I assume that since winches can be under tremendous pressure, that all
suffer the possibility of exploding if pushed beyond their design.

Given that,.... are there known "dangerous" winches and what is the
source of their danger and how can it be determined that improper use is
not the culprit, rather than inherent inadequacy ?

Thank you.
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

On Fri, 21 May 2004 07:44:33 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

I assume that since winches can be under tremendous pressure, that all
suffer the possibility of exploding if pushed beyond their design.

Given that,.... are there known "dangerous" winches and what is the
source of their danger and how can it be determined that improper use is
not the culprit, rather than inherent inadequacy ?

I don't know of a manufacturer who is more suspect in this regard, but
I have seen once and heard of three instances in just my own 200
member boat club of overloaded winches parting either at the bolts or
tearing completely out of the deck/coamings. All three incidents were
during races. None were on my boat.

Personally, I use substantial backing plates I made custom for every
winch and significant piece of deck gear. I also encourage, if it's
not present, solid glass or encapsulated wood in place of foam or
balsa core in such spots. I discourage the currently popular practice
of embedded tapped metal plates in the fibreglass because if the
threads strip for whatever reason, the plate is the devil to get out.
Better to have the load spread from below, to ensure complete and easy
dissembly for inspection and repair.

To sum up: exploding winches are rare...exploding winch platforms less
so, or at least in my experience. Either scenario, like a crash jibe,
can take your head off.

R.

Been there .... and have the scars to prove it.
Barient winches were known (personally verified) to fail due to (IMHO)
bad engineering design which required 'supreme' maintenance to prevent
..... all above a 'consumers' knowledge and understanding. Some
barients were not all metal but had 2 major flaws: 1. a plastic top
flange. 2. a "push button" spring release mechanism that kept the
barrel on the spindle. If the winch was 'loaded' so that the sheet
lead angle was higher than the perpendicular position of the spindle
..... the winch could come apart by breaking at the plastic top flange
which opened the spring release mechanism and the barrel of the winch
would come flying off. Under load of the tensioned sheet the loose
barrel would become a gyroscopic 'top', travel UP and along the tailed
sheet and smash into the operator..... got about 8 stitches in my
forehead to prove it.

I had another 'famous brand' lose its pawls (obviously due to bad
maintenance) and unexpectedly release with the winch handle still
attached .... nearly broke my arm, the soft tissue injuries took nearly
three years to heal properly.

If you're a rapacious scumbag sleazy trial attorney looking for
ammunition to win the financial lottery by suing the winch
manufacturers ... most of the remaining manufacturers apparently have
proven and quite well engineered systems ... usually involving
excessive safety factors to prevent structural failure .... but sadly
no means to insure regular and proper maintenance. In 'casual'
personal reverse engineering of such systems of current equipment I
perceive that the structural safety factor is probably approaching a
factor 6X .... equivalent to the safety factor of normal 'critical'
stress design: airplane wings, critical bridge components, cable
cars/trams, etc. - all stuff that should NEVER fail. .... but is not
immune to fatigue and 'gremlins'.
Just remember that ALL systems and structures eventually and ultimately
fail. Noone can beat the law of entropy, not even a greedy shyster.





In article , Courtney Thomas
wrote:

I assume that since winches can be under tremendous pressure, that all
suffer the possibility of exploding if pushed beyond their design.

Given that,.... are there known "dangerous" winches and what is the
source of their danger and how can it be determined that improper use is
not the culprit, rather than inherent inadequacy ?

Thank you.

I've never seen a winch fly apart under load but I did have one come
dismounted and turn into a projectile. Fortunately no one was in the
way and the only damage was scars to the fiberglass. It turned out
that the problem was corroded mounting bolts - bronze winch, bronze
bolts, powder coated aluminum mounting base - each bolt became a
minature battery.

The most common failures in my experience are frozen gears, broken
pawls, broken bearings, etc.

==================================================

On Fri, 21 May 2004 07:44:33 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

I assume that since winches can be under tremendous pressure, that all
suffer the possibility of exploding if pushed beyond their design.

Given that,.... are there known "dangerous" winches and what is the
source of their danger and how can it be determined that improper use is
not the culprit, rather than inherent inadequacy ?

Thank you.