prv
Well-Known Member
Until this afternoon, I thought my inherited windlass didn't have a clutch, but could only be motored up and down. This was just about manageable in a wide shallow Solent anchorage, but would be distinctly awkward in a deep bay in the Channel Islands. Fortunately, having unscrewed the top cap off the thing, I've realised it does have a clutch, but it was completely stuck through years of use by unskilled charterers and probably zero maintenance.
With the aid of a hammer and my biggest bodging screwdriver, I managed to get the gypsy to turn independently of the motor shaft (ie, with the clutch released). But it's very sticky and erratic and not really usable under control, so I need to get the whole thing apart to give it a good clean. The problem I have is no way of applying an upwards force to the top clutch cone to lift it off.
I've tried to find an exploded diagram on google image search, but failed. The best I can do is this picture from another forum: http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/IMG_2318_2.jpg . That's not quite the same model of windlass, but it's pretty close. There are two clutch cones (one visible in his white plastic tray, bottom right) which sit in cone-shaped hollows in the gypsy - one above it, one below. They're keyed to the shaft - in his case by flats on the shaft and in the cones, in mine by small keys in keyways, but the effect is the same. The gypsy is able to rotate around the shaft. The top plate screws onto the big thread on the top of the shaft, and when it's done up it squeezes the whole stack together so that the cones grip the gypsy between them.
The problem I have is that the top cone is somewhat stuck to the shaft. It's not totally seized, as I can manage about half a millimetre of relative motion (in the plane of rotation) between the two parts. But I need to lift it up, out of its hollow in the top of the gypsy, and there's no way to apply any force in that direction. The top of it is completely flush with the top face of the gypsy. I've tried lifting the whole gypsy up, by levering with a long screwdriver, but it doesn't want to come. It's probably still somewhat sticky on the shaft, plus because I'm only lifting under one side I'm applying a tilting force which is not ideal for the gypsy to slide up the shaft.
I squirted a lot of WD40 into it (yes, I know it's just perfumed white spirit, but it's all I could get my hands on at the time and it did help a bit). I will get some Plus Gas and go and dose it with that as well. But does anyone have any useful experience of dismantling this type of windlass, or thoughts on how to lift that cone out of its socket?
Cheers,
Pete
With the aid of a hammer and my biggest bodging screwdriver, I managed to get the gypsy to turn independently of the motor shaft (ie, with the clutch released). But it's very sticky and erratic and not really usable under control, so I need to get the whole thing apart to give it a good clean. The problem I have is no way of applying an upwards force to the top clutch cone to lift it off.
I've tried to find an exploded diagram on google image search, but failed. The best I can do is this picture from another forum: http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/IMG_2318_2.jpg . That's not quite the same model of windlass, but it's pretty close. There are two clutch cones (one visible in his white plastic tray, bottom right) which sit in cone-shaped hollows in the gypsy - one above it, one below. They're keyed to the shaft - in his case by flats on the shaft and in the cones, in mine by small keys in keyways, but the effect is the same. The gypsy is able to rotate around the shaft. The top plate screws onto the big thread on the top of the shaft, and when it's done up it squeezes the whole stack together so that the cones grip the gypsy between them.
The problem I have is that the top cone is somewhat stuck to the shaft. It's not totally seized, as I can manage about half a millimetre of relative motion (in the plane of rotation) between the two parts. But I need to lift it up, out of its hollow in the top of the gypsy, and there's no way to apply any force in that direction. The top of it is completely flush with the top face of the gypsy. I've tried lifting the whole gypsy up, by levering with a long screwdriver, but it doesn't want to come. It's probably still somewhat sticky on the shaft, plus because I'm only lifting under one side I'm applying a tilting force which is not ideal for the gypsy to slide up the shaft.
I squirted a lot of WD40 into it (yes, I know it's just perfumed white spirit, but it's all I could get my hands on at the time and it did help a bit). I will get some Plus Gas and go and dose it with that as well. But does anyone have any useful experience of dismantling this type of windlass, or thoughts on how to lift that cone out of its socket?
Cheers,
Pete
