Pliny
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
The install of the synthetic winch rope onto the drum of a Warn Zeon winch will be much, much easier if you make the "tunnel" in the winch drum that the winch rope passes through as smooth as possible.
I wasted four hours yesterday afternoon trying to get the puck in the loop pulled far enough into the tunnel. Using really soapy water as a lube helped, but still only managed to get it so that the screwdriver slot in the puck was about half way below the surface of the winch drum.
Watched a video last night where the guy installing a replacement synthetic rope on his Zeon pre-stretched the last five feet of the rope by hanging a heavy weight from it for 20 minutes or so. Thought I would try doing what he did, set up a ladder, wrapped the top rungs with old towels, then wrapped the winch rope around the towels. Hung a concrete block from the end of the rope using zip ties.
The synthetic rope install instructions have that if installing the synthetic rope on a winch drum that previously had a wire rope installed on it, you need to clean up any rough spots on the drum using fine emory cloth so that the synthetic rope doesn't get damaged. While I waited, I decided to take some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and clean up rough spots on the winch drum. As I was messing with it yesterday, the were places were the rope was getting snagged and a couple of strands got frayed.
While sanding, realized that the Zeon winch drum is cast, and that the seam between the two halves cuts right through the tunnel that the rope has to pass through. Seeing how rough the seam on the exterior of the drum was, I took a small flat blade screwdriver and probed the seam within the tunnel. The flat of the screwdriver caught on a ridge in several places, on both sides of the tunnel.
I went and taped some of the 400 grit sandpaper to an appropriately sized round shank screwdriver (in my case it was a #3 Philips) and then wrapped rest of the sandpaper around the shank. Proceeded to sand down the ridges on the seams in the tunnel until they were all so smooth that the smallest flat tip screwdriver I had no longer caught anywhere. Since it was on the shelf right where I was working, I ran two wads of Nevr-Dull metal polish back and forth through the tunnel, figured it wouldn't hurt. Made sure I cleaned the surface of the drum as well as the tunnel.
It then took me about three minutes to install the puck. Two really good pulls got it seated almost completely. Two taps to the puck using a small thin screwdriver and a rubber mallet and it was seated flush. Maybe pre-stretching that section of the rope helped, but I'll bet that it was getting rid of those ridges in the tunnel that the rope was catching on was what made all of the difference.
Hope this information ends up helping someone with their install.
I wasted four hours yesterday afternoon trying to get the puck in the loop pulled far enough into the tunnel. Using really soapy water as a lube helped, but still only managed to get it so that the screwdriver slot in the puck was about half way below the surface of the winch drum.
Watched a video last night where the guy installing a replacement synthetic rope on his Zeon pre-stretched the last five feet of the rope by hanging a heavy weight from it for 20 minutes or so. Thought I would try doing what he did, set up a ladder, wrapped the top rungs with old towels, then wrapped the winch rope around the towels. Hung a concrete block from the end of the rope using zip ties.
The synthetic rope install instructions have that if installing the synthetic rope on a winch drum that previously had a wire rope installed on it, you need to clean up any rough spots on the drum using fine emory cloth so that the synthetic rope doesn't get damaged. While I waited, I decided to take some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and clean up rough spots on the winch drum. As I was messing with it yesterday, the were places were the rope was getting snagged and a couple of strands got frayed.
While sanding, realized that the Zeon winch drum is cast, and that the seam between the two halves cuts right through the tunnel that the rope has to pass through. Seeing how rough the seam on the exterior of the drum was, I took a small flat blade screwdriver and probed the seam within the tunnel. The flat of the screwdriver caught on a ridge in several places, on both sides of the tunnel.
I went and taped some of the 400 grit sandpaper to an appropriately sized round shank screwdriver (in my case it was a #3 Philips) and then wrapped rest of the sandpaper around the shank. Proceeded to sand down the ridges on the seams in the tunnel until they were all so smooth that the smallest flat tip screwdriver I had no longer caught anywhere. Since it was on the shelf right where I was working, I ran two wads of Nevr-Dull metal polish back and forth through the tunnel, figured it wouldn't hurt. Made sure I cleaned the surface of the drum as well as the tunnel.
It then took me about three minutes to install the puck. Two really good pulls got it seated almost completely. Two taps to the puck using a small thin screwdriver and a rubber mallet and it was seated flush. Maybe pre-stretching that section of the rope helped, but I'll bet that it was getting rid of those ridges in the tunnel that the rope was catching on was what made all of the difference.
Hope this information ends up helping someone with their install.
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