Windless stops working

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H

Harleyman

I have a 1997 42 passage. I have the stock windless that comes with the boat and it seems to work fine until I use it for more than 20 seconds then it quicks and all I hear is the solonod clicking. I thought it was overheating but the motor is cool and so are the cables. Any suggestions ?
 
Feb 10, 2004
4,096
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Need more info, but it sounds like......

the brushes in the motor. Does the windlass run for 20 seconds and then quit every time you attempt to use it, or does it just not work at all sometimes? I have a 1997 h40.5 and I installed the factory-recommended Simpson Lawrence Anchorman 1000. I have had two major brush failures where the windlass just quit. S-L used a French-made Leroy Somer permanent magnet motor. If you have a similiar windlass with this motor, then my guess of brush failure is very likely. I'll be looking to hear of your resolution on this one......
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,900
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
We have a Maxwell on our 1991 P42...

and it has yet to fail. The two times it stopped working was when the anchor chain got jammed in the winch drum and popped the circuit breaker. The second was when I replaced the house bank and overlooked the winch hot wire that connected to the battery terminal. Call Maxwell with your symptoms and see what they have to say. They have been very helpful to me in the past when I lost the foot switch spring and they sent one to me free of charge. Terry
 
F

Frederick

check your windless fuse

Might be the power-breaker of the windless itself. The solenoid is powered from a breaker of the main electrical panel but the power to the windless itself has a own high amp fuse(if it burns it has to be replaced). The breaker is at the battery selection panel behind the door to the aft cabin.
 
Dec 5, 2003
204
Hunter 420 Punta Gorda, FL
Clean and Tighten

all of the connections to the battery switch, breakers and windlass itself. That fixed mine. Bill
 
Dec 25, 2000
5,900
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
I got the impression from Harleyman's ...

post that the unit works fine for about 20 seconds then stops. I'm assuming that after a cool down that it begins working again, although he did not say. If that is the case it would not be the circuit breaker on the main power panel. When mine tripped I had to reset it, which takes quite a bit of pressure on the red button. Our windlass was used many times during this past cruising season. In some cases under pretty heavy load. So much so that it would grind the motor almost to a halt before I stopped it to prevent tripping the breaker. When the breaker tripped on our boat it killed all power to everything connected to the windlass including the solenoid. A volt meter helped to trouble shoot the system. The battery side of the breaker showed 12.5 volts but nothing on the other side. My problem was I did not know how hard you had to press the red circuit breaker button in order to get it to reset until the yard electrician clued me in. Terry
 
Jul 17, 2005
586
Hunter 37.5 Bainbridge Island - West of Seattle
I assume you are not using the windlass to .......

pull the boat towards the anchor. Windlass is not designed for that, and it will overheat, and it will also die of early death. You should be motoring forward towards the anchor. As the rode slacks, you turn on the windlass to take up the slack. It is designed to pull the anchor + rode up, not the weight of the boat until the anchor frees up.
 
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