Anchor windlass trips out

[jon and michie]

I use a spare line and bouy on the tripping point of the anchor pull the boat towards the anchorage pick up the bouy which has a large fig 8 knot and connect to a cleat and trip it then use the windlass to pull the chain up.

 

[dulls]

My electric anchor windlass trips out sometimes when I try to retrieve it, mostly when I haven't engaged forward gear enough to free up the anchor before retrieving i.e. it is under massive strain.

Is that normal? Maybe it's designed that way for the good of the windlass motor?

It is designed i think to trip out. I took my one apart and cleaned it and its connections. It was on steroids after i finished. It was performing like 2 anchor winches,

 

[Hurricane]

alightly off topic but so I am right in guessing that most boaters rely on their windlass to free their anchor ? and not have a spare line and fender/bouy on to trip the anchor ?

I use one of these when it is likely (rocky seabed) to get the anchor fouled.

A couple of years ago, I was wondering why the boat in front of us was getting close.
It was because he had used our trip as a mooring buoy.
So setting a trip isn't the complete answer.

That said, we have also had a courting couple in an inflatable kayak using our trip as well.
SWMBO wouldn't let me put the drone up!!!

 

[Hurricane]

Yes. However if the anchor is buried so deep that it would cause the clutch to slip it would be prudent to use a chain hook and a suitable fixed point to use the boat's weight to dislodge it rather than the windlass.

Or fit a chain stop like this.



Actually, the chain stop has also saved us in an unexpected way.
We were anchoring in Mallorca - nice sandy bottom so no need for a trip.
Suddenly the anchor started to "run away with itself".
Kind of thing you would have expected if you had greased the clutch and it wasn't holding.
Only this was running away at speed.
SWMBO was on the foredeck and she immediatly flipped the chain lock on - otherwise all 150m of our chain would have been on the seabed.
It turned out to be the woodruff key had dropped out of the windlass.

So, those of you with Lewmar windlasses, it might be worth checking
This is a Lewmar V4 which I have upgraded to a V5 by changing the motor/gearbox.
There is a vertical woodruff key that engages the gearbox to the windlass shaft.
Lewmar stop the woodruff key from dropping out using a large circlip on the bottom of the shaft.
This circlip wears away and eventually drops off - the next thing to go is the woofruff key itself.
I've tried putting a washer between the circlip and the woodruff key but it still eventually wears the circlip.
Right now, I am using the circlip and some gaffer tape.
The gaffer tape is actually a more robust solution than you would think.
But that part of the windlass is something that I always check.
I wonder if anyone else has had this problem.

 

[philipm]

I've got a lewmar v2, mine doesn't trip the breaker.

I guess you need to confirm firstly that the breaker is sized correctly for the max current that the winch can draw, and then assuming it is correctly sized, go round all the connections looking for corrosion. If all that checks out then maybe there's a fault with the winch?

Can the motors be rebuilt with these winches?

It only trips the breaker when I put it under massive strain so that makes me think the connections are okay but not sure where to start with knowing what size of of breaker I should have - or where to find the breaker. May be a job for someone above my level.

 

[philipm]

It is designed i think to trip out. I took my one apart and cleaned it and its connections. It was on steroids after i finished. It was performing like 2 anchor winches,

is that the same part?! Looks unrecognisable! Good work. Maybe I should try that.

 

[jon and michie]

I use one of these when it is likely (rocky seabed) to get the anchor fouled.

A couple of years ago, I was wondering why the boat in front of us was getting close.
It was because he had used our trip as a mooring buoy.
So setting a trip isn't the complete answer.

That said, we have also had a courting couple in an inflatable kayak using our trip as well.
SWMBO wouldn't let me put the drone up!!!

Exactly that in example 2

 

[dulls]

is that the same part?! Looks unrecognisable! Good work. Maybe I should try that.

Yes exactly the same and it ran at about 50% more umph. Here it is mid transformation. The green undercoat is a 2 pak called carbaline which covers the steel in a plastic film,

 

[BruceK]

Exactly that in example 2

I'd seriously consider one if it wasn't for the fact that 1/2 the time we are out we get a crowded anchorage. I can see us having very similar problems to Hurricane but perhaps not so much in being mistaken for a mooring buoy but rather caught in the props of some yottie who has come in during the night. There is a certain local anchoring etiquette that everyone abides by and such a device would ruffle feathers