Sully's *Windlass* Problem :)

[ssullivan]

Ok, so my Sea Tiger Manual windlass is frozen. Probably from years of sitting there without any exercise.

I am attempting to take it apart and see what's what inside before I go and waste $1000 on a new one.

I removed the gypsy, but I am having a bit of trouble removing the "brake pad" that the gypsy presses against to slow it. It is conical shaped, with two small holes in the cone, excactly across from each other. They are very small holes.

I have tried:

*prying (it's brittle, so I didn't want to break it)
*rotating (no good... it doesn't spin off the axle)
*sticking things in the little holes (they seem empty)

Who has taken one of these off before and knows how to do it?

I have to remove this "brake pad" in order to open up the side of the windlass and see the good stuff inside, possibly finding the jam.

Any ideas?

[CSY Man]

Hmm, I took one of these apart 8 years ago or so.
You are probably refering to the clutch..?
Forgot how it comes off, but the "exploded" diagram should help some:

http://www.slspares.co.uk/Seatiger.pdf

If not, we had a thread here recently about a guy taking his Tiger apart, look for the thread and ask him how the clutch came off.

[David M]

Have you applied heat to it?

[Morgan Paul]

Sean
I just looked at the diagram CSY Man posted it says

Clutch cone 1
Customer must be able to

drill pin hole in clutch cone

So there might be a metal pin in there.

[Sandero]

I would use lots of PB blaster and some heat from a torch. I had to use this to remove the rudder bearing which would budge. There was too much corrosion and it had to be replaced.

You should really consider and electric windlass. They are much easier on your back.

[ssullivan]

Yup... found the pin. It is definitely frozen in.

I guess given that the pin is frozen and the windlass is jammed, and I am having a lot of trouble with it...

I might as well take DefJef's advice to some degree.

I'm going to pick up a new manual windlass, I guess. I hate spending the money, but I have less time than money lately. It seems like it would take a good solid week to fix this thing. I might as well work instead of working on the windlass.

Plus, I have another type of deadline. The wife is coming down Sunday and wants to go sailing!

Scrap this thread. I'll just go get a new one...

[Sandero]

Save the old one as a project when you have the time. Let the PB Blaster work on it for a few months..You might be surprised. Stored it so the blaster works into the stuck areas which is often a problem when it is in its mounted position (like getting liquids to flow up).

[Islandmike]

Sully,

I just totaly rebuilt a 555 sea tiger if there is anything I can do for you let me know

[Islandmike]

I purchases many new parts for my 555, it is finished and it is one hell of a nice windlss, it cost me $400 to by all of the parts I needed. by the way that is a clutch cone and it does have a spring pin and can be hammered out.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

. I hate spending the money, but I have less time than money lately.

I have the opposite problem.

[GordMay]

Simpson-Larence “SEATIGER” 555 Windlass Manual:
http://en.lewmar.com/support/PDF/S-L...er-D1031-1.pdf

Clutch Cone part # 6055508

[Islandmike]

The only place I could find it was a guy in Scotland, it fact you can by all of the bushing, seals, gears what ever you need there. It is not cheap. I had the main shaft fabricated at a local machine shop for about a 1/3 of what he wanted. But many of the other items I purchased from him.

[Islandmike]

The company is Seatiger Spares, the guys name is John McMaster his email address is j.mcmaster@ntlworld.com, and the company is in Scotland.

[ssullivan]

Thanks, Mike. Good information. I was hoping there would be an easy fix that wouldn't take days.

Given that the parts are in Scotland and I still haven't got that clutch cone off, ordering a new manual windlass from Defender was probably the right way to go.

I'll bolt it on Monday the the project is over. It's the deadlines I'm under (both wife coming for vacation and getting back to start chartering) that dictated this.

Previously, I would have just spent a week on it.

[Islandmike]

You had better get everything done if she is coming for a vacation...