DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

The selftailing winches on my 2005 920 are not gripping any of the ropes.
Could it be that the ropes have streched and narrowed that little bit, or is there some way of tightening the bight on the Anderson winches?
Any help on this matter greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Roger Ferrall

Check if the winch or lines were sprayed with a lubricant or teflon. That would cause slippage.

I just checked my winches (both the primary and the swing wing) with a few different lines. They work with 10mm, 8mm, 6mm double-braids and 12mm 3-strand lines.

My board downhaul line (8mm) is very stiff (6 seasons old) and does not hold well in its cleat. However, even that line works perfectly in the self-tailer.

Dear Gminkovsky,

Thank you for your reply to my query but I'm afraid it does not solve my problem. The winches were not sprayed with a lubricant of any description and it is a bit of a mystery why they should stop gripping this season when they worked perfectly last year, and will still work with the thicker kinds of rope.
I will try cleaning them with a solvent of some kind to see if that helps.
Thanks again,
Regards,

Roger.

the top gripping teath plate will have lifted up when a large rope was used (maybe when lifting the anchor ) if you play with it it will return to it's closed and correct postion regards David

Hi David,
Thanks for your reply, and yes it worked. Was out today and fiddled around with the top plate and Bingo! she caught. I think they need a good overhaul when I take her off the water.
Sorry for the late reply just home from the UK after a nice little break.

Regards,

Roger.

Roger Ferrall wrote:The selftailing winches on my 2005 920 are not gripping any of the ropes.
Could it be that the ropes have streched and narrowed that little bit, or is there some way of tightening the bight on the Anderson winches?
Any help on this matter greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Roger Ferrall

I had this problem at this summer also. When disassembling the winches I noticed the black plastic made top plates were damaged by UV-radiation. The inner shoulder which holds the plate down was broken. This plate works as a spring to push the upper gripping plate towards the lower gripping plate.
Attached you'll find spare parts list for ST28 and ST46 winches. The price for these plates was 30e each, delivered from stock. Part 726300 for ST28 and 720800 for ST46.
Remember to check the manufacturing year of your winches to get right parts. You'll find the type and manufacturing date from the brass made framework inside the winch.

Spare Parts for Andersen 28 ST and 46 ST (.pdf format)

Mika,
Nice solution, will put it on the list for the winter.
Thanks
Ted

Thanks Mika for your advise and the very useful parts list.
We overhauled and greased the winches and that sorted out the problem.
Regards,
Roger.