electric cabin top winch

[sam]

I have bent two stripper arms on the electric Lewmar 40 CST cabin top winch on my 43. I use it essentially only to furl / unfurl the main. Anyone else experienced this? It is subtle, but if you look closely at the stripper arm, it may not have a vertical edge, but be slightly bent to the left. Also, the top plate of the stripper arm may show a slight bend. Anyone else experienced this? It was just enough to cause a drag on the winch operation.

[clayton curtis]

Sam,

I have one of these as well on my 40 and use it, like you to furl/unfurl the main. Is "stripper arm" the same as the "stripper ring?" In any event, I'll be on my boat tomorrow and will take close look. But, I've not noticed any symptoms of malfunction. How did the behavior of the winch change after the bend?

/cc

[sam]

The item I call the stripper arm is what Lewmar actually calls the feeder arm, part number 45000203. It caused the winch to bind / drag slightly, diminishing its performance. I noticed what I felt was a higher than normal load on the electric motor operation.

[clayton curtis]

Sam,

Sorry, I forgot to reply. I'm not having the same problem. My arm seems straight and vertical and doesn't drag. I haven't really pushed the winch except for one time when I operated it when I forgot to release one of the opposing cleats. Under that load the winch actually jumped up a bit, or bent over just a tad, but still did not cause any problems. Good luck!

/cc