Leroy Somer Windlass - help wanted

[davidej]

Our anchor windlass has stopped working. I have checked the switches etc and the motor is definitely seeing 12 V so the fault must be there.

It is a Leroy Somer with a vertical shaft and the space below deck is not enough to do much before the unit is removed. As far as I can see, you have to remove first the drum then the gypsy before you can get to the bolts to remove the unit. I have taken off the top cover which threads onto the shaft and them tried without success to remove the drum with a hub puller. I assume there is no other nut hidden in that recess which is holding it on.

I gather Leroy Somer no longer makes windlasses and I have not been able to find a manual

Any help or suggestions would gratefully received.

 

[Plum]

Our anchor windlass has stopped working. I have checked the switches etc and the motor is definitely seeing 12 V so the fault must be there.

It is a Leroy Somer with a vertical shaft and the space below deck is not enough to do much before the unit is removed. As far as I can see, you have to remove first the drum then the gypsy before you can get to the bolts to remove the unit. I have taken off the top cover which threads onto the shaft and them tried without success to remove the drum with a hub puller. I assume there is no other nut hidden in that recess which is holding it on.

I gather Leroy Somer no longer makes windlasses and I have not been able to find a manual

Any help or suggestions would gratefully received.

I have the horizontal shaft version, some similarity in design. The only document I have that mentiones your one is here:

LEROY SOMER WINDLASS.docx

On mine the warping drum screws off the shaft so not the same as yours. Have you seen this? Leroy Somer Windlass Repair - Jeanneau Owners Network

 

[Beneteau381]

Our anchor windlass has stopped working. I have checked the switches etc and the motor is definitely seeing 12 V so the fault must be there.

It is a Leroy Somer with a vertical shaft and the space below deck is not enough to do much before the unit is removed. As far as I can see, you have to remove first the drum then the gypsy before you can get to the bolts to remove the unit. I have taken off the top cover which threads onto the shaft and them tried without success to remove the drum with a hub puller. I assume there is no other nut hidden in that recess which is holding it on.

I gather Leroy Somer no longer makes windlasses and I have not been able to find a manual

Any help or suggestions would gratefully received.

Ours on Beneteau 381 lasted twenty odd years then cratered with much groaning. The magnets are stuck in the motor housing with glue, the glue gives up, the magnets spin and jam! No spares. Motor ruined. We bought a nice new Lofrans Kobra from SVB who sent it to Portugal. About €1400.

 

[Skylark]

I had one fitted to my Beneteau 361. Can’t honestly remember the reason (it’s at least 15 years ago) but I also needed to remove the drum, but it refused to move. I made the pictured ring. It matched the profile of the drum and allowed a 3-legged puller to gain purchase. What size is the drum? If this is any use I’m sure that we can figure out a way of getting it to you?

 

[davidej]

Just to keep you up to date and ask more questions.

Following something on the Jeanneau Owners website, with the help of penetrating oil, a hub puller, wooden wedges and severe beatings with a rubber hammer, I have managed to take both drums off the output shaft. I had to cut off the drive pin and now have withdrawn the windlass down through the deck and it is now in my garage.

The next step seem to be pulling off the shaft, the white powder coated cotton reel shaped casting which I assume contains its bearings. I have put penetrating oil down the shaft but, because of corrosion, it seems very hard to shift. Unfortunately my hub puller is not big enough to use here.

I don't know if anyone can confirm that I am on the right lines here and maybe offer some suggestions how to proceed.

Thanks

 

[rogerthebodger]

Pictures always help

 

[Metalicmike]

Just because you see 12 volts at the motor does not mean that its a motor problem. The Relay switches between + - up and - + down so if the negative in the relay has a bad contact you will see the 12v but insufficient path to negative. You need to do a resistance test on the relay in both positions. It is normally the relay that fails first.

 

[davidej]

 

[davidej]

This is the current problem. The passage of the shaft through the white casting is so blocked with salt and corrosion that it might be stalling the motor. I have to disassemble and clean before I can make any further progress.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Thanks for the Picture

Is there a cover plate on the other side from the one shown

It looks like a worm and worm wheel gearbox, and you should be able to remove a plate on the other side then remove the shaft, worm wheel and the white what look like bearing carriers.

You could the take it to a local garage to use their press to press the worm wheel and bearing carriers off the shaft and the clean it all up and reassemble

 

[davidej]

Hi Roger

I started by cleaning up the crud around the shaft and as I dug it out, I went deeper and deeper. Is seemed like caked salt and ally corrosion products - seriously hard!. Eventually with the aid of thin screwdrivers, I got right through to the bottom of this casting and it just dropped off. No bearings in there! Yet more crud behind it and when everything was cleaned up, I connected a battery. Surprise, surprise, the motor started working. I can only assume that the drag on the shaft was stalling the motor.

What a result. All I now need to do it remove the remans of the drive pin.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I would be very surprised if there are no bearings to take the load on the drum.

They could be plain bearings which could have corroded away.

I would recommend you dismantle the parts completely for a good clean taking plenty of pics and see if anything is missing

I did a search as below and found several references to leroy sommer windlasses on PBO and other references

Leroy Somer Windlass - Bing

There may be an agent of branch in the UK I had dealings with then many years ago in the UK and at that time they were a French company

Leroy Somer Motors Parts Suppliers | UK | Rotamec

Manuals

As I said its a worm drive gearbox this may help

https://www.leroy-somer.com/documentation_pdf/3733_en.pdf

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H9v-_wuczo5qKQuA6SNFq1UmEP3n45Ii/edit

 

[davidej]

I can’t see that there could have an actual bearing there. All the debris was either salt or aluminum oxide. There is a sort of bearing where the shaft comes through the above deck casting, ie immediately below the gipsy.

 

[Plum]

 

[Plum]

Hope the above sectional view helps

 

[rogerthebodger]

Hope the above sectional view helps

That is very helpful, but do you have a list of what the numbers are pointing to

 

[Plum]

That is very helpful, but do you have a list of what the numbers are pointing to

Sorry, no.

 

[davidej]

I wish I had that diagram at the start of my journey of dismantling !

However it confirms that there is no bearing in part 17, the white cotton reel shape casting.

 

[rogerthebodger]

part 11 looks like a bearing and part 9 looks like a seal to stop water getting inside. part 4 could be a thrust bearing / washers

Check the seal and the spring is still intact

 

[davidej]

Part 9 is a rubber grommet /seal. Part 4 is indeed a s/s thrust washer, as I understand it to transfer torque from the gipsy to the drum when you tighten the top 'nut'. As to11, I have no idea - nothing was present there.

the series of photos on the Jeanneau owners website is the most useful I have come across