When Was The Last Time You Serviced Your Windlass

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by sarafina

I get serviced pretty regularly....

; -D

I (the "windlass") get serviced frequently enough to keep me in good working order, but I think the admiral would prefer a more frequent maintenance schedule. I (also the maintenance guy) apparently spend too much time working on the boat to meet her maintenance expectations!

[sarafina]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

what type of grease?

...Elbow...

ba da bam...

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

OK, here's a specific question for folks with Maxwell windlasses:

The manual says to grease the clutch faces lightly when you service the unit. My long term experience is that if you don't do this the clutch will not release reliably. But, if you do do it, then it slips under load no matter how hard you tighten it up. (This is on a VCW1500).

So, has anyone found a good way to deal with this?

Cheers,

Jim

We have essentially the same windlass and I service it annually. Here is southwest Florida, the unit gets a lot of abuse from weather even when used infrequently. "Greased lightly" means exactly that. Pull the top cap and release the locking screw, lift off the Capstan barrel and pull the Gypsey. If you have been doing routine maintenance, these should lift off quite easily. If "over greased", clean the grease off with WD-40 or Mineral Spirits followed up with Acetone to get down to clean metal (be sure to clean both the cones and the bearing surfaces). If there is any sign of corrosion, polish that off with some #800 Emory cloth to clean metal. Then spray each surface with some Boeing T-9 and wipe that off with a clean cloth. Enough will bond to the clean metal to prevent corrosion between the mating surfaces and yet allow one to develop enough friction that one shouldn't have any difficulty developing adaquate "pull" in the Capstan/Gypsey. The term "Grease" is something of a misnoumer in the case of cone clutch.

If one is confronted with a too dry/corroded Capstan/Gypsey with bonding between the cone clutches and bearing surfaces, fully releasing the locking screw followed by a judicious application of heat will cause the capstan/gypsey to expand somewhat. Locking a piece of chain to a hard-point and into the gypsey and then "bliping" the windlass motor will commonly break the bond between the mating surfaces unless the corrosion is really bad. Once the parts are freed one can polish the corrosion off the mating surfaces with progressively finer Emory cloth. One can then restore the "fit" of the mating surfaces by applying a layer of jewelers polishing rouge to the cones and reinstalling the capstan/gypsey but only lightly tightening the locking screw/cap nut. Locking up the gypsy with a piece of chain to a hard point, as above, and activating the windlass will allow the cones/mating surfaces to wear themselves to a fair match very quickly (don't over-do it). One can repeat this process with the capstan as well. Then again disassemble, clean as above, apply T-9 as above and reassemble. (None of this is particularly difficult or time consuming.)

In any case, keep an eye on the drive-motor case. Unfortunately, the case is mild steel and prone to corrosion. One needs to dose it with corrosion block fairly frequently to prevent deterioration.

FWIW..

[jeremiason]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

In any case, keep an eye on the drive-motor case. Unfortunately, the case is mild steel and prone to corrosion. One needs to dose it with corrosion block fairly frequently to prevent deterioration.

THIS IS VERY GOOD ADVISE FOR MAXWELL OWNERS!

Not only what is above the deck, but what is below, which is usually buried in a hard to get to place.

My Maxwell just failed and after getting under it, by pulling out the washing machine, I found an oil leak and the oil reservoir site glass was empty.

I took the unit apart and discovered the oil seal failed, causing the bearing to burn out and the bronze gear to strip.

Parts are available in the US, but South of the Border is problematic with shipping and customs.

Another issue that my sister ships report is that the wire lugs and terminals will get corroded. So again looking at the motor assembly is a good thing.

[Capn Morgan]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

I (the "windlass") get serviced frequently enough to keep me in good working order, but I think the admiral would prefer a more frequent maintenance schedule. I (also the maintenance guy) apparently spend too much time working on the boat to meet her maintenance expectations!

This maintenance problem could well be more common than it is apparent....

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I think my servicing is well over due and last time could easily be counted in years. Definately on the list of things to do.

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

THIS IS VERY GOOD ADVISE FOR MAXWELL OWNERS!

Not only what is above the deck, but what is below, which is usually buried in a hard to get to place.

My Maxwell just failed and after getting under it, by pulling out the washing machine, I found an oil leak and the oil reservoir site glass was empty.

I took the unit apart and discovered the oil seal failed, causing the bearing to burn out and the bronze gear to strip.

Parts are available in the US, but South of the Border is problematic with shipping and customs.

Another issue that my sister ships report is that the wire lugs and terminals will get corroded. So again looking at the motor assembly is a good thing.

Yeah, this time last week I had ours COMPLETELY apart. All back in now, including a complete repaint (POR-15) and new, clean 00 grease.