Lofrans windlass - how to use and service

[Amari]

I'm new to powered windlasses. I have a horizontal Lofrans, prob 20 years old. Is the spoked wheel some sort of brake to control speed when lowering the anchor without using the motor or is it a clutch of some sort? The wheel seems to be jammed - I cannot turn it by hand but have not tried brute force and ignorance. There is a window forrard ? to see oil level, but difficult to read. Do these outfits need servicing? Thanks.

 

[jonjo]

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Is the spoked wheel some sort of brake to control speed when lowering the anchor without using the motor or is it a clutch of some sort?

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The spoked wheel disengages the gypsy from the powered axle. You can use the wheel to drop the anchor without power supplied to the windlass. When doing a powered lowering of the anchor don’t adjust the spoked wheel which should be tight to lock the gypsy to the powered axle.
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The wheel seems to be jammed - I cannot turn it by hand but have not tried brute force and ignorance.

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It sounds as though the separate leaver has been lost. This is a 2 foot section of pipe that fits over a spoke on the lock wheel. There should be a ratchet leaver on the windlass that can be moved down to stop the gypsy from rotating, you can then apply a lot of force to free the lockwheel using the pipe leaver.

IMO it is best not to mix manual and powered operation of the windlass. Powered windlasses are very dangerous and you don’t want parts of your body anywhere near it once powered up. In general I am anti health & safety culture but I think powered windlasses should be supplied with a mandatory practical instruction session. I left the pipe leaver in place once and then raised the anchor, the ease with which the windlass snapped off a spoke from the lock wheel was quite frightening, the motor barely hesitated for 2 seconds at most.

 

[Amari]

Many thanks Jonjo. I wondered what the ratchet thing was for.
I do have a 2 ft pipe but thought it was a lever for manual winching. Maybe it does both jobs

 

[cpedw]

That's right, at least on my Lofrans Cayman 88 the length of pipe can be used for locking/unlocking the gypsy clutch, the spoked wheel, and for manual winching.

Derek.

 

[Mulge]

Go to this site

http://www.lofrans.it/english/intro.html

and select DOWNLOAD. You may find that you windlass is one of the ones featured and you can download and print the instalation and instruction manual.

 

[Amari]

Many thanks. I'll try this when I get home. I'm on this PC at work ( Ssshhhhh...........) with no printer