Corrosion in aluminium windlass base

[David in Tasmania]

I have a Quick al1512 windlass which is going on 15 years old. It has been working fine until recently but has had very limited maintenance over the years. Recently the sound while using has changed and on taking the windlass apart it has significant corrosion in the base. Photos attached although its hard to show the extent of the corrosion. The corrosion is such that there seems to have been a lip on the base where whats referred to as an oil seal and internal clip appear to have sat, has completely eroded away. The question I have is whether people think that this is able to be repaired (worth repairing) and, if yes, how it could be done. Alternatively, if not, whether people know where a base unit can be purchased. There was a post back in Nov 2023 titiled "what paint or coating for a corroded aluminium windlass base" which suggested that they could be purchased but I've been unable to find anything online. Thanks.

 

[Halo]

I think you need to get it off and apart before you know the answer. It looks like a lip seal between the shaft and housing.
In my case the bearing below the seal was completely rusted away and it was a pig of a job to get the shaft out and an even worse one getting the remnants of the bearing out of the housing ( I got a machinist to mount it in a lathe and turn out the bearing case. ).
Once the housing is cleaned up you can stabilise it with Hammerite special metals primer.
These windlass need annual maintenance- strip and grease at least

 

[OCuea]

If there is no way of replacing an important seal it sounds busted badly. Not being at your end of the world or knowing the model etc makes it difficult to add more. Hope you can fix it, I hate throwing things away. I learned from people on this forum many many years ago to service the windlass very often. Goodluck

 

[Neeves]

Welcome to the forum.

An annual service is really not very onerous (and I think annually is the standard recommendation in most windlass manuals).. Check the oil in the gearbox, clean and grease the shaft, re-coat the stainless studs and bolts with Duralac, or alternative, and generally clean the windlass. Windlass are amazingly robust - you mention that yours is 15 years old and has, enjoyed minimum (no?) attention and still worked.

Replacing the corroded cast aluminium component might be possible - but the rest of the windlass is still 15 years old and has had no servicing.

You are located in close proximity to a reputable windlass fabricator, Muir, and not much further to another, Maxwell. When we were in the market for a windlass, we were down sizing the chain link size, Muir were not very pro-active but Maxwell bent over backwards. I self installed the new Maxwell and we had a problem (my fault, not enough torque on the power cable nuts) and Maxwell sent me suggestions on what the issues might be, provided an attachment of the manual - over the weekend (we were overnighting in Laurieton on passage back to Sydney) - issue rectified.

The biggest and most quoted problem with windlass here on YBW is corrosion and a mix of stainless and aluminium is commonly the culprit (and you are not alone - a lack of service). This is easily solved, use less or no aluminium but the alternative is more expensive ?, use compatible metals or Duralac.


If you buy a new windlass - check which components are aluminium and secured with stainless. Read the historic threads on windlass issues here on YBW.


If you do decide to buy new - look at your rode, does the chain need replacement - now is the time to post a thread on chain options.

Jonathan

 

[vyv_cox]

Welcome to the forum.

An annual service is really not very onerous (and I think annually is the standard recommendation in most windlass manuals).. Check the oil in the gearbox, clean and grease the shaft, re-coat the stainless studs and bolts with Duralac, or alternative, and generally clean the windlass. Windlass are amazingly robust - you mention that yours is 15 years old and has, enjoyed minimum (no?) attention and still worked.

Replacing the corroded cast aluminium component might be possible - but the rest of the windlass is still 15 years old and has had no servicing.

You are located in close proximity to a reputable windlass fabricator, Muir, and not much further to another, Maxwell. When we were in the market for a windlass, we were down sizing the chain link size, Muir were not very pro-active but Maxwell bent over backwards. I self installed the new Maxwell and we had a problem (my fault, not enough torque on the power cable nuts) and Maxwell sent me suggestions on what the issues might be, provided an attachment of the manual - over the weekend (we were overnighting in Laurieton on passage back to Sydney) - issue rectified.

The biggest and most quoted problem with windlass here on YBW is corrosion and a mix of stainless and aluminium is commonly the culprit (and you are not alone - a lack of service). This is easily solved, use less or no aluminium but the alternative is more expensive ?, use compatible metals or Duralac.


If you buy a new windlass - check which components are aluminium and secured with stainless. Read the historic threads on windlass issues here on YBW.


If you do decide to buy new - look at your rode, does the chain need replacement - now is the time to post a thread on chain options.

Jonathan

I agree that Maxwell are excellent. One of their plus points is that most or all individual parts seem to be available. The early designs suffered corrosion of the top of gearbox housing, since rectified by design improvements. I was able to buy this part alone, a different experience from other manufacturers