Repairing a Harken Electric Winch

dgadee said:
My motor operates correctly, and when I short out the slow speed contactor the winch turns indicating the problem is with the contactor/solenoid. This is a Mac 15 made in Italy. It appears only the Mac 10 is currently available but since these were meant to be repairable I am thinking of taking it apart and cleaning the contacts. Is this simple?

Also, I see on a 10 year old post on the Dehler forum that a gearbox seal has to be regularly replaced. Anyone know about this?
Click to expand...

I haven't seen that about the gearbox seal. Never replaced mine and given how inaccessible I've found the motor I suspect no previous owner has. Rudolph_hart may know more as he's gathered a lot of detail on these winches.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'contactor'. I'm guessing not the terminal posts on the motor as you'd be a braver man than me shorting those out. I presume you mean the push button. In your previous post you describe the solenoids as clicking, but it sounds like you no longer believe that.

All the electronics/electrics for mine as held in a Harken junction box. I'm sure it can be opened and components replaced or cleaned if spares are no longer available. What voltages are you getting?
 
Yes, used battery starter cables to short out solenoid (called a contactor by the professionals) as suggested by Nigel Calder's book. The slow solenoid clicks but there are probably bad contacts. I was wondering whether anyone had cleaned them.

The two solenoids in the junction box are held in place by screws which look as though they have been undone before.

Info attached.View attachment 09 - News MAC10-15 ING.pdf
 
Last edited:
dgadee said:
No doubt the contacts will get a bit dirty switching such high ampage DC currents. Presumably the problem has occurred gradually. I'm not sure how you'll get access to clean them. What's the voltage under load when it isn't shorted?

You could replace it with a 'contactor' to a similar or higher spec.
Click to expand...
 
lpdsn said:
I haven't seen that about the gearbox seal. Never replaced mine and given how inaccessible I've found the motor I suspect no previous owner has. Rudolph_hart may know more as he's gathered a lot of detail on these winches.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'contactor'. I'm guessing not the terminal posts on the motor as you'd be a braver man than me shorting those out. I presume you mean the push button. In your previous post you describe the solenoids as clicking, but it sounds like you no longer believe that.

All the electronics/electrics for mine as held in a Harken junction box. I'm sure it can be opened and components replaced or cleaned if spares are no longer available. What voltages are you getting?
Click to expand...

If they haven't been replaced recently, do so. Only the winch needs to be removed (i.e. not the motor etc below deck) to do it, so it could be done at the same time as cleaning & oiling the pawls. The seals cost peanuts from Simply Bearings.
 
rudolph_hart said:
If they haven't been replaced recently, do so. Only the winch needs to be removed (i.e. not the motor etc below deck) to do it, so it could be done at the same time as cleaning & oiling the pawls. The seals cost peanuts from Simply Bearings.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm going to have another go at getting down to the gear box so will have a look then.
 
rudolph_hart said:
The fact that you have thermal fuses indicates that you have a Dehler, who fitted them instead of 'trip switches' contrary to Harken's recommendation.

Harken bought out the Italian winch manufacturer Barbarossa & renamed the company Harken Italy. Both the the electric motor and the reduction gearboxes are manufactured by Bonfiglioli (again Italian). As others have said, the motors have a common negative & the other two are for fast & slow (i.e Reverse on the motor). Don't split the motor from the gearbox - remove them as one - they are VERY heavy. Also try not to hold or bench mount the motor differently from its orientation on the boat. The gearboxes have a special industrial synthetic oil which is about £1M an pint (approx :disgust:, ) which may leak if not oriented correctly (in my case horizontally).

Apart from servicing the winches, I have replaced all the gearbox bearings, lube & seals, as well as the winch components, so I have a ton of research docs on the 44.2, so if you would like some, please PM me your email address & I'll send it to you.



know this is an old thread but I have a question Re. The harken 44 electric winch on a Dehler 35 cws. I was able to take off the central screw in ‘pin’ by pulling up on the white push down top with a pair of pliers. This allowed enough grab to loosen the thread. I am now unsure how to screw the central pin back in as the white top is free swivelling and there is nothing to suggest grab for the central pin to screw back in. I managed to screw it in partly by using the whinch handle to push down the white swivel top to disengage the motor and then turn the winch by hand. There is some 3/4mm lift / upward play still however and I am not convinced I have done it correctly. If you havent used this 1994 electric winch before alot of what I have written won’t make sense - if you have then any advice would be appreciated - and if this question should be a new thread please also advise.
Click to expand...
 
I also realize this is an old thread but I have the same issue. My 2002 Catalina 470 has Harken 44ST electric secondary winch. The winch stopped working and hydraulic fluid leaked from the motor. I m hoping this is a fixable problem by removing the winch motor and taking it to my local hydraulic winch repair tech. I am assuming the weak link in the system is the seal and a burned out fuse somewhere. I just bought the boat and am still learning where things are and have not even located the small 5 amp fuse to the switches noted in the diagram.
 
larrytaube said:
I also realize this is an old thread but I have the same issue. My 2002 Catalina 470 has Harken 44ST electric secondary winch. The winch stopped working and hydraulic fluid leaked from the motor. I m hoping this is a fixable problem by removing the winch motor and taking it to my local hydraulic winch repair tech. I am assuming the weak link in the system is the seal and a burned out fuse somewhere. I just bought the boat and am still learning where things are and have not even located the small 5 amp fuse to the switches noted in the diagram.
Click to expand...

The gearbox is oil filled. Nothing is hydraulic. Probably your bearings need replaced and the box rebuilt.
 
Yes stand corrected. It's a sealed unit with oil in the gearbox. Upon inspection the oil has leaked out either along the seal or through the bolt fittings. Fortunately I am in Palm Beach with Harken repair techs nearby. They will send a guy tomorrow and we will decide if the unit needs to be removed and taken to the facility for a rebuild. The boat has a list of repair items and this is not at the top of the list so depeding upon what we find I may defer. I am more interested in finding why the furling line binds and created that much tension in the first place. I think I should be able to do it by normal hand winching but I find it fighting me all the way. Something is not right.
 
PS---the wiring seems pretty straight forward. Fortunately access is not a problem. The boat is large enough you can get to things a lot easier than my previous 36 footer.
 
So update.....had to remove the 44St to get to the flange bolts and remove the motor/gear box unit. It appears a metal seal failed causing it to leak oil and overheat. However the motor and gears are in good shape and they think they can repair it and refill it with oil. When they put it on the bench and hooked power it turned nicely. The problem is the reseal process. Harken does not support or sell parts for this model. So we have to fabricate/machine some of the replacement parts. Harken recommends 'just buy a new unit' as if though money is no object. I'm getting cost estimate for repairs and am told think it can be done reasonable and much less than a new unit.
 
From an old message of mine
Sooty was out of my home. Name is Bongfiglioli, look for U.K. Distributor. They should serve you. On the gearbox should be the model indicated. So you have to dismantle first. Also you have to get the unit a bit modified with a part of the damaged gear box, means changing the seals. Anyway much cheaper than buying new from Harken, if they have got it still in their range. Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top