Power winch failure

[IguanaSwim]

We are off St .Vincent and our power winch won’t turn on. When we push the floor button nothing happens. No noise. It is a lewmar 40. Once we anchor I will pull up the floor switch and see if there’s a short. Any other suggestions? We can’t hoist our main or furl our foresails without this. Manual with a crank is too difficult on a 60 foot sailboat. .

[ThereAndBack]

Originally Posted by IguanaSwim

We are off St .Vincent and our power winch won’t turn on. When we push the floor button nothing happens. No noise. It is a lewmar 40. Once we anchor I will pull up the floor switch and see if there’s a short. Any other suggestions? We can’t hoist our main or furl our foresails without this. Manual with a crank is too difficult on a 60 foot sailboat. .

Test voltage at the terminals. Check fuses or breakers. Test voltage at any relays. Etc. Just start at one end and work your way through the electrics.

[Zanshin]

Often the fault is at the relay. The switch carries only a small current and the big relay switches the big load. With a multimeter you can measure the voltage there.

[noelex 77]

As Zanshin has indicated, the relay and the switch are the first things to check. These are a reasonably inexpensive fix, so fingers crossed this is where the problem lies.

[Celestialsailor]

Not sure it would be a "short". That indicates the "plus" crossed with the "negative" which would trip a breaker. Likely a disconnect along the line. As mentioned before, start at the winch when activating the switch to see if you have power and work your way back towards the power (Battery).

[rwidman]

Have you checked to see if the circuit breaker has tripped?

The circuit breaker (or possibly a fuse) is the first thing to check.