2 windllass questions H36 with Simpson Lawrence windlass

Steve Dion · Apr 28, 2013

Paul:

I would guess that there is some type of a relay that prevents one from engaging the windlass unless there is a charge going to the battery.

onecoolair · Apr 29, 2013

Have you checked?? dedicated battery up in the bow

PKFK said:
I have 2 questions about the windlass on my 2007 H36.

The "manual" from Simpson Lawrence is a joke - the most useless piece of documentation I have seen in a long time.

1 - there are 2 holes in the top of the windlass. The center hole is for the clutch and seems to work as I would expect - use a winch handle and you can either let the winch run free, or lock it down. What is the purpose of the second Offset hole ? It fits a standard winch handle and I thought it was for manual retrieval - but no matter what I do to the clutch, I can't budge the winch with a handle in this second offset hole. The manual totally ignores this - so - do you guys know what the second offset hole is for ?and if it is for manual retrieval, how in the heck do you use it ????? The manual is clueless on this.

2 - despite having fully charged batteries, connected to shore power and a charger,unless the engine is running, when I push the UP or DOWN buttons for the windlass, all I get is a CLICK but no movement from the windlass. If the engine is running - no problem - but no engine = no power windlass. Is this normal or Is there an electrical problem ? Again - the manual is totally useless on this topic - so I hope you guys can shed some light on this.

Thanks,

Paul

Have you checked??
Does your windless have a dedicated battery up in the bow for windless only?... If so then this dedicated battery may be going bad or is just dead . This battery may only be set up to receive its charge from engine alternator and is not setup so it can receive a charge or be maintained from your battery charger.

seadaddler · Apr 29, 2013

No

I can run windlass with out running the motor and the offset hole
Is to spin off the drum and after removing chain cover and one other
Screw you can lift afew inches and add grease down into the bearing and on
The shaft
Nick

onecoolair · Apr 29, 2013

Check the dedicated high amp breaker switch

PKFK said:
Looks like I have some detective work to do. There are 2 battery banks - 1 starting battery under the aft bunk, and a bank of 4 Trojan T105's in the port lazarette. I would think that the 4 Trojans would run the windlass no problem - so there must be some odd wiring arrangement preventing the windlass from running without the engine.

But.....the fact that I can hear the solenoid click when I push the up or down buttons would seem to indicate a lack of current. Need to do more snooping on the new boat I guess.

Nick - so the offset hole is only to remove the drum, and not actually useful for manual retrrieval ?? I always like a manual backup - but in this case it sounds like the manual backup is......my back.

// Paul

Sorry did not think about this the first time I posted.... Check the dedicated high amp breaker switch..... I have two breakers one on the nav-electrical panel then another down under the nav-desk next to the 1/2/both/off battery selector switch.

seadaddler · Apr 29, 2013

Manual

I am not sure but I think the middle hole is for manual cranking of the windlass,I have not done so and maybe I am wrong and will need to read up on the manual and not sure we have same model windlass and my boat is 07 and the panel looks different but there is a relay switch mounted next to the windlass motor under in my vee berth.
Nick

keepsailin · May 2, 2013

Actually, I am researching the same issue on my 450. However, on my panel, the windlass breaker is a 5 amp which clearly only provides power to the relay (click click). A mechanic friend told me that he expects that the relay closes which in turn provides the 2/0 cable power to the windlass. Makes sense to me since the windlass draws 78 amp on my boat which is clearly not handled by the 5 amp breaker.

Bob 04 H260 · May 3, 2013

I think we have the same windlass on our boat. I also have wondered about the purpose of the offset winch hole and how to manually bring up the anchor if required. Let us know if you make any discoveries. Usually I learn about these "features" by taking to the importer or a factory rep at one of the big boat shows.

Ours runs fine without the engine running. I would guess there could be a bad electrical connection between the battery bank and battery selector switch. If you connect a voltmeter between the battery + terminal and windlass breaker you will see how big the voltage drop is when the windlass is activated. Obviously if that turns out fine then the test needs to be done on the -ve side.

Does the alternator output go to the battery selector switch or direct to the house bank ? If it goes to the selector switch then a voltage drop from the battery bank would allow it to run off the alternator but not off the battery bank.

We have our alternator output running direct to the house bank with an echo charger going from there to the starting battery as recommended by Maine Sail and others.

A second thought would be, are you certain you were using the big battery bank and not the single starting battery ?

I'll be coming by to inspect that polishing job !

Bob

onecoolair · May 3, 2013

PKFK said:
The bad connection was between my eyes and brain.

The breaker under the NAV table tripped. I had just pushed the red button in and thought it was ok. I didn't see the small black lever that also needed to be flicked.

Now it works fine - even on the hard with no engine running.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Launch is tomorrow and I just figured out I need to grease the variprop - so off to get a grease gun and grease. ?

I had a feeling that's what it was going to be !

Ask me how I know.

2 windllass questions H36 with Simpson Lawrence windlass

.

.

.

.

.

.

Attachments

.

.

.

.

.

.