Posted: 06 Oct 2007 at 4:30pm
Hi all
I am looking for a Lewmar # 8 black aluminum winch drum, or complete winch Lewmar p/n 45001113, in good condition. Lewmar no longer makes this winch in black. This is one of my 2 sheet winches and if I can't find one I'll need to buy two winch drums which are available in grey.

These aluminun winches are each 2 lbs lighter than the chrome or bronze versions of these same winches which is why I bought them 12 years ago. The port winch drum has corrosion and excessive wear on the edges of the lower pawl detents and they no longer capture the pawl properly - a predicable problem. The rest of the winch is in excellent condition.

The starboard winch shows no indication of this problem. Speculation with the Lewmar service rep is that maybe the port winch gets loaded more frequently because of starboard tack favored starts and bear away spinnaker sets. I have only one set of cockpit winches. Also this means the port winch is more frequently the leeward winch and might get more salt water baths.

I have checked many of the marine consignment stores with websites but no luck so far.

Ron
Marionette, #12


Posted: 23 Jul 2008 at 2:05am
Buy the gray ones and have the hubs striped and re-anodized black. I have this done for aerospace componemts all the time.

Beautiful boats and fair winds!
Sailinmike
Dolphin #300
Grande Finale


Posted: 23 Jul 2008 at 12:19pm
Hi Mike
Thanks for the advice. Although Lewmar does not make the winch any more in black, I finally found black replacement drums new in stock in England. They are 2 part winch drums - a design change, but work fine as replacements. Lewmar USA did not know about this obsolete stock in the UK. I sent an email directly to Lewmar's service dept there and while these drums were no longer on their data base, they had them.

Never give up!!!

Ron
Marionette