Lewmar Ocean windlass needs help starting to let chain out

tudorsailor

tudorsailor

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I have an Lewmar Ocean windlass. When I first go to let chain out it clicks and the chain does not pay out. Instead there is a clicking noise. After some up and then down with the buttons it pays out fine
Is the gearbox about to give in? Can the gearbox be service?
Any suggestions other than buy a new windlass?

TudorSailor
 
Mine is a different make, but to drop anchor, I merely slack off the clutch, and let gravity do the rest. Gravity has never let me down. :D
 
tudorsailor said:
I have an Lewmar Ocean windlass. When I first go to let chain out it clicks and the chain does not pay out. Instead there is a clicking noise. After some up and then down with the buttons it pays out fine
Is the gearbox about to give in? Can the gearbox be service?
Any suggestions other than buy a new windlass?

TudorSailor
Click to expand...

The clicking may well be the heavy duty relay / contactor which operates when you change direction. It could be as simple as eroded/flashed /dirty contacts?
We lost the "up" motion last year briefly. I though the worst had happened but got the anchor going by swapping the up/down heavy cables at the motor.
Later I dismantled the contactor and cleaned the contacts. That made the difference.
I keep a couple of 200A 12V relays on board as an emergency repair option. The single factory fitted up/ down relay was well over £70 new while the 2 heavy duty "individual" up & down spare relays came to about £25
 
tudorsailor said:
I think you are right. How easy is it to strip the gearbox

Ts
Click to expand...

Sorry I don't know is the short answer but there are exploded diagrams available and something I do know thanks to technology is to film myself if I am ever taking something apart that I am unsure of so that it is relatively easy to reverse the process.
 
I not think most anchor winches have pawls. They rely on a worm gear between the motor and gears to hold the gypsy still when the winch isn't operating, unlike sail winches where pawls stop rotation against the load. As Pagoda says, a clicking sound is much more likely to be down to the contactor relays failing to make proper electrical contact. Do you know where the contactor box is? If it's near to the anchor locker that'll be the source of the clicking you can hear.
I'd investigate that first, as it s the most likely cause before resorting to disassembling the gear box, which will probably require the removal of the winch as a whole.
 
It's more likely to be electrical than the gearbox. Could be the contactor, as above, or it could be sticky/worn/dirty motor brushes.
 
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