Lewmar Wavegrip 40 ST *imperial* and about stripper rings

Lewmar Wavegrip 40 ST imperial

I am used to publish in Dutch, but for this subject I think it's useful to make it readable for others as well.

Why? 

Well, it is all about the word 'Imperial'. My Hallberg Rassy 29-93 was built in 1983. And that happened to be the year in which Lewmar decided to switch to the metric standard for their winches, at least for their 40 ST Wavegrip. And guess what? Mine was fitted with the old ones, for which there are no spare parts available anymore. And I am sure I'm not the only one with an older boat facing this issue.

It took some research before I found the reason why there weren't any parts available for this world standard winches: changing the standards.

Stripper ring

It all started with a minor issue on the HR 29 (which I bought in 2018) regarding the part which is called stripper ring.

The previous owner mentioned already that there was a problem with those. They even tried to make new stripper rings themselves with a 3D-printer. I was convinced that I would find them somewhere (and I did..).

3D printer stripper ring didn't last

What's the problem with those stripper rings? Well, they are fitted to prevent your jib sheet to get stuck in the self tailing winch. 

It took me three seasons to get the winches on top of my to do list. So untill last season, it wasn't really a huge problem. Okay, I managed to get the genoa sheet stuck two or three times, but not in rough conditions. And of course, the winches would probably need some maintenance as well.

This winter I decided to tackle the problem, or at least try to, preventing me from buying a new pair of new winches for about € 2500,-.

Taking them apart

Since there isn't any documentation on the web for these imperial Wavegrips, I just had to figure it out myself. And apart form switching to the metric standard, these are built differently from the later ones (from 1983-). You can only take them apart by dismounting them from your boat. To get to the bolts, I had to move these lockers in the cockpit.

removing the winches from my Hallberg Rassy 29

winches are bolted through

From the upper side, it's not that complicated. Okay, you may have the feeling that your taking apart the gearbox from your car, but it wasn't that hard. Just take out the Allen screws (oh yeah, imperial as well!) and lift the upper parts. And then, you get to see this.

the gearbox in your Lewmar Wavegrip winches

From the picture you can tell, that they weren't serviced for some time. Especially old grease and some dirt as well, but it could have been worse.

You can take of the bearings and then pull out the two pins to take the gears out.

The next step is turning it up side down and then take out the spring which holds the plastic cover. It took me some time to discover how it was fitted, I thought the cover was pressed in. But a little dirt covered the opening in the spring.

taking out the spring to remove the cover

With the cover removed, you can take the lower gears from the axle out (fiddling a little with the upper one, skewed to the side), and pull the axle out when you take out the white piece of nylon which holds the shaft in place.

the nylon piece

the lower gears

Then it's time to clean the lot. I cleaned it with a tooth brush and white spirit, took me about an hour a piece.

So, what about the stripper rings?

Well, I found the right parts number. It's Lewmar 15000375 strippering 30/40 ST. 

But guess what. It's made to the metric standard, 65 mm. And he upper ring where they should fit on, is about 67 mm (2 5/8"). So they won't fit without breaking...

self tailing ring

imperial measures

The stripper rings are to thin to take a millimeter of, so the alloy part has to be adapted. A friend helped me out with a CNC milling machine. 

made to fit for the stripper ring

Note: make sure that the stripper rings can turn freely on this part!

And now you're done?

No, not completely. I found that the stripper rings do fit now, but the are not held in position. They are just a few millimeter too short. A problem? Yes, it is, because then they just turn around with the sheet, get crushed and you can buy a set of new ones. 

This is how I fixed it. I made a small casting mold out of plywood, and covered it with tape. I mixed West Systems epoxy with some high density 407 filler.

a simple mold with tape

extended the stripper ring for about 3 mm

thickened the stripper ring towards the outside

With a Dremel I made the curves at the end to make them really fit nicely. Note that the right and left curve are different.

here you can see the difference

here you see how the new stripper ring fills the gap nicely, the line won't get in

Putting things together

Once you have taken apart the winch, it's a good moment to change the small springs and pawls. All my springs were fine, but the last pawl I took out appeared to be broken. However, the winch still worked fine.

broken pawl 40 ST winch

Lewmar service kit

Luckily I found that the springs and pawls didn't change over time. The new ones are exactly the same.

Then oil the pawls (don't put grease on them!) and grease the rest of the gears with al little grease (I used the Lewmar winch grease, not necessary). I used a small brush to do that, works great. Then put the whole thing together and you may have a great working a nice rattling winch, which will last for years again!

Still to come

The covers of the Wavegrip winches aren't very strong, and often broken. It's not really a critical part, but always in sight. So I got someone to make a pair of new ones in stainless steel. They are going to look like this, but didn't fit perfectly yet.

new stainless cover Wavegrip 40 ST

The winches will work fine again, I think I just saved a lot of budget for other gadgets and boatstuff.

Go to the previous post (in Dutch). Or the next post (in Dutch).