Lofrans windlass motor - is this a bodge?

[Murv]

Sauntered down to the boat today armed with the spares kit for my Tigres windlass to give it a service.
Only, I couldn't remove the windlass from the boat because the earth cable cannot be unbolted.
Rather than the bolted terminal I was expecting, a very heavy gauge earth cable comes up from underneath, then this bulky looking connector attaches it to a rather flimsy cable which then disappears into the motor itself.
Is this how it should be? if not, any easy way of fixing it? Could the heavy earth cable be run directly to one of the mounting bolts?
Any advice appreciated.

 

[kashurst]

Is there some sort of joint/connector under the rubber sleeve?

 

[Murv]

Is there some sort of joint/connector under the rubber sleeve?

I've no idea, I can't move it. Appears to be glued in place and it's too stiff to feel if there's a crimp or anything under it.

 

[vas]

cannot check right now, but i'm not v.sure it's an "earth cable"
You should have 3 cables in the motor. One is the (-) return and then two (+) going up and down

if you mean that the earth is the minus, then yes, it should be removable.
Mine had three proper terminals, and it was easy to remove everything out of it

V.

 

[Murv]

Hi Vas, it can only be the minus connection, the other two positives bolt on as I expected them all to do.
I got enough slack on the cable to at least tip the old oil out, I added 300ml which doesn't seem to be enough (can't seem to find out what it holds) but I'll put some more in then just see how it goes.
If it keeps tripping, I'll take the motor to a specialist to see if it can have a proper negative terminal fitted.
The photo is a bit deceptive, but the cable leading from the connector into the body of the motor is less than half the thickness of the cable going to the connector so it's difficult to see how it would cope with the current.
Not sure what else I can do really?

 

[vas]

I guess it should be more close to 500ml.
Did you clean carefully the sight glass thingy?
It's got a glass and a red line in the middle to denote the oil level.

TBH, i'd be very impressed if oil sorts it. How was the oil you removed? I mean looked like oil, or a nice thick crema like you get on a good espresso?

My motor was slightly different and there was a ring covering/protecting the brushes. Easy to remove and check brushes without removing the motor from it's spot.
See if you can do that and check brushes and the rotor contacts for condition/corrosion

cheers

V.

 

[Murv]

Thanks Vas
The oil actually looked OK, it was quite thick (I guess gear oil is!) but no sign of any emulsion in it so looks as if no water had been getting in.
There's no sign of the Red oil fill line, it just looks Black! But there was no sign of anything on the sight glass when I added the tube of oil so I'll try another 200ml.
There doesn't seem to be any way of accessing the bushes, it's completely sealed except for a plastic cap which just seems to cover the bearing in the end.
The positive connections were a bit corroded (I've cleaned them up) but I suspect any issues remaining will be down to the flimsy negative wire.
Only other thing that does concern me a bit is that it's quite noisy when running in reverse, but runs with a smooth whine when running in the retrieve direction.
If there was corrosion in the motor, could it affect it differently when running forward or reverse, or would that be a gear issue?

 

[superheat6k]

Hi Vas, it can only be the minus connection, the other two positives bolt on as I expected them all to do.
I got enough slack on the cable to at least tip the old oil out, I added 300ml which doesn't seem to be enough (can't seem to find out what it holds) but I'll put some more in then just see how it goes.
If it keeps tripping, I'll take the motor to a specialist to see if it can have a proper negative terminal fitted.
The photo is a bit deceptive, but the cable leading from the connector into the body of the motor is less than half the thickness of the cable going to the connector so it's difficult to see how it would cope with the current.
Not sure what else I can do really?

I wouldn't worry about the wire size into the motor. As long as the exceeds the wire size into the stator itself this is just fine. The reason the feed is heavier is to reduce voltage drop along the extended supply cable as the amps draw will be hefty. This would cause an unacceptable volts drop so the heavy feed prevents this. The last foot or so being lighter is of little consequence. Not ideal to have metal parts electrically connected direct to conductive feeds to the batteries, but being to the negative it all just becomes part of the extended bonding circuit, after all its actual use period is rather minimal.

 

[Murv]

That's reassuring, thanks Trevor.

 

[BartW]

I wouldn't worry about the wire size into the motor. As long as the exceeds the wire size into the stator itself this is just fine. The reason the feed is heavier is to reduce voltage drop along the extended supply cable as the amps draw will be hefty. This would cause an unacceptable volts drop so the heavy feed prevents this. The last foot or so being lighter is of little consequence. Not ideal to have metal parts electrically connected direct to conductive feeds to the batteries, but being to the negative it all just becomes part of the extended bonding circuit, after all its actual use period is rather minimal.

+1

are you sure that the breaker still is within specs ?
you could borrow a amp clamp, and measue the current to the motor during normal operation,

the noice in reverse is a bit worrying, more noice is a sign of wear and tear or a problem somewhere,
as long retrieving sounds ok, the problem might be small.

if you want to take off the motor for testing (can not be tested under load though)
you can "cut" the sleeve and undo the connection between the thick and thin cable
a electrician can repair the connection, or can make it "detacheable"