Windlass winds in, but not out

jimmy_the_builder

jimmy_the_builder

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Need a bit of forum knowledge here please. My lewmar windlass has worked faultlessly for the past three years or so; as part of my prep for moving the boat to France I replaced the existing chain with a new 80m length of chain to the same spec.

When attempting to deploy the anchor at the weekend, the windlass started to let the chain out, and then it appeared to jam - the windlass made a clicking sound, but there was no movement of the chain. On investigation the chain had got bunched up in the locker, and was jamming itself inside the anchor locker. I freed it, and then tried again.

All ok, then it jammed and clicked again. Freed it again, but this time although the chain was free, it just made the clicking sound and no movement of the chain. I ended up just unwinding the top of the windlass to dump a load of chain into the sea so that we could quickly move forward to gin and tonic o'clock.

When the time came to recover the anchor - no probs at all, no clicking, perfect recovery.

What's happened here - have I busted some part of the windlass when it first got jammed?

Cheers
Jimmy
 
One of the connectors in the solenoid in the bow corroded....

Believe this is a sign of poor connection that leads to low current flow that will cause similar issues like this.

We had the same (but in lifting) and investigation revealed that it connected, but not well enough...

WD40 followed by light sanding of the offending item (remember to disconnect power) fixed the issue in 15 minutes....
 
I think Alf's nailed it there, Jimmy. I am only posting because this was my sole opportunity to display a bit of technical knowledge gained from experience and I've been beaten to it. :D

Still, I am feeling rather pleased with myself owing to having managed to clean the most irritating bit of green stuff from the hard-to-get-at recess between two sliding panes of glass on the boat today. Between the showers of course...waiting for the sun, (If the sun don't come, you get a tan. From standing in the English rain.)*


*Lennon/McCartney
 
Too much anchoring, Jimmy
Vegas not used to it.
:D:D




Seriously though
We overheated ours in Ibiza.
Just before we settled for the night - up. down - up, down etc.....
Then it overheated
So we had dinner an allwas well after that.
 
It's very likely to be the solenoid and as suggested the first thing to do is to clean and remake the connections, but solenoid failure is very common, and in most of these cases it is a problem with the solenoid rather than just the connections.
It's also worth checking the switch or remote control.
The solenoid or switch can be bypassed and if the windlass functions you know where the problem is, but the currents are high, so if you don't know how to do this replacing the solenoid may be the best solution, if it turn out not to be the problem a spare solonoid is good thing to have on hand.
 
Last edited:
Thanks all. Sounds like I need to source a solenoid then. Hurricane, I don't think it was an overheat cos I had the same prob again today, on first use.

I will try and get to the solenoid tomorrow morning, provided it's not too sunny.

Cheers
Jimmy
 
jimmy_the_builder said:
Thanks all. Sounds like I need to source a solenoid then. Hurricane, I don't think it was an overheat cos I had the same prob again today, on first use.

I will try and get to the solenoid tomorrow morning, provided it's not too sunny.

Cheers
Jimmy
Click to expand...

Jimmy, before you buy anything, you say the system works when reeling in the chain. Does rewind use a different solenoid from unwind? I have no idea, but best to understand this first.
 
I don't reckon it is a solenoid Jimmy. If the chain jams as you are letting chain out the clicking noise is normal. I've experienced that often. There is something mechanical inside the mechanics that makes this happen. deliberately, in the chain out mode. That mechanism sounds as if it has now busted on your winch

It is way too much of a coincidence that a solenoid has busted at the very moment your chain jammed, since the solenoid does not "see " the chain load (at least the mech parts don't; the current increase of course). It is much more likely that the mechanical clicker, which DOES "see" the chain unwind load, has failed

I'd take it apart and WD40/grease. They're not complex inside
 
when reading your post, a mechanical failure was also my first impression and not a solenoid,
but no personal experience with Lewmar's...

do you deploy your anker alway's electrically ?
I (or swmbo) alway's deploy it by mechanical releasing, and let it fall by its weight,
and brake a bit, to keep speed within limits
 
jfm said:
I don't reckon it is a solenoid Jimmy. If the chain jams as you are letting chain out the clicking noise is normal. I've experienced that often.
Click to expand...
+2.
Not sure if this is the case JTB, but since you mentioned that you "replaced the existing chain with a new 80m length of chain":
Depending on the chain length and its locker size/shape on the boat, it could be that the chain gets frequently jammed upon recovery - or also while cruising in some rough stuff.
You normally don't notice that while recovering the anchor, but you obviously do the next time you'll drop it.
And of course, if previously you had a shorter chain, you had less chances to see this happen.

Fwiw, after my initial experiences with 2x100m chains, now my normal procedure while recovering an anchor, whenever I must drop more than 20 or 30 meters, is to send someone (normally swmbo) down in forward cabin and check that the chain doesn't get self-tangled.
Sounds like a pita, but it's still way better than getting stuck afterwards.
Otoh, that's only feasible on boats with a convenient access to the anchor locker, which is something rarely found on modern boats.
 
MapisM said:
whenever I must drop more than 20 or 30 meters, is to send someone (normally swmbo) down in forward cabin and check that the chain doesn't get self-tangled.
Click to expand...

some time ago I came across a part,
sort of a SS mushroom,
to be positioned in the chain compartment, straight below the chain,
so that instead of a pile, the chain goes in circles around this mushroom, to avoid tangling

I forgot where I've seen it,
anybody experience with such a part ?
 
BartW said:
some time ago I came across a part,
sort of a SS mushroom,
to be positioned in the chain compartment, straight below the chain,
so that instead of a pile, the chain goes in circles around this mushroom, to avoid tangling

I forgot where I've seen it,
anybody experience with such a part ?
Click to expand...

I've seen a small traffic cone placed in the anchor locker of one boat to ensure the chain 'flaked' in the right way. Cheaper than stainless steel :D
 
MapisM said:
jammed ... while cruising in some rough stuff.
Click to expand...

Yup. With galvanised chain it forms a cone as the chain is recovered, then on your next trip you hit a wave and the cone falls over and jams.

S/s chain much better on this score because it pools flat in the anchor locker as it is hauled in
 
Evening all

Couple of things:

1. I think the reason that the chain is jamming is mainly because there is a moulding from the forward cabin that protudes into the anchor locker, conveniently providing a trap for chain, particularly now there is more chain. It's a bit hard to describe, but suffice to say that with three bits of ply and some appropriately deployed sika flex, I can remove the chain trap.
2. I took the above-deck part of the windlass to bits this morning, and I did find one broken component, although I'm not absolutely clear on what this component does. It also didn't look like a particularly new break - but broken is broken so I will endeavour to source a new one before I head back down. It's a bit hard to spot, but the break is in the dark grey component that has the bright blue shim on top of it:

0fdddde4.jpg



Cheers
Jimmy
 
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