Questions, questions. What would you do if.........

Becky

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your brand new Lofrans windlass only pulled up your anchor when you pressed the 'down' button. And didn't work at all when you pressed the 'up' button. Bearing in mind that-
a) we have thoroughly checked the wiring, which is definitely correct,and
b) it is going to be a nightmare getting the thing out, and
c) we are setting off on the Rally Portugal on the 29th, but leaving Haslar a week to morrow ( Tuesday).
I have no intention of crossing Biscay with a six-inch hole in the foredeck, even if it is in the anchor locker.
We bought it at LIBS, had it fitted by Dell Quay, and Richard wired it up, except for the places his hands wouldn't reach. (My scars have nearly healed - if you thought of asking). It has been on the boat for a couple of months, but with everything else we had to do, it got rather left.
Of course, there may be something that we have omitted to do, any ideas ?
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Swagman

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Hi Becky,
Where is the yacht located?
We've always found DataYachts at Lymington super good at solving electrical issues but it is easier for them to perhaps help if the boat is close by.
Regret unable to give more hands on advice - except to say it may be best / easier to sort it in the UK - and on this years Rally P you'll need it in Lexios as they plan to anchor off the yacht club.
Good luck - and see you on the rally.
JOHN
 

Becky

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I have sent HWMBO to Pumpkin Marine today to request strongly a replacement. But if it cannot be delivered in time, we will keep the present one; at least it blocks up the hole, and it will pull up the anchor, even if it won't let it down. We would have to pull the chain up on deck and drop it from there. It is the sheer inconvenience and difficulties in replacing the d**m thing that is so annoying. It took the yard boys ages to get it in exactly the right place, but that makes access to the mounting bolts very awkward.
I just hoped that maybe someone might have had a suggestion to get it working - a forlorn hope I admit. But I will try all avenues at the moment!!
 
B

bob_tyler

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Beign DC operated, are you 100% sure that the positive/negative feeds are not reversed at some point in the circuit?
 

Freebee

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You seem to have 2 problems.

only pulls up when you press down , why not reverse the wiring on the buttons and make the down button the up button.

Then check all connections to to the up bottom, the wiring may be correct but have all the conections been made off properly.

You may not have to rip the winch can you quickly run some temporary cables from a battery and try the wich in each direction to prove it will run.
 

Robin

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Hi Becky

Diagnosis at a distance is impossible really, but:-

The problem if any is most likely with the relays (control box) rather than the windlass, which may simplify replacement if needed and not leave you with a hole in the deck.

The wiring is most likely to be the problem, so you will need to treble check it IMO especially to see if one pair of leads is reversed +/-, either on the relay box or on the foot switch(es) or hand controller. In the meantime, you do have a useable windlass at least to RAISE the anchor and it could be lowered by letting the clutch go rather than powering the chain down. If you have foot switches you could swap the down/up ones around so at least 'up' is 'up', if it is a hand control a temporary relabel with Dymo?

Robin
 

Thistle

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I know from personal experience that plugs can sometimes be fitted the wrong way round in sockets. I'd guess that you have a plug-in hand-held control box. I think I'd want to check that it is plugged in correctly before going much further. Next step might be to borrow another controller or try yours on another boat to confirm that that part of the system is working. Only then would I start to attack the windlass itself.
 

Colvic Watson

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Exactly, you've got to isolate first whether it is the winch, the switch or the wiring loom that is faulty. Take the control switch off and test it with a voltage meter to ensure that the 'up' switch is actually making a connection. Then test the winch with separate wiring connections. At least if both of those work then you know the fault is in your loom.
 

Becky

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Because then we would have to pull the anchor up. The motor runs in one direction only. We have power on the motor terminals, neg in the middle, up on right, down on left. The solenoid works when you press the deck switches; believe me, we have checked everything. The motor won't run in the lowering direction.
Richard has used his multimeter to confirm that the negs, pos's and whatever are as in the wiring diagram. The only conclusion we can draw is that the fault is within the motor itself.
 

Swagman

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Hi Becky,
Can understand the frustration - we all expect these things to work especially when hard to install.
It now seems you're beginning to get the advice you seek which is the beauty of this forum.
If it is any consolation to you a Bavaria 36 left on RP 2004 without a windlass and whilst they purchased a manual windlass by Lagos in anticipation of achorage work afterwards - it never worked properly due to missalignment. They spent a few months getting up to Denia - and must have had sore backs some days - but they did make it!
Good luck - with either your new one - or the rewiring.
JOHN
 

tome

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Becky

I just fitted a Lofrans Cayman anchor windlass. The trickiest part is the control box wiring-could there be something wrong here?

On mine there are 2 large grey and a black wire coming to the control box from the windlass. The two greys go to the large terminals on the control box, but aren't marked so they can be reversed by mistake. Try swapping these around. The black is an earth and goes directly to the battery (not connected at the control box).

There should be 12V going (via a 5 amp fuse) to each of the switches, and the control box needs to be earthed. You could check that there is 12V on both switches?

I've only wired the up switch at the moment as I plan to use the clutch rather than the motor to lower.

Call me or pass on my mobile number to Richard if you want to talk it through.

Cheers
Tom
 

Das_Boot

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Reverse the polarity. A motor will run no matter how it is wired it will just go in the wrong direction. I dont believe you engage the motor to let your anchor down at most it will engage a solenoid which will disengage a braking mechanism this might not work if the polarity is wrong hence the motor working but the braking mechanism not disengaging. Even though the wiring says one thing they could have mistakenly wired it in the factory.
 

tome

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[ QUOTE ]
We have power on the motor terminals, neg in the middle, up on right, down on left.

[/ QUOTE ]

According to my instructions, the UP switch should be wired on the left (terminal B2) and the DOWN on the right (terminal B3) see page 17

You can check your wiring to the switches by putting the negative terminal of a meter on the middle terminal (C). You should read 12V on the B2 and B3 terminals of the control box in turn as you press each footswitch.
 

pelissima

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I’d second to this. BTW control boxes are usually cramp places. Last year I had a similar symptom when I squeezed cabling to close it, and an accidental short was found to be the cause.
Rgds
George
 

Robin

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[ QUOTE ]
I've only wired the up switch at the moment as I plan to use the clutch rather than the motor to lower.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tom

We fitted a Lofrans Cayman to our last boat and it is an excellent windlass. In practice we found that it powered down very fast and under complete control, after which the clutch mechanism was only used if we wanted to use the rope drum with the chain srill in the gypsy. We do the same too on our current boat with a S-L Horizon windlass. Personal choice I know, but the other use for the 'down' switch is to reverse the gypsy when something jams, like a twist in the chain that is caught in the hawse pipe, it also allows you to keep fingers well clear!

Robin
 

tome

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Thanks Robin, interesting points. I also have the remote control which has the up & down switches but haven't yet wired it in. I only wanted a single hole in my deck (already there) so only put the UP switch in. I reckon the deck switches are v cheap and nasty.

Trying to decide whether to put a waterprooof connector in the chain locker for the remote, or have it just inside the forehatch.
 

claymore

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The Claymore Solution

Take one indelible pen
Write up on the deck next to the one that brings it up.
Stick a bit of ducktape over the one that doesn't
Sort it when you get back
 

Robin

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Inside the forehatch seems risky if it's rough when you need to up anchor and the deck is plunging up and down? Our deck socket is on deck, not in the anchor well even. We had foot switches with the Cayman and these were fine over several years use. We have a hand remote with the Horizon which is also OK but it does require the added job of plugging/unplugging it, not much maybe but we occasionally have to use the windlass handle flat end to help unscrew the castelled socket cap, even though it is greased.

Robin
 
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