Lewmar 700 series windlass problem

[dbsea]

We were on the logboom for opening day festivities here in Seattle. Not the best weather compounded by some mechanical challenges but we had a fun time. While dropping our anchor and stern tying on the boom, we painfully discovered that there was a giant looped knot in our rode about 180ft in. I have only used my anchor twice prior, and did not use that much scope. The knot jammed in the hawsehole and the windlass made all kinds of fun noises, and after we got the clutch nut and guard off we were able to free it from the hole and remove it. We tied it off and let it be. Fast forward to yesterday and 15kn northeasterly winds and rain, and we were trying to retrieve our anchor and the motor runs and the wildcat will turn but if it gets any tension on it, the motor continues running but the wildcat will not turn. It even started freewheeling with the weight of the anchor and the chain in the wildcat. I can only guess that I destroyed the clutch cone or stripped a gear or something? It was super fun retrieving all that line and chain manually in the wind and rain…

 

[BB marine]

Does the clutch nut tighten? It sounds like the clutch is slipping and needs to be adjusted. This is done by snugging up on the clutch nut.

 

[dbsea]

Yep. Tightened all the way up, and still won’t grab.

 

[dbsea]

Update… tried to disassemble the windlass and it seems that the clutch cone is seized / corroded onto the shaft. I cannot remove it even with penetrating oil and a hammer. I will have to give up and defer to my mechanic at this point…

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Dave,

So sorry to hear about this. My guess is that you have cooked the clutch on this bugger. That can be replaced, but be sure that there are not other problems.

This is a reminder to all the Tugnuts out there to use your windlass pretty regularly, but Dave just got unlucky, as we did (to follow).

Ours went toes up in much the same way two years ago, but we discovered that water had leaked in the big gasket in the middle of the windlass and corroded the interior. It was a spectacular mess inside and the windlass lacked the torque to do anything useful. I got a replacement for the windlass (these still cost about one boat buck) and it was very easy to put it. This is one of the few big parts that takes a couple of hours max to completely replace once you have a new one and are equipped to replace/splice the new wiring with shrink connectors. The old windlass is in the garage as some future clean up and spare part project.

Of all the jobs I have done on our 29CB, this one was not particularly hard. Andrew Custis and Mike Rizzo (a regular contributor to this site) said to stop whining, shut up and just replace it. It is not hard, even for me.

Finally, living in northern California--but commuting to the boat in Elliott Bay--I am always amused by "opening day" in Seattle. You all are having one of coldest, most miserable wet springs on record. And frankly, that is saying a lot. That is, the bar for miserable is pretty high. But in July, when summer finally arrives, you will be taunting us with your lovely weather.

After all that, my advice is to get another windlass, replace the one you have, then take the old one and rebuild it and keep it around as a spare. The swap is simple.

Jeff

 

[dbsea]

Thanks for the advice Jeff. I think I’m going to try to have it repaired this time around, given how many boat bucks I’ve been hemorrhaging this winter, and that if it’s just the clutch and/or shaft, it should be a pretty straightforward repair. I did eye the new ones, but trying to be a bit more prudent. I also don’t have a garage to store things in, so space is always a concern.

 

[dbsea]

Update, I was able to get the clutch cone and drive pins out with a lot of WD40 and persistence, aka a hammer. Will be replacing the gypsy and clutch cone / drive pins / clutch nut, about $200 worth of parts. A good reminder to service your winch annually as Jeff mentioned.