Whirlwind Olympic Winch Speed

[John949]

Does anybody have a working one and could measure the speed of rotation for me please  (or even know the specs)?

I have been given a box of old winches to sort through and so far I have got a standard whirlwind and the Olympic working, however the Olympic seems very slow as it takes about 6 seconds for 6 revolutions whereas the big one takes about 4 seconds for 6 revolutions.  The Olympic motor looks clean and shiny and spins pretty fast when removed so I don't know if the motor is faulty or they were just slow.

I have now looked at 6 Whirlwinds and they seem to have a common weak point in that the potentiometer is a standard part that has been 'modified' to fit the casing and attach to the output shaft.  These mods required the pot to be both held together and fixed to the gear plate by glue!  (On the Olympic the motor is glued in as well).  Unsurprisingly the glue tends to fail after several years.  Typical symptoms are that the winch rotates continuously, but will reverse.  PM me if you want further details or would like me to try to fix yours.

[RobVice_GBR41]

I’m not near my Whirlwinds right now but I can time mine when I’m next in the workshop. 
I did a comparison last time I was looking for one and there is a difference in speeds maybe I should also try it under a load as it’s possible the ‘fast’ one might not have the torque.. 

What glue did you use to reattach the pot?

[John949]

I'd appreciate it if you could time yours for me, it's the Olympic I'm particularly interested in.  I used superglue to reattach the pot to the plate and glue the bottom of the pot back on.  Obviously you need to be very sparing with it - a drop on the end of a pin works for me.

[SimonCornes]

Looking at Dave Andrews’ brochure from January 1990 a 7.2v Olympic should do 4 turns in 3 seconds. By comparison a 6v Low Profile is 3 turns in 4 seconds. 
I hope this helps?

You know the 1” drum with the red centre id for A boats, 1 1/4” with white centre for 10 raters and 1 1/2” for Marbleheads and below?

Simon

Edited December 16, 2024 by SimonCornes

[Derek Priestley]

WOW  how slow is that?? But of course in those days we knew no better and we were most grateful to DA for providing those small, light and reliable winches!

 

But compare to today when we look for full travel in less than 1 second in order to do ZIP gybes!!  ?

 

Progress eh?

 

Derek P

[SimonCornes]

1 hour ago, Derek Priestley said:

WOW  how slow is that?? But of course in those days we knew no better and we were most grateful to DA for providing those small, light and reliable winches!

 

But compare to today when we look for full travel in less than 1 second in order to do ZIP gybes!!  ?

 

Progress eh?

 

Derek P

I wonder, certainly very effective and I’m not sure if ‘grace’ comes into racing as booms whizz from one extreme to another but it maybe suggests that older winches are perfect when absolute speed isn’t required? Of course you get to a point where more and more care has to be taken with the sheet stick to avoid under or overshooting the sail position we want because the winch is so fast!! Rate switch needed?!!