Help Please: Lofrans Windlass

[Goldie]

I'll start by saying straight away that I make no claims to electrical competence beyond being able to use a multi-meter at the most basic level so please bear that in mind when framing any answers!

Problem occurred this afternoon whilst raising the anchor. Windlass (Lofrans Tigres) worked fine until I stopped recovering chain to clear some weed, and then, nothing.... I haven't had any time to investigate thoroughly as we were late back and the light was going (we'd detoured to recover a broken down MoBo on the way back to Gosport) but the circuit breakers hadn't tripped, multimeter confirms that there is power to the switches (one in the cockpit plus a wander lead at the windlass) and the windlass appears to operate freely in 'manual mode'. I'll be going down after work tomorrow to check the obvious connections to windlass and control box etc, but beyond that any suggestions as to what I should be looking/testing for or any common/known problems would be very gratefully received.

I'd really like to get this sorted in the next couple of days before we head off for a fortnight later this week.

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I'll start by saying straight away that I make no claims to electrical competence beyond being able to use a multi-meter at the most basic level so please bear that in mind when framing any answers!

Problem occurred this afternoon whilst raising the anchor. Windlass (Lofrans Tigres) worked fine until I stopped recovering chain to clear some weed, and then, nothing.... I haven't had any time to investigate thoroughly as we were late back and the light was going (we'd detoured to recover a broken down MoBo on the way back to Gosport) but the circuit breakers hadn't tripped, multimeter confirms that there is power to the switches (one in the cockpit plus a wander lead at the windlass) and the windlass appears to operate freely in 'manual mode'. I'll be going down after work tomorrow to check the obvious connections to windlass and control box etc, but beyond that any suggestions as to what I should be looking/testing for or any common/known problems would be very gratefully received.

I'd really like to get this sorted in the next couple of days before we head off for a fortnight later this week.

Many thanks in anticipation.

The only time my lofrans windlass has stopped was when water got into the contactor box and the solenoids/contactors wouldn't close properly. I took it apart and cleaned it and it all sprang into life again.

 

[Norman_E]

The switches are on low current circuits and the windlass itself is switched by relays with heavy duty contacts, thus you can have power at the switches but none at the windlass if the relay fails to operate. That is unlikely, except as stated above after water ingress, but in some setups there is a big fuse (100 amp or thereabouts) protecting the windlass wiring. Check to see if you have one either inside the control box or mounted elsewhere in the wiring circuit from battery bank to windlass. If that fuse is between the relay and the windlass and it blows, you still have power at the switches, but the windlass does not run.

 

[john_morris_uk]

The switches are on low current circuits and the windlass itself is switched by relays with heavy duty contacts, thus you can have power at the switches but none at the windlass if the relay fails to operate. That is unlikely, except as stated above after water ingress, but in some setups there is a big fuse (100 amp or thereabouts) protecting the windlass wiring. Check to see if you have one either inside the control box or mounted elsewhere in the wiring circuit from battery bank to windlass. If that fuse is between the relay and the windlass and it blows, you still have power at the switches, but the windlass does not run.

That's a good point - I think that it would be unlikely for BOTH contactors to go faulty at the same time.

My switches also have a small fuse to their common feed so if that were to blow, the whole thing would also be inoperable.

 

[[2574]]

I have exactly the same problem

Sometimes the motor operates and sometimes it doesn't. I have tested to establish that there is power in the high power circuit when the button is pressed so the problem is the motor. This winter I stripped it and sent it away for testing (commutator/bushes/etc) and it came back "no fault found". Refitted to the boat but problem still exists. I have established that if I manually rotate the gypsy the motor bursts in to life*. I've also found that whacking the case with a wooden stick also makes it go! I suspect sticking bushes. I can tell you that a replacement 1000W motor is £600. I think I'm going to keep a bit of wood on board!

rob

* I believe that rotating the gypsy does not rotate the armature as the gearbox is a worm drive and therefore I believe it is just the vibration of the clutch clicking which causes the bushes to make contact and away it goes.

 

[gonad]

lofrans

had the same problem for years a bang on the side normally got it going again
took it to piece last year cleaned it all up and now working fine bushes probably

 

[nmeyrick]

I have a very similar problem; motor runs for a short time then stops, clicking can be heard from the solenoids. I had assumed the problem was due to an interruption in the power circuit so that there was nothing for the solenoids to switch, but on disassebling the windlass this weekend found that I was getting almost 13v at the motor.

I removed the motor from the housing and removed the back cover which gives access to the brushes. I wiggled all the brushes, checked tension on the springs and cleaned out the carbon dust as best I could with a pastry brush. On reconnecting power the motor seems to be working fine so this may be worth a try.

Not wanting to hijack the thread but the shaft from the motor has several bearings and a worm gear on it, I cannot see how to remove these, does anyone have a recommendation on how to disassemble this or indeed how necessary it is to do? I have bought a replacement seal kit and some of the pieces look like they go on there, helpfully none of the pieces are labelled.

Also I have removed the rope gypsy and the screw in panel behind it which gives access to the main gear wheel. On the chain gypsy side I have removed everything except the last bronze coloured cone. I have removed the key which holds this in place but it has only limited movement; liberal application of WD40 and gentle persusion with a hammer to the end of the shaft have not helped. Does anyone have any top tips for removing this so that I can extract the main shaft and gear from the casing to clean the bearings? Alternatively is there any need to do this or would I be as well giving just giving the whole thing a soaking in clean diesel before reassembling?

Lastly if anyone else is having difficulty trying to track down spares I have a top tip. I found the UK distributor for Lofrans had no seals in stock and were not overly helpful. I emailed IMTRA in the US who were extremely helpful and mailed me a set. I asked for USPS standard delivery, this cost about a quarter as much as FEDEX and the parts were with me in about 4 days.

 

[johnalison]

Like the OP, I am not good at electrics, but when my Lofrans wouldn't lift I had a look at it and couldn't see anything wrong until I wiggled the cables and one came away in my hands. A little man repaired it for me.

 

[Goldie]

IT WORKS! Many thanks for all the considered replies, all the suggestions are mentally filed away for future use. However, the solution, as suggested by several of you - please take a bow guys - was.....hit it!!! It loks like sticking brushes could be the cause so if they don't free up, then I'll be keeping a rubber mallet in the anchor locker until I have time to remove the windlass and clean up the internals.

Sincere thanks to one and all - we're off to the West Country in a couple of days and usually prefer anchoring to marinas so the pressure was on to fix it. What a fantastic site this is in time of need.

Fair winds,

Ian