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ME242
Brake Malfunction of Life Boat Winch
Technical committee

Ship type Tanker

Date of build October 1986, MHI Nagasaki Shipbuilding Works
Navigation route Tramper (e.g., Japan ~ PG)
Trouble machinery
Category Deck auxiliary equipment
Name life boat winch
Type
Date of trouble July 1993, during voyage

1. Outline of breakdown

During boat station drill, when the life boat was hoisted for storage after it was swung out, the life boat
slipped down just before coming into contact with its cradle and barely stopped with the bracing wire.

2. Cause

From an overhaul inspection of the winch to determine the cause, it was found that the ball bearing (19)
had come apart and the inner race was corroded. This ball bearing is of a sealed type which cannot be
lubricated from the outside, and is blocked off from external air by one oil seal. Due to deterioration of
this oil seal from long-term usage, the inner race became exposed to external air, developing corrosion.
Using (Fig. 1) on the next page as reference, the sleeve with square screw (a) is connected with the
manual brake handle. The thrust generated by pushing down the handle pushes the cone clutch (Right)
toward the left via the ball bearing (Right), making the governor shaft (a) connect with the pinion gear
(20).
During hoisting, it functions as a power transmission clutch. During lowering, it functions as a manual
brake by means of the ratchet (Left).
In the above construction, due to failure of the ball bearing (Right), thrust force by the brake handle was
not transmitted, where both air motor power transmission and the manual brake became unavailable,
causing slip-down and hoisting failure.

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3. Countermeasures

The sealing type ball bearing which directly affects brake function was to be replaced at regular intervals
at the time of periodical inspection.
Boat Winch
Particulars
Weight of Boat Empty of Boat KG 3900
Full Loaded Boat KG 6750
Load to Drum Empty Boat Hoisting KG 2397
Full Boat Lowering KG 2753
Stowing in Cradle with Empty KG 4020
Boat
Speed of Fall Full Boat Lowering M/min 50
Speed of Boat Full Boat Lowering M/min 25
Load to Handle Empty Boat Hoisting KG 15
Drum DIA×Length M/M 300×170 l
Wire Rope φ18×55M

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Fig. 1 Details of Motor governor shaft