Help, windlass just clunks, but no movement...

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pandos

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Boat has been ashore for 5 years, Tried the windlass today and no movement. The relays in the control box clunk when the up and down buttons are pressed.

Windlass is a lofrans tigres,

From the drawings on the site it seems that the motor is simply covered bu a casing held in place by two bolts/nuts on the back of it.

I tried toget the cover off today but it seems stuck, wd 40'ed it today will try tomorrow.

any suggestions welcome, I expected to at least get a buzz or a hum out of the motor even if it was corroded in place.

Regards

Tony.
 
Two first things to check would be:

1) is it seized?

2) is there a big voltage drop when the button is pressed?

I guess you've tried loosening the clutch (I assume it has one). WD40 isn't perfect, but it is a start.

Beware of burning the motor out if it won't turn.
 
does not seem seized (turns by hand)

Thanks for the reply.

no voltage drop, and I have tried shorting accross the terminals in the relays to no avail, and no indication of current flow.

will get the cover off tomorrow and try to operate it by bringing power directly to it from a battery with jump leads.

I find myself wondering is the negative feed in damaged at the windlass itself, Ill know soon enough.

I also wonder Is there any safety cutout connected to clutch brake etc.?

regards

tony
 
I have a TIGRES. There is no safety. The clutch is the usual mechanical cone arrangement.

Obviously there is a fault with the motor or resistance in the electrical circuit. The connections could be corroded or the brushes could be sticking and/or the commutator could be dirty.

Do not try taking the motor off the gearbox without draining the oil. It may not be necessary to remove it anyway as the back end of the motor can be removed to access the brushes and remove the rotor to clean the commutator:

There is a stainless cover over the back of the motor. This is removed by undoing the three small cross head bolts.
Beneath are the two long bolts that hold the motor together. At this point you can remove most if not all the brushes without any more dismantling.

Note there are 4 brushes, the bottom brush is connected to a strap rather than a cable.

If you need to get to the 4th brush or clean the commutator, you will need to undo the two long bolts that hold the motor together. On my motor these were countersunk slot-headed bolts with locking washers beneath. The locking wachers held on so tight that I was forced to drill the heads off. The remain of the bolts then were removed easily as they had not seized in the forward end casting as I had thought. Luckily the local motor rewinders had a bucket full of old bolts that provided replacements.

If the brushes are stinking, as mine were, they can be easily sanded down ..... BUT check the brush holders first because they might have burrs inside from manufacture which can be filed off with a needle file.

Good luck. They are excellent windlasses!
 
What an amazing thing t'internet can be. If someone had told you 20 years ago that you could ask a tech question in the comfort of your home and four hours later someone in Fiji would have beamed in an answer, you'd have asked what they'd been smoking.
 
Thanks for that reply,

Am off in a few hours to the yard and hopefully I can find a bad connection in stead of having to dissamble the motor but at least I have a good starting point now.

Yes; they are excellent, mine is wired to a roving remote and with a center cockpit I can raise and lower from the wheel, but still run forward and back to keep an eye on things, I sail alone and not sure how I could handle things without it.

Regards.
 
macd said:
What an amazing thing t'internet can be. If someone had told you 20 years ago that you could ask a tech question in the comfort of your home and four hours later someone in Fiji would have beamed in an answer, you'd have asked what they'd been smoking.
Click to expand...

Absolutely,

I believe that with a set of tools, a pair of hands, and the web anything mechanical can be repaired by ones self.

Biggest problem is these commercial answering sites which ruin any google search.

Regards

Tony.
 
Thanks for the excellent advice.

Stripped it down today, cleaned the brushes with a bit of rolled up sandpaper and the corrosion from the commutator, put back together and runs perfectly, perhaps even too fast.

regards

Tony
 
TradewindSailor said:
I have a TIGRES... Do not try taking the motor off the gearbox without draining the oil...
Click to expand...

Now that the OP is sorted, may I hijack the thread a bit. My Tigres has a problem: the dog-clutch keeps slipping when lowering the anchor. The man at Lofrans suggested removing the spring and replacing it with a bit of pipe, forcing the dogs together. I'd prefer to have a look first, and perhaps fit a stronger spring. How difficult is the disassembly of the drive shaft?
 
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