Model Boat Mayhem

Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips => The "Black Arts!" ( Electrics & Electronics ) => Topic started by: knoby on November 05, 2012, 06:42:42 pm

Title: sail winch upgrade
Post by: knoby on November 05, 2012, 06:42:42 pm

RMG winches are great items, but at around £200 a piece, they are not cheap. so i have been looking around for an alternative, but the choice is limited. The hi tec winches have a good reputation, but seem to struggle to pull marblehead sails when the wind gets up. The grauper & the futaba are around three times as much as the hi tec, but dont seem to offer much more in the way of speed or torque.


I found an article on youtube showing an upgrade to the hi tec, but it is in russian, so it isnt that easy to follow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htIg8jK3EQE&feature=related


Has anyone come across an alternative winch or a way to upgrade one of the cheaper winches?


My only concern is if the extra voltage & load would 'kill' the hi tec very quickly, although if it lasted a season I would be happy


cheers Glenn
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: Stavros on November 05, 2012, 10:20:14 pm
Never had an ounce of trouble pulling in even the biggest of rigs on a Marbelhead let alone the smallest in any kind of wind with  a Hitech winch
 
 
Dave
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: knoby on November 05, 2012, 10:26:21 pm
Thats true Stavros, my hi tec always pulls the sails in, but I would like to speed it up as it can be a little pedestrian in its operation. I have an RMG in my other yacht & was just wondering if anyone knew of a way to get something approaching the RMG's performance out of a cheaper winch.


Glenn
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: tigertiger on November 06, 2012, 09:10:34 am
Which model of HiTec winch are you singing the praises of?
I may want one.


Is it sail arm or drum winch?


Ta.
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: Stavros on November 06, 2012, 10:20:36 pm
Drum verison
 
 
Dave
 
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: Artistmike on November 07, 2012, 07:17:44 am
I use a Hi Tec Sail Winch in my racing IOM and even when racing, I've never found it wanting and the guys in the club use them in Marbleheads to great effect... are you rigging your sheets in a standard fashion or is there anything there that could be slowing things up?
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: knoby on November 07, 2012, 06:46:31 pm
perhaps I was a little harsh saying the hi tec was struggling to pull in the sails, but the few of us using them at the club feel they would be benefit from being faster. I have just sold my marblehead with the hi tec in it, in order to finance the refurbishment of an old wooden marblehead & was looking for a suitable winch for it. It just seems a shame there is nothing between the hi tec & the RMG in terms of performance, & I was surprised to find very little information on the web regarding ways to fill this gap.


Glenn



 
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: Netleyned on November 07, 2012, 07:09:08 pm
Try to find a whirlwind if you can.
Run on six volts it is the best winch I have used
in a Marblehead.

Ned
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: exvtop on November 07, 2012, 11:19:45 pm
Quote
It just seems a shame there is nothing between the hi tec & the RMG in terms of performance, & I was surprised to find very little information on the web regarding ways to fill this gap.

Price wise this one fills the gap:- 
http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/graupner-jr-servos.html (http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/graupner-jr-servos.html) (scroll to bottom of page)
It seems to be new on the market and I can't find any information regarding torque.
Possibly a replacement for the Graupner Regatta winches.
The Futaba S5801 seems to be discontinued.
I've been using an Eurgle 22Y in my IOM for the last year - £15 from Hong Kong - with OK results. It's light and reasonably quick. Others have reported a high failure rate so I may have been lucky.
Mike
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: exvtop on November 07, 2012, 11:21:00 pm
The unquote didn't seem to work on that last post
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: knoby on November 07, 2012, 11:45:54 pm
Ned, I actually do have a whirlwind winch, its one of the early ones made by D.Andrews, but its got electronic gremilns & has a habit of packing up for periods of time.


Mike, I was aware the there was another winch in the pipeline from Graupner, but this is the first time I have seen it advertised, thank you for that. Spec gives it around 25% faster than the hi tec, but couldnt find torque figures for it.


Glenn
Title: Re: sail winch upgrade
Post by: Tug-Kenny RIP on November 08, 2012, 11:18:30 am
The unquote didn't seem to work on that last post


You have to ensure you start your letter after the  'not quote'    sign

Ken