Neil,

May NOT be the same problem, but it sounds familiar to me.

See our 2 year gear report at; http://www.svguenevere.com/2006/gear/gear2.html

Ours would pay out, but not raise a load. The sound was also different. What we found when we took it apart was that it had a one direction roller bearing in it! BAD design as far as I am concerned. IF and that's a big if, you had the up & down wires wrong, even for a short time, it might bugger that one way bearing???

Just an idea.

Greg