Help please - windlass died ?

Otter

Otter

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We have a ten year old Lofrans Cayman 88 windlass. It’s worked faultlessly. Each year we rinse with fresh water and check the oil level - all good.

It’s sat unused for ten months and we came to use it. It ran for six feet of chain pretty slowly then would only move a few inches either way then stopped.

We stripped off the cones and gypsy and reassembled and it works perfectly in manual mode. When we press up or down there’s a loud click in the control box as the relay engages. I then swapped out the control box and the replacement does the same and the windlass is still immobile. The master fuse is intact.

Help! Any suggestions before we perform radical surgery and remove it? We’re on a swinging mooring at Orford. So it’s a big deal ?.

Anything we’ve missed off the checklist? I’ve googled known issues but very little came up.

Thank you!
 
Check the battery , for voltage, and clean terminals, look at the connections of any of the high current carriers,. lastly take a look at the brushes to the motor
 
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david_bagshaw said:
Check the battery , for voltage, and clean terminals, look at the connections of any of the high current carriers,. lastly take a look at the brushes to the motor
Click to expand...

Hi David, thanks for the reply. The voltage is good and the connections clean and tight.
Any idea how I check the brushes on a Cayman 88?

thank you!
 
david_bagshaw said:
Check the battery , for voltage, and clean terminals, look at the connections of any of the high current carriers,. lastly take a look at the brushes to the motor
Click to expand...
Ours failed in similar style. Needed the motor stripping, cleaning and reassembling with attention to brushes etc
 
Colvic Watson said:
Hi David, thanks for the reply. The voltage is good and the connections clean and tight.
Any idea how I check the brushes on a Cayman 88?

thank you!
Click to expand...
Did you check the voltage under load? I found out the hard way that voltage can look good with the windlass (or light or whatever is connected) not switched on. A loose or corroded connection can show good voltage but not allow high current flow when the windlass is switched on. Connect the volt meter to the leads right at the windlass and press the switch to run it and check the voltage while the switch is on.
 
Hello,
same situation with mine; it alternates moments when it runs happily, then slows down, accelerates again, sometimes stops altogether, then functions again. I checked there is no significant voltage drop, battery well charged, etc. Next step to take it off, open the motor, replace brushes and clean collector/rotor etc.

Edit
I just removed and opened it, the brushes seem ok (I have new ones and comparing with the existing the sizes are very similar); unfortunately I cannot unscrew the back of the motor, the screw heads broke, next Monday I'll bring it to an electric automotive shop for general servicing.
 
Colvic Watson said:
We have a ten year old Lofrans Cayman 88 windlass. It’s worked faultlessly. Each year we rinse with fresh water and check the oil level - all good.

It’s sat unused for ten months and we came to use it. It ran for six feet of chain pretty slowly then would only move a few inches either way then stopped.

We stripped off the cones and gypsy and reassembled and it works perfectly in manual mode. When we press up or down there’s a loud click in the control box as the relay engages. I then swapped out the control box and the replacement does the same and the windlass is still immobile. The master fuse is intact.

Help! Any suggestions before we perform radical surgery and remove it? We’re on a swinging mooring at Orford. So it’s a big deal ?.

Anything we’ve missed off the checklist? I’ve googled known issues but very little came up.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

I don't know this windlass - there has been no mention of a shaft. You did mention an annual service - but no mention of the shaft.

The major items causing windlass anguish - in no order are

Gear box (no oil)

electrical connections

ungreased and uncleaned shaft locking solid

as defined by a windlass manufacturer.

Jonathan
 
Neeves said:
I don't know this windlass - there has been no mention of a shaft. You did mention an annual service - but no mention of the shaft.

The major items causing windlass anguish - in no order are

Gear box (no oil)

electrical connections

ungreased and uncleaned shaft locking solid

as defined by a windlass manufacturer.

Jonathan
Click to expand...

Hi Jonathan. The windlass works fine in manual mode. The gearbox has oil. The electrical connections are fine. My gut feeling is the bushes. We anchor about 40/50 times a year so fairly high usage compared to typical.
 
roaringgirl said:
The symptoms described sound very much like a cabling/connections problem. Now that you have the motor out, does it spin happily when connected directly to the battery?
Click to expand...
Thank you good question; I have a few connections starting from the battery: big switch, breaker, power relay, distribution box in the anchor locker, I just measured until the power up/down relay.
Now I have in my hands the motor with the three cables coming out of it, I'll try tomorrow to connect it directly to the battery bank and see.

No internet today, just got it now: the motor runs at full speed with either positive+negative (the three short cables coming out of the case); I measured the brushes and -astonishingly, given the amount of usage- they are very very barely worn.
I'll investigate the last connection box and again the solenoid (which is new...) there must be something thereabout.
thanks :)
 
In case you don't know

You can take the solenoid apart. However do so with care and note how it comes apart (so that you can put it back together). Inside there are a couple ? of springs that are under compression and as you disassemble they and the connector plate can fly anywhere. The internals are very, very simple and cleaning is not difficult

The solenoid connectors plates can stick to together and need cleaning. When we have had problems, with a Muir windlass, the solenoid either worked or not.

Jonathan
 
Motor repair ... sound like a taxi to Ipswich for a repairer or a pre-arranged collection from Orford. The East Coast Forum might be best for gleaning suitable recommendations (altough many do liter here too)
 
Roberto said:
Thank you good question; I have a few connections starting from the battery: big switch, breaker, power relay, distribution box in the anchor locker, I just measured until the power up/down relay.
Now I have in my hands the motor with the three cables coming out of it, I'll try tomorrow to connect it directly to the battery bank and see.

No internet today, just got it now: the motor runs at full speed with either positive+negative (the three short cables coming out of the case); I measured the brushes and -astonishingly, given the amount of usage- they are very very barely worn.
I'll investigate the last connection box and again the solenoid (which is new...) there must be something thereabout.
thanks :)
Click to expand...

Update
Ah the sweet sound of a muscly roaring windlass :) As it often happens the culprit was the only thing I did not check before removing the windlass: the final distribution box contacts.
Thanks all :)
 
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