Ideal windlass issue

[Markhunter1097]

Oil drained, looked horrible, see pic

Looks like I’ll be able to get it off ok, so long as I can remove this disc that the gypsy sits on. It is loose on the shaft, but won’t come off, any hints?

[Markhunter1097]

Also as I’m now down to anchoring with a rode for the foreseeable future, do I use my cqr or mason plough anchor with the rode? I think the cqr could be better as the shank has the hinge at the plough. Any golden rules here?

[gunkylump]

Any chance you could post what Schaeffer sent to you? Would be appreciated!

gunk

[mikedefieslife]

I don't understand this thread. I mean "ideally" you wouldn't have a windlass issue at all

In all seriousness. I had a Pacific windlass that did this. Would spin perfectly happily with little load. At loud and nothing other than a noise from the motor.

I had it repaired and it worked well for about a week then failed again. If spare motors are available for your windlass like their are for some Lofrans and other manufacturers, I would recommend getting on, then repair the old motor at your leisure and let it serve as a back up.

[Bill O]

Mark,
The bronze piece is just a bushing that sits on top. Could try some PB Blaster/WD40 or a little heat on the bronze piece. It should be loose and maybe stuck due to dirt/old grease. If that doesn't work make/devise a wheel puller to remove the bushing.

Not certain why you need to drop out the whole gear box at this time. Hard to tell from the pic, but it appears you may have enough room to unbolt the motor and slide it out of the case w/o dropping the whole gear box. If impossible to get bushing off, unbolt all deck bolts and rotate to get motor out. If the motor wouldn't be in the way, suggest rotating the gear box ~45 degrees (to fit bolt pattern) if you need to get the motor out in the future.

Bill O.

[Markhunter1097]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

I don't understand this thread. I mean "ideally" you wouldn't have a windlass issue at all

In all seriousness. I had a Pacific windlass that did this. Would spin perfectly happily with little load. At loud and nothing other than a noise from the motor.

I had it repaired and it worked well for about a week then failed again. If spare motors are available for your windlass like their are for some Lofrans and other manufacturers, I would recommend getting on, then repair the old motor at your leisure and let it serve as a back up.

The tread purpose was to decide whether or not it was the motor or the gear box that is buggered, and then how to rectify.
As I go through the process of pulling it off, I will post pictures and explain what I’m doing, these will be interesting to some and have no interest to others.
If nothing else I have highlighted my stupidity in not putting my anchor windlass on my maintenance schedule

[Markhunter1097]

Originally Posted by gunkylump

Any chance you could post what Schaeffer sent to you? Would be appreciated!

gunk

Here are the files that Schaefer sent me

[Markhunter1097]

Here is a video of the noise, and me pulling the chain up by hand.
Make sure your sound is on as you can hear the grinding

[Markhunter1097]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Mark,
The bronze piece is just a bushing that sits on top. Could try some PB Blaster/WD40 or a little heat on the bronze piece. It should be loose and maybe stuck due to dirt/old grease. If that doesn't work make/devise a wheel puller to remove the bushing.

Not certain why you need to drop out the whole gear box at this time. Hard to tell from the pic, but it appears you may have enough room to unbolt the motor and slide it out of the case w/o dropping the whole gear box. If impossible to get bushing off, unbolt all deck bolts and rotate to get motor out. If the motor wouldn't be in the way, suggest rotating the gear box ~45 degrees (to fit bolt pattern) if you need to get the motor out in the future.

Bill O.

Have a look at the old oil, it appears that there is moisture in it, funny colour too and a lot of lumps as it drained, so I suspect that they could be metal bits. I won’t find out until I get off the boat and investigate the gunk, but either way I feel the gear box needs to be cleaned out properly and fully inspected.
Rotating the unit could be a good idea, but then I would have to redo the cables, probably not a bad idea anyway! Will see how it looks when I get to that stage.

[Markhunter1097]

Old oil with moisture evident

[Jim Cate]

FWIW:

Mark, a few years ago I had a failure in a Maxwell windlass gearbox, and as it succumbed it too made grinding noises. The fault was missing teeth in both the wheel gear and the worm gear. I suspect that the grinding noise was associated with teeth being torn from their bases, for after a short while, it stopped working! As in, motor ran, gypsy didn't turn.

Hope that you find a less drastic noise source, but those lumps in the oil don't sound good to me.

Jim

[Markhunter1097]

Motor is off and inspected, looks very dirty, not like the pic from sailorchic34.
I found two tiny bits of metal in the gearbox oil, so nothing there to suggest stripped gears.
The deck plate looks very rusted and could be a reason to remove, although I would hope to be able to clean up without pulling it off.
Plan now is to take motor to an electrician and see what they say.

[Markhunter1097]

Video of the gearbox turning, i can’t see anything wrong inside

[Markhunter1097]

Video of oil, any reason it smells so bad?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Markhunter1097

Video of oil, any reason it smells so bad?

It's an oderant they put in 90 weight hypoid oil to keep yotties from drinking it.

Jim

(And see, it works!) glad that the gears look ok.