Maxwell winches

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Sep 20, 2005
55
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I'm trying to disasseble, clean, and lubricate 2 Maxwell 23 winches and 1 Maxwell 20 on my Hunter 28.5 (and hopefully reassemble). Anyone know where I can get diagrams and disassembly instructions? Never done a winch before. Thanks mates Jeff
 

Grizz

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Jan 13, 2006
179
Hunter 28.5 Park Ridge, IL
h28.5 site has it

The link has diagrams that will help, although not for your exact sizes. Believe they are filed under "Diagrams", but you can rummage around and find 'em. Tell Steve P. thanks for his effort! Hope it helps. Take care.
 
Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
HOW site...

...has all the diagrams. See link. Also, the link to the 28.5 site provided by Grizz has a description of how an owner stripped and cleaned his Maxwells. This is not a hard job, just requires care. When I first did mine, I took digital images of each stage/part in the event I forgot how to get the winch back together.
 
B

BobW

I second the 'take pictures' idea.....

I had my wife standing over me the whole time I took the first one apart snapping away. Uploaded them onto our laptop, and there they were when it came time to re-assemble. The good news is that the winch is pretty simple and straight-forward, once you get the hang of the 'clutch' gears (my first try ended up with the winch running backwards, but that was easy to fix :) ) Speaking of Maxwell winches, has anyone found a source for replacement parts? Cheers, Bob s/v X SAIL R 8
 
Dec 31, 2004
85
- - Guilford, CT
Maxwell parts

Try Austrailian Yacht Winch. They are down under, but ship parts worldwide. They also have parts for Barient and Barlow. Try the link below. There is a page in there that shows that they carry spares for Maxwell.
 
Sep 20, 2005
55
None None None
Thanks all

Looks like I have the drawings and articles, and should be all set. One last question...does the retaining cap turn off? Do I need a key? Many thanks, Jeff
 
B

BobW

Yes, it does turn off

It turns CCW to loosen. There may be a tool designed, but I don't have one. I used a large screwdriver and 'boat fixing tool #1' (my hammer :) ) and just tapped gently at an angle and the cap came loose. I also had some problems on the first one getting the body to come up off the bearing. Thinking back, if it doesn't slide off (which it should do after being cleaned and greased properly) you might try squirting some grease into the bearing and working it in. BTW, I invested about $12 in a tube of lithium grease at West Marine before being advised that basically the same stuff is available at any auto parts store for about 1/5 the cost. Now I'm reminded that it's time to pop the winches and grease them. I don't think I need to completely disassemble and clean them every year. Gee, isn't it amazing the things we learn while working on our boats..... that we don't even know we learned??? Cheers, Bob s/v X SAIL R 8
 
Sep 20, 2005
55
None None None
in the sailing classroom...

Thanks, Bob Yes, always learning...by the time we know our boats down to the last detail, it'll be time for a new boat and a new set of lessons! Fair winds, Jeff
 
Dec 14, 2003
1,450
Hunter 34 Lake of Two Mountains, QC, Can
Avoid dropping parts overboard

If you are doing this job while the boat is in the water (or even on the hard since some of those springs are really small), it is not a bad idea to prevent loosing parts by cutting a hole the size of the winch in the bottom of a carboard box and then lowering the box to the fiberglass and taping there. When parts roll off, odds are they'll stay in the box rather then go overboard. Good luck
 
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