Lofrans tigres windlass service kit

[Murv]

I need to service the above.
There's a spares kit available from Lofrans, part ref A271 which seems to contain new nuts & bolts and an awful lot of parts that wouldn't necessarily strike me as being service items as well as the oil seals and O rings that I do actually want.
The individual parts aren't available individually if they're listed as service items, so it's either the complete kit at around £55 or nothing at all!
Is the complete kit required? Or, does anybody know if it's possible to source seals and gaskets individually?

The issue I have is that although the windlass works fine, it keeps tripping the circuit breaker which from googling can be resolved with a service.
The windlass is (I assume) 1989 vintage. It's on a new to me boat so I've no idea if it's something that's just started or an ongoing problem but I strongly suspect that it hasn't had any attention for some Years.

 

[vas]

have gone through a complete rebuilt of a Tigres a few years ago.
Windlass is now working nicely (touch wood) and pausing no problems whatsoever.

However, I'd suggest that unless there's oil leaking or oil missing from the box, I wouldn't bother opening it up.
That is considering that motor works and manages to deploy the chain without issues.
If it cannot even do the deploying without tripping, I'd assume something is really tight in there and you go ahead opening the box.

I didn't buy the seal/bits kit from Lofrans, just took it apart and replaced what I felt like replacing. Wasn't much seals and a couple of keys. Have a look at the whole thing on this thread http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?293957-gipsy-gone Should ask the admins to change the thread title to help in searching...

Finally, if it's a new to you boat and it does it from day one, how about checking the fuse/trip thing is the right rating and not too small to manage the job? It's a 1200W 24V (mine at least) so needs a decent fuse, if your's a 12V one, should need a massive fuse!

good luck

V.

 

[Murv]

Thanks Vas, much appreciated, that's a very informative thread.
I'll investigate further then before removing the thing, your rebuild does look a bit daunting to me!

 

[vas]

nah, it's almost finished now and boat is in the water, so I'm happy!

the steps I'd follow if I were you would be:
A. check fuse/trip switch thing, for right rating
B. check level of oil and condition of it
C. remove fuse, remove rear cover and undo the three bolts to remove the motor. probably have to remove the whole windlass as oil will pour out of the hole and make a bit of a mess. Check motor, renew bushes et al and refit.

If all three fail, open the box and check what's inside that's not right.

cheers

V.

 

[Murv]

Fantastic, thanks Vas, that sounds like a structured plan of attack to me!

 

[Murv]

Actually, and with my lazy head on here...
If the oil will dump out of the windlass once the motor's removed, is that a valid way of changing the oil without removing the whole windlass? it's sitting over the anchor locker which needs a really good clean out as it's full of rust about an inch deep that used to be the chain...
If it just put a large bowl under it and remove the motor, then refit can I then just replace the oil from the top? (after replacing seals, checking bushes etc)

 

[vas]

at the office atm, but pretty sure the sight glass thing is lower than the axle of the motor, so probably wont have any spillage if you remove the motor on the spot.
Just realised that unless you actully tip the box over there's no easy way of removing old oil. You'll have to devise a pump system with a tiny pipe through the sightglass hole to suck the oid oil out.
Just clear the sight glass for starters and see if there's any oil in there
ah, and use the manual lever on the drum side to see if it works and how heavy it is

V.

 

[Murv]

Brilliant, thanks Vas. I did read that the only way to change the oil was to tip it out, I was just wondering if there was a shortcut. Especially as I'm clumsy at best and quite likely to drop the entire thing in the water!!

Annoyingly, I don't have or can't find the handle, so either need to bite the bullet and fork out for the Lofrans one, or find a piece of pipe that's the same size.
I'll do some investigations next week, check the electrics/oil and see if I can find the handle then go from there.
Thanks again for all your help