Windlass issue

Cincy Aquaholic

Cincy Aquaholic

Active Member
Mar 15, 2009
1,329
Cincinnati
Boat Info
290 SS - 2016 Ford F250 Powerstroke
Engines
Twin 5.7 with Bravo 1's
Having trouble with my the "up" function of the windlass. It just clicks at the "box" it's wired to in the anchor locker. This has occurred in the past but after a couple presses of the bottom always worked. Even switch the "down" wire to the up terminals same result. Both helm and foot peddle switches do the same.

No breakers are tripped. Cause?
 
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It sounds like one of two issues to me.

One: the motor may be bad.

Two: your clutch is too lose to lift the anchor. Where you able to raise the anchor manually with the handle?

A neighbor had a issue last week with his newly installed windlass. They found the nuts came lose and was causing to much torque on the motor. They used the wrong loctite.

Hope that helps.
 
Clutch too loose? Its not spinning at all. I'm not sure how that impacts it so can you explain more?

I tried to use that handle to crank it up but that got me nowhere. Did not want to turn easily and it seemed the rope would not even catch. Felt like I was forcing it.

When it was working I didn't notice any problems with the motor. This seems to be a selonoid issue or connection issue. Henry, thanks for the link, I'll look that over.
 
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If it's the same windlass as mine (Lofrans, not entirely sure the model), the handle doesn't crank the rope/chain in, it simply loosens the capstan so you can manually raise the anchor.

Your symptoms sound similar to mine; one of the electric connections to the motor had broken in the motor itself. Took the motor and broken stud to an electric motor repair shop, and for $75 they resoldered the stud. Apparently this is a fairly common problem, as the nuts are not supposed to be tightened against the motor body, rather the two nuts are to be tightened against one another to secure the wire. If you tighten the nuts down against the motor body, the stud can be broken off.
 
Had similar problems with mine - actually all kinds of problems that were intermittant. Sent the motor unit back to IMTRA after talking to one of their tech guys. Not sure what they fixed but is has been working since (but I still wouldn't recommend this model to anyone).

If you find a good local motor repair shop, they might be able to repair it as well. I do have many good old'school electric motor shops in my area (phila) but decided to go right to Imtra as it is their product.
 
JeffM said:
If it's the same windlass as mine (Lofrans, not entirely sure the model), the handle doesn't crank the rope/chain in, it simply loosens the capstan so you can manually raise the anchor.
Click to expand...

:smt021 Did not know this. Thanks. I don't have an owners manual for this. Will have to look at it later in the week and see specificall what kind I have. First time it acted up like this, I put new connectors on the wire (the kind that look like speaker wire terminals) and that fixed it. But that doesn't seem to be the problem now.
 
Cincy Aquaholic said:
Clutch too loose? Its not spinning at all. I'm not sure how that impacts it so can you explain more?
Click to expand...

Sorry about the confusion. You said the motor would let out the rope, but not raise the anchor. I was thinking it may be slipping due to a lose clutch.

Based on the other comments, I think their on the right track to you help resolve the issue.
 
If I understand your situation correctly, what you are hearing "click" is the relay and the motor does not move.

That being the case, it sounds like you could have a bad spot on the motor armature. When that spot gets aligned with the windings in a certain spot, it creates a "dead spot" and the motor will not run.

Unfortunately if this is the case, you are most likely looking at a new windless as repairing this would be very expensive. You could try an electric motor repair shop but usually they won't mess with this type motor.
 
Max said:
If I understand your situation correctly, what you are hearing "click" is the relay and the motor does not move.

That being the case, it sounds like you could have a bad spot on the motor armature. When that spot gets aligned with the windings in a certain spot, it creates a "dead spot" and the motor will not run.

Unfortunately if this is the case, you are most likely looking at a new windless as repairing this would be very expensive. You could try an electric motor repair shop but usually they won't mess with this type motor.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what occuring. Hmm, I hope its not that although I believe it should still be a warranty item because the PO bought that.
 
Max said:
If I understand your situation correctly, what you are hearing "click" is the relay and the motor does not move.

That being the case, it sounds like you could have a bad spot on the motor armature. When that spot gets aligned with the windings in a certain spot, it creates a "dead spot" and the motor will not run.

Unfortunately if this is the case, you are most likely looking at a new windless as repairing this would be very expensive. You could try an electric motor repair shop but usually they won't mess with this type motor.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't a dead spot affect DOWN operation as well?

If I'm understanding this problem correctly (may not be) it works fine to let out the line - just won't retreive it? That could be a solenoid-related issue. An easy test would be to reverse the 2 wires at the solenoid that go to the motor. If is still won't retreive (using the DOWN switch now) then it's probably the motor. This assumes you have 2 (and not 3) big wires running to the windlass.
 
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MLauman said:
Wouldn't a dead spot affect DOWN operation as well?

If I'm understanding this problem correctly (may not be) it works fine to let out the line - just won't retreive it? That could be a solenoid-related issue. An easy test would be to reverse the 2 wires at the solenoid that go to the motor. If is still won't retreive (using the DOWN switch now) then it's probably the motor. This assumes you have 2 (and not 3) big wires running to the windlass.
Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge since the motor is reversible it is possible that it will start in one direction and not the other.

Eliminating the relay is an excellent idea. Perhaps an easier way (rather than switching cables) to accomplish this is to use a 12v meter. Simply check to see if when you activate the up switch you have power at the motor terminal (this would be where the #6 or #8 cable is attached to the motor.
 
I do have the 3 big wires on top of the solenoid box. I haven't looked real close as to their connections but will start by checking with a meter. I have a feeling that's the issue.
 
You have a bad solenoid, or a bad connection to it. This is easy to eliminate. Switch your solenoids and I bet the problem moves with it. Should take you 20 minutes or so.....
 
I hope that is the case. I'll find out tomorrow. I'd be happy to drop the anchor off the windlass manually (it would go much faster anyway) and be able to bring it up if I switch them around for the weekend.
 
Cincy Aquaholic said:
I do have the 3 big wires on top of the solenoid box. I haven't looked real close as to their connections but will start by checking with a meter. I have a feeling that's the issue.
Click to expand...

You should have one of these 2 scenarios:

2 terminal motor system: http://www.imtra.com/downloadTypes/Lofrans_2_Terminal_Wiring_Diagram.jpg

3 terminal motor system: http://www.imtra.com/downloadTypes/3_Terminal_Wiring_Diagram.jpg

In either case, swapping the wires on terminals M1 and M2 should give you an answer.

If you choose to test the voltage they will be done differently. For the 2 terminal motor system you will test across terminals M1 and M2. You may have to swap leads as this system works by simply reversing polarity at the solenoid.

On the 3 terminal motor system you will have to find a good neg connection (terminal C if you can get to it) and then either M1 or M2 for the pos.

Of course you can also make these tests at the motor end if it is accessible.
 
Not to make this more complicated that it already might seem to you, but I believe MLauman testing instructions are incorrect.

If you are checking voltage and have the two terminal motor, you will not test across M1 and M2. You should test from M1 to ground and M2 to ground. I believe (not sure) that M1 is the UP terminal so that is really the only one you have concern with. Make sure you find a good ground for the negative lead from your meter. Put your test leads M1 and ground and have someone activate the up operating switch. If there is no voltage then you definitely have a relay issue.

If you have the 3 terminal motor, the 3rd terminal is simply a ground terminal - so that is where you place the negative lead from your volt meter.

Good luck!
 
Actually if you swap the leads coming from the motor to M1 and M2 the following will happen:

1. The windlass now goes up, but not down, UP solenoid contact burned out,

or

2. Windlass still will not go up, then the segment of the motor handling the up function is bad. This could be a broken terminal lug, bad connection somewhere etc.

or

3. Everything works - the connections were dirty on either M1 or M2
 
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