Got a Lofrans windlass?

[GrahamM376]

Today inspired by this thread I tried penetrating oil for 24 hours, heat gun on the threaded spindle end, heat gun on clutch itselfand alarge mallet etc. It will not budge an inch

Our Kobra has been fine for 10 years with no service but, I do release the clutch and let gravity work in a controlled way.

Suggest heat gun not hot enough and over too large an area, try blowlamp with narrow flame on the nut and douse well with penetrating oil while hot.

 

[C08]

I have a Lofrans Royale that has just sat there for 10 years and done its stuff ok and I have been very pleased with it but have not had cause to touch it/maintain it. However I never release the clutch so from what has been said that may be seized-I will take my Plus gas with me next time to the boat and give it a good dosing. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[the lloyds]

I have a Lofrans Royale that has just sat there for 10 years and done its stuff ok and I have been very pleased with it but have not had cause to touch it/maintain it. However I never release the clutch so from what has been said that may be seized-I will take my Plus gas with me next time to the boat and give it a good dosing. Thanks for the reminder!

I think I will bring in a bigger bloke first,perhaps with a length of pipe on the spoke to get leverage.Then more extreme heat and plusgas, then dismount

heres hoping

 

[Poignard]

"If so, dismantle it now, don't wait till it goes wrong!!"

Absolutely agree. Having spent time and trouble drilling out screw and freeing seized parts I know if I ever bought a new one I would immediately dismantle it and apply Durulac to all screw threads and grease to the moving parts

 

[nigelmercier]

Which part(s) are we talking about that seize up? This is for the Tigres (sic) but I guess they are similar:

 

[mjcoon]

Which part(s) are we talking about that seize up? This is for the Tigres (sic) but I guess they are similar:...

From mention of "tri" and "three prong" I guess it is the second-left part that I think is labelled "3/17", though the resolution is not quite high enough to be sure.

Is it guaranteed to unlock anti-clockwise? Maybe a bit of force applied the "wrong" way might help to free it?

Mike.

 

[AliM]

We have a Royal - the manual one. It seized up progressively at the end of last year, after less than 3 years of reasonable use, so we took it off the boat to service. Taking the various bits off either end of the shaft was OK - soaking in diesel, then lots of boiling water did the trick. However, the next stage was to dismantle the body. The bolts would not budge, even after the blowtorch treatment, so we took it down to our local boatyard, where some serious engineering tools were employed to remove the bolts and front plate. He then used a hydraulic press to free the shaft from the casing, breaking the casing. So he welded it back together, somewhat sheepishly, and then had to grind down the weld to assemble it. He gave it back apparently working, but it seized again immediately. So we spent a day dismantling it again, weakening the spring, turning one of the plastic bushes around to give more length, and gradually reassembling. The good news is that it now works beautifully - more smoothly than when new, we now really understand how it works, and the Lofrans parts people are really helpful. The bad news is that it took about 3 weeks and cost us about £100. The boatyard were very helpful, but I think they will run a mile if we go in there again with a quick and easy job for them!

So, to reiterate Snowleopard - service yours now - dismantle it, grease everything, and do it every year.

 

[nigelmercier]

... So we spent a day dismantling it again, weakening the spring ...

I'm considering strengthening the spring, the one for the dog clutch (477).

 

[AliM]

The Royal is not quite the same as the diagram above, in ours there are two 477's opposing each other with the spring between them. The weld in ours compressed the spring a bit too much, which was why we had to weaken it.

 

[the lloyds]

I am pleased to say that after soaking the seized area with diesel for 24 hours and a bigger hammer! i was able to free off the cone clutch and dismantle the operating parts of the winch and give it amuch needed clean up and regrease.

Diesel as apenetrating agent was the idea of Des [formerly of Alladins cave].

It is now all working beautifully

I shall dismantle every three months I think going forward.

I gather there can be other issues with water ingress, however ours is mounted on the bulkhead inside the anchor locker so stays pretty dry

Motor is inside the forward cabin. I have even found the spares supplier

A R Peachment Ltd

Riverside Estate

Brundall

Norwich

NR13 5PL

United Kingdom

So I hope that is that for a while

 

[Hambleton]

My Lofrans Falkon won't gravity freefall, nor will clutch fully disengage. I've had the gypsy off and outer cone - al looks OK and put back regreased. From these threads - sounds like I need to go further in to disassemble clutch? At which point does one need new seals? Has anyone found a youtube video or similar on how to disassemble? Many thanks for your help, Sarah