled a Maxwell 14 winch? My port winch is really sticky..

Q. Is it a pain is the rear or not too hard?
Q. Besides replacing the whole winch, are there rebuild kits available?

I'm fairly new to sailing and I recently purchased a 1985 Hunter 23 in OK condition. BTW: I finally figured out what BOAT really stands for: Break Out Another Thou$and (or two or three).

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,

Brad aka Tallgrass Sailor

 

[stephen Penny]

I interviewed a number of sailboat owners in the marinas in my area and general consensus is it is good idea to be self initiated but they agreed it is time-consuming, messy and you really really need to photograph it as you remove the parts. Most said they would not do it again. I have 6 Maxwell wenches (out of business) so I hired a local guy last November after I purchased this boat and had them serviced at a cost of $34/wench vs. the local boat yards at $100-150/wench. I might try to service them next time to learn but did not want to do that on my first try on my first sailboat. In the meantime I keep all the wenches out of the rain, dust, UV and bird droppings with a Sunbrella boat cover when the boat is berthed.

 

[Steve Dion]

It is not difficult. It is actually easy on the single speed Maxwell units. They are NOT out of business, but they are out of the winch business. They still make windlasses.

You really want to be careful not to loose any parts when servicing the units. I suggest that you get a box and cut a hole in the bottom so it fits over the winch base.

Soak the parts in mineral spirts and use a brush to remove the dirt and old grease. Be sure that you use winch grease when reassembling. You want to be conservative when greasing the parts.

There should be some instructions on-line on how to do this.

PS: Do not use grease on the pawls (only machine oil)

 

[Jim Kolstoe]

I've cleaned and lubed the Maxwell 14's on my h23 almost every year. Its a straight forward process. If you do it on the water, do put a box or similar container around it so anything you drop stays on board,and until you are familiar with the design, take pics or make diagrams or at least lay things out in order. Get a good brand of winch lube (take note: "wench" is a somewhat derogatory term for a commoner woman used in Shakespeare's time). I generally clean and lube my winches before launching at the beginning of the season - it saves worrying about dropping things in the water. Go for it, you'll feel good about learning another part of your boat.
Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo

 

[C Jones]

Maxwell #14 exploded view

Attached Thumbnails , Just follow all the above good info

 

[Tallgrass Sailor]

I want thank all of you for the quick response, advice and encouragement!! I'll let you how it turns out.

Happy sailing!

Brad - TG sailor

 

[Tallgrass Sailor]

BTW: The winch removal, disassembly, lube and reassembly was pretty. The winch rotates a whole lot easier now.