Ideal Windless Not Living Up to its Name

[mryer]

Hello,

I have a vertical Ideal windlass, motor below deck, with capstan and wildcat. The capstan and wildcat spin but slip with smallest load. I tightened the top nut, but no success. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. All my best, Mark.

[DeepFrz]

Have you checked the Ideal site?
IDEAL WINDLASS COMPANY

[Sailmonkey]

Sounds to me like you're missing a piece of keystock in the capstan.

[SkiprJohn]

Some windlasses have clutch pads and when they are tightened they grip. Possibly some lubricant got on the clutch pad? I don't know how your vertical Ideal is constructed but that's the way my horizontal Ideal is made.
kind regards,

[tartansail]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Have you checked the Ideal site?
IDEAL WINDLASS COMPANY

+1 to this suggestion. I have an Ideal. It came with the boat so I had had no experience prior. The surveyor thought it was original so over 20 years old. He suggested contacting the company to see what they suggested re: maintenance. They were very helpful and knowledgeable. They gave me options from "do nothing, but check these things" to a couple of levels of rehab up to rechroming. I ended up having them refurbish without rechrome. Their work was on time and budget. Communication was excellent and the windlass works great. The only time it spins is when my Manson Supreme is so stuck in the mud that we need to use the boat to pull it free.

[Tingum]

Like SkiprJohn says; check the clutch pads. I believe this one has alternating fiber and metal washers. The metal had grooves like an old grist mill wheel. They eventually wear down and need to be replaced. Dig up a drawing, should be available from Ideal.

[barnakiel]

Clean the gripping surfaces very well. I had similar issues on another windlass because someone greased the surfaces.

b.

[Sailmonkey]

If the capstan spins independently of the shaft It would seem to me that no amount of cleaning of the friction discs will prevent it. The capstan should be keyed to the shaft and when tightened provide motive force to the wildcat. Unless I read that OP wrong...I thought the capstan was also stopping when force was applied to it.

[DeepFrz]

Indeed the link I posted leads to the maintenance page and a picture does show friction plates.

[SkiprJohn]

Ideal is just down the road from you in Rhode Island. Give them a call. I'll bet they can help.
kind regards,

[Ken Andersen]

I once had the same situation. I took the windlass apart. Tighten this and that. Nothing worked. I sent the motor to Ideal for bench testing. Their response was that the motor was fine. While reinstalling the motor I bumped against the negative lead. It was slightly loose. After tightening the nut the windlass operated perfectly. I installed this Ideal windlass 13 years ago. In all those years that loose connection was the only time I've had a problem. Ideal is a small company that makes excellent windlasses.

Ken