Windlass Problem

[mreano]

Hi guys,
I have a Lewmar Pro-Fish windlass which can work either free-fall or controlled fall. The drive cap, the gypsy and its axis are now stuck and I can´t pull them apart. As a result the controlled lock is stuck and I can not use the free fall function any more. Any suggestions as to how to go about fixing this.
Thanks,
Martin

[St. Elsewhere]

I have a hydraulic Maxwell that gets the same condition occasionally. It drives up and down. There is a pawl that will will stop the chainwheel from turning in the down direction. It is there to be used to raise the anchor manually in the event of an hydraulic failure. I have used it to force the clutch to disengage by driving it hydraulically against the pawl in the down direction while the clutch is relased.

The Maxwell manual calls for dis-assembly of the upper part of the windlass periodically to clean the junk out of these moving parts, and lubricating them. This will reduce the occurrence of the clutch locking up.

[stevemac00]

Just loosen the clutch and back up on your anchor to break the bond.