Leroy Somer Windlass - help wanted

[rogerthebodger]

There needs to be some bearing / bush to resist the pull of the chain on the gyspy

Do you have a link to the pics on the Jeanneau owners website that may help to ID the parts

 

[davidej]

Leroy Somer Windlass Repair - Jeanneau Owners Network

 

[rogerthebodger]

Thanks for the link but the pics do not seem to show anything but the top of the windlass and don't show what is under the deck or the bearing and seal arrangement

 

[davidej]

While waiting for a new drive pin (no6) to arrive, I have noticed something strange about the windlass

As I used to understand it, the pin drove the cone (no8) only. To get drive to the gipsy (no5) or drum (no2), the top nut (no3) had to be tightened with a winch handle and then relying on friction between these parts. Thus you could loosen that nut to allow the anchor to drop under gravity without using the windlass.

However I have noticed that the cone, gipsy and drum all have square holes to take the square shaft so they can’t rotate independently. So releasing the top nut will not allow the gipsy or drum to spin.

And why does it need a drive pin anyway as the cone is forced to rotate with the shaft because of the shape of its hole?

 

[Plum]

While waiting for a new drive pin (no6) to arrive, I have noticed something strange about the windlass

As I used to understand it, the pin drove the cone (no8) only. To get drive to the gipsy (no5) or drum (no2), the top nut (no3) had to be tightened with a winch handle and then relying on friction between these parts. Thus you could loosen that nut to allow the anchor to drop under gravity without using the windlass.

However I have noticed that the cone, gipsy and drum all have square holes to take the square shaft so they can’t rotate independently. So releasing the top nut will not allow the gipsy or drum to spin.

And why does it need a drive pin anyway as the cone is forced to rotate with the shaft because of the shape of its hole?

The pin is not there to drive the lower cone which, as you say, has a square hole on a square shaft. The pin is only there to react the end load applied by the top nut that forces the two cones, on their square shaft, to clamp and drive the gypsy by friction.

 

[davidej]

Ok that makes sense . I have looked again and realize that the gipsy is actually in two parts. A centre one made of bronze with the square hole for the shaft and an outer galvanized part that takes the chain,

As you say, the friction binds them together although in my case, there is so much corrosion that they seem bound together anyway

 

[Plum]

Ok that makes sense . I have looked again and realize that the gipsy is actually in two parts. A centre one made of bronze with the square hole for the shaft and an outer galvanized part that takes the chain,

As you say, the friction binds them together although in my case, there is so much corrosion that they seem bound together anyway

I have the horizontal version which shares the same gypsy and cone clutches as yours, i thought. My gypsy is all bronze, no corrosion. And if the pressure is taken off the cone clutch the gypsey spins on the shaft. Maybe your gypsy has been modified to take a different size chain