Tripping Windlass

[Ken13559]

My stock Simpson-Lawrence Windlass works great for past 8 years until last weekend. It keeps tripping on even the slightest load. I knew I had to do something about the rusted cable-lug nuts at the motor end but hadn't put it on priority list. Can the rusted terminals/nuts be the cause of trip?

 

[Bill Roosa]

Not likly. the CB trips because of too much current flow. Rusted connections typically cause too little current to flow.
Try this, turn the gypsy by hand a small amount and see if the CB trips. If it runs OK or runs a little then trips the motor has a shorted winding in it and it needs replaced. If it still does not run then I'd suspect the brushes or comutator is grounding out some how.
If the gypsy is frozen it can also cause the CB to trip from a stalled motor. FWIW

 

[Ken13559]

Bill, thanks for info. Will check it out this weekend.

 

[Ken13559]

When to check the rusted terminals and motor. Ended up stripping the whole windlass san the base plate! Noted the shaft bearing to be bad. Maybe that's what causing the loads on the motor. Will get new bearings, O-ring and circlips. Hopefully that solve the tripping problem.

 

[Rich Stidger]

If the bearings are seized, that could certainly cause the CB tripping. However, if the motor is made by Leroy Somer, I would have it checked out for faulty brushes. These L-S motors are notorious for bad brushes. Bad brushes will cause the same operational symptom as you described- slow moving and/or tripping CB.

 

[Ken13559]

Rich, how can I strip open the motor to check the brushes? Is it common parts I can get from anyway and not proprietary?

 

[Rich Stidger]

I don't recall how the motor disassembles. I think I opened mine and then took it to an electric motor repair to have them replace the brushes. If this is a Leroy-Somer motor, it is French-made and parts are VERY expensive and have a long lead time to procure. After two rebuilds on mine I tossed the motor and bought a replacement from a company in the UK.

Knowing what I do now, I should have replaced the motor at the first sign of problems. However, I figured that this could be rebuilt easily like almost every other electric motor. Well it can if you have enough money and time.

Oh yes, the brushes are "special". My electric shop had to custom cut other brushes to fit on the first rebuild.

 

[Ken13559]

Rich thanks for the info. That doesn't sound too good. Think I'll get all the mechanical parts done up first then see how it runs before going down the electrical route. My motor says Lewmar 2001 but I don't know if its French made or where.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Ken,

I compared your picture to my pictures of the Leroy-Somer motor and they look very similar with the same colors on the label. The label wasn't exact, but very similar. Somewhere on the motor it should identify the manufacturer. To the best of my knowledge, Simpson Lawrence used L-S motors from at least 1997 on, and after Lewmar bought them I think Lewmar continued to use the same motor.

In the event you need a source for a replacement motor, see the link below:

http://www.slspares.co.uk/Anchorman-Power-Windlass.htmlhttp://www.slspares.co.uk/Anchorman-Power-Windlass.html

This is the dealer that I purchased my replacement motor at least 7-8 years ago. No problems since.

 

[Ken13559]

Rich, thanks for the SL Spares link.

Ken

 

[Ken13559]

Got intouch with SL Spares, he said the motor is not identical (but a replacement). Wiring is slightly different. Suppose that shouldn't be a problem since its a replacement. I'll fix all mechanical parts and run it first just to be sure before ordering the motor.
Rich, thanks for the help. Another load off my mind.

 

[Ken13559]

Ok the servicing of my SL windlass went really well. Replaced the bearing, circlips and O-ring. Grease & fit it up and it work well. Motor still trip under light load. Ease the fiction on the drum to allow motor to free-spin if load is too high, but ended up chain gets paid out when boat is pushed by tide & wind. So that is no-go. Looks like need to strip and service motor. Better yet put in an order for a new motor from SL Spares. :cry:

 

[Lee Coller]

but ended up chain gets paid out when boat is pushed by tide & wind.

I hope this doesn't mean what I think it means. The windlass is not designed to hold the boat at anchor, only raise and lower the anchor. When anchored, you should use a snubber (piece of line with a chain hook spliced on the end) to tie off the chain to a cleat. If in fact you've been using the windlass to hold the boat at anchor, it's possible the spindle has been slightly bent.

 

[Ken13559]

Well.... its lunch hook so .. and Yes I do agree its not a good idea to anchor on the windlass. My bad. Anyway, I stripped the motor and cleaned out the dirt on the coil armature (? I thin that's what its called). The brushes seems wore but its normal and I think the length is still ok. Still trying all that I could to avoid buying a new motor .....

 

[Ken13559]

Windlass Motor update:
Got a friend who is an electrical engineer to take a look at the motor. He suggested stripping it (I was kinda reluctant) but he's quite sure there is more problem then I imagine. So upon stripping the motor we found the magnets to be displaced, broken, attached to the rotor and had gorge two long holes on the rotor. Looks very bad. No way this can be salvage/repair. He commented that this motor design is not good. Oh well, looks like I'll be ordering for new motor.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Ken,

FWIW, the pictures of your brushes an commutator that you posted in #14 are quite different than in my Leroy-Somer motor My motor had a conventional axial commutator and radial brushes instead of a radial commutator and axial brushes like yours. Just an observation, nothing more.

Nevertheless, I think you are time and money ahead to buy a new motor assuming that the rest of your windlass is in good shape. The issue of the "Wiring is slightly different" is just that the new motor will have a couple of 18" wires attached instead of posts to bolt your existing cables. All you need to do is crimp a lug onto the motor cables and then bolt the cables together and cover with tape.

 

[Ken13559]

Rich, I assume the couple 18" wires are the field coils. My existing motor is permanent magnets. The rest of the windlass parts are good (apart from the rusted bearing & broken circlip) so it should be in business when I get the new motor installed ...hopefully. This has been a learning experience for me.