Maxwell 22 primary winches

It is no secret that the Maxwell do not work as well as modern day self tailors winches, however their mechanical elements work fine, are robust and require little maintenance. What ales us about the Maxwells?

1. The star pattern female socket that receives the winch is slightly bigger than other brand name winches so generic winch handles fit loosely in them, and the locking mechanism is located in the center of the star instead of at the bottom. We are accustomed to releasing the lock lever on a winch as soon as we get it started in the socket which causes the lock on a standard winch to engage when the winch is only half-way seated. This results in mauling of the winch handle's mail star and together with the loose fit it results in many lost winch handles.

Remedies: a. Remove the handle's locking mechanism so that the winch handle fits all the way down in the socket. A standard winch will work, but it is still loose in the socket. (I have made new handles with an over-sized star to fit these winches, but they unfortunately then do not fit into my Harken halyard winches. Anyway, I tried and they do work well in the Maxwells!)

           b. Buy a supply of old cheap winch handles that you don't mind losing and be forgiving of your sailing guests who lose your handles overboard.   

2. The self-tailing mechanism in these winches has a much larger throat than in modern winches, mostly likely designed for 3/8" line. When the helical cleats in the throat wear slightly, they do not engage 5/16 line very well, and they don't hold the line (like a cleat) so we compensate by taking a few extra turns around the winch, or install a cleat and abandon the self tailor for holding.

Remedy: Remove the self tailing heads, and separate them (4 parts in all). Use a rotating wire brush, or similar method to "deep clean" the engaging surfaces. Prepare 1/2 ounce standard West system epoxy, or similar, and mix into it some crushed walnut shell which is easily available as a non-slip agent from most marine supply houses, or any of the suppliers of resins and fiber glassing materials. Judge the quantity yourself, but it doesn't take much. Brush this mixture onto the engaging surface of each plastic self tailer. Use care not to get any epoxy on the matching faces that must engage each other for these parts to fit together as pairs. If you do, remove it with a knife after the epoxy is set. This repair lasts a long time, though not sure how long, but certainly the self tailors treated this way will do a fine job with 5/16" lines and this can always be done again if necessary. With this minor repair, the self tailors will work as well as any of the new ones on the market.

3. The chrome plated entry (feeder) guide to the self tailor has very sharp edges on it. Occasionally a snarl in a released sheet will get caught on this and in a split second will cut the sheet, or at least cut or severely damage the jacket of the sheet.

Remedy: Remove this chrome part and dull the trailing edges of this part with a wet stone or a suitable tool on a Dremel. A fine-cut file will also work. Sand or stone smooth after grinding and re assemble.

With the above cheap fixes, these winches will go on doing their job in fine fashion. I have found nothing wrong with the internal mechanisms of these winches, so the guts will go for a long time with periodical disassemble, cleaning, lubing, etc. New winches are $700+ each, so you may find it worth trying these ways to make the Maxwells function well with today's reduced diameter lines. The handles are a problem unless you use Maxwell handles or make new custom handles, but all handles do work in these winches, particularly if they are not badly worn.

Enjoy the summer sailing!

Chris, There is not much to explain as they are pretty simple. If you are taking them entirely off the boat including their bases, then your job will be easier. As I live in Whistler and my boat is in West Vancouver, I work alone on my boat and never have anyone to help hold nuts below, etc, so I have not taken my Maxwells off, but could have done a more thorough cleaning job had I done so. Also, we are in sea water and you are in fresh, which also makes your job easier. Get them apart, clean up the parts in your favourite solvent, dry the parts off well so that the grease you apply will not be floating on oil, and re assemble. I would be surprised if your winches require complete removal. Leaving my bases on, I drape that portion of my boat in old towels, disassemble as much as I can and soak those parts in paint thinner, I brush paint thinner or use generous amounts of WD 40 (which is about 90% kerosene) in spray form to clean the mechanisms still mounted to the base as best I can. I then pray those clean with air pressure, grease everything and re assemble. Note my treatment a couple of writings before on my treatment to the self-tallers using epoxy and crushed walnut shell to re instate grip to the teeth on the self-tailers. That has worked really well.

I assume you gents know this already but... just in case I found Maxwell parts and supplies at Australian Yacht winch (Sales) Pty. Ltd.
4 Narang Place, St Marys N.S.W. 2760, Australia. Contact is Allen Hutton (winches@attglobal.net) and he shipped new upper and lower pieces via UPS. Item # D413, Jaw CW: $42.00, Item # D414 Jaw ACW:    $42.00. Hopes this helps!   :)bill
          

I have a pair of 14's collecting dust in the basement. If they can be of use to anyone, let me know. SJ

Bill,

What are 14's? Who made those?

I just ordered the replacement jaws for the primary Maxwells. Would love to find the proper winch handle as well - will report on delivery and installation.

On the winches. Bill is correct that the Maxwell is lightest, but the Andersen's are not twice as heavy as the older Harken 32STA, in fact they are lighter. The Lewmar is the highest of all. Here is the weight line-up:

Harken 32 STA2               4028gr
Lewmar 30 Evo or Ocean        4200gr
Andersen 28ST                 4025gr
Maxwell 22                    2470gr

These are all good winches with the Maxwell having a significant weight advantage. If one has them, and they are in working order, it is worth taking them right off the boat, doing a total clean, servicing, lubricating, and putting back. Fixing the grip is easy. I think the biggest advantage is greater circumference creating more friction on the line requiring less winds on the drum. The leverage thing would have to be determined by examining the individual gear ratios on each of these winches. We find that the Andersen's wind easier than the Maxwells (I have both on Voila) but I have not totally removed our Maxwells to really soak them. I have only disassembled in place and serviced. Still, the Andersens work with much less effort.

The Andersen 28st has sprung jaws on the ST device, so we find they hold. Perhaps older ones did not.

I have two brand new Harken STA 32's that fit the pedestal nicely. They are brand new and never been used. If someone wants them, I would be happy to sell. I purchased them first, then decided to go with the Andersens. I have $700 in each of them and am happy to sell them for $600 each.

Lewmar, Harken, Andersen are all good. The Maxwell is light.

My winter project was bringing home the Maxwell 22st and striping down and cleaning. I have to replace a needle roller bearing which I will be able to get from Allen Hutton of Australia and fabricating an outer race for it.

In communicating with Allen, he mentioned he could re-machine the drive shafts to fit any locking winch handle for $30 each.

Has any one tried this? I will be shipping them this week and will let you know if it's worth it.

Another question, I will be replacing my sheets this year and I thought I would check with the group what have been you favorite lines and what length?

The maxwells were always grease only. You situation was probably that the winches never were completely serviced and after 30 years old grease can become to dry and sticky. If the winches had been cleaned and re-greased you would have been fine.