What's in your windlass?? Lewmar Pro-Series

Avidmagnum12

Avidmagnum12

Member
Well you may be surprised! My Lewmar 700H has been slow to raise the anchor. That is it would lift 10 or so feet of rode or chain and then I would "give it a rest" to raise more. Seemed like it did not have the power to do much more than that. The windlass is only about 5 years old. Opened the unit up and it was a salty, wet, dirty mess. Disassembled the gears and found a couple very dirty corroded bearings, bad main seal and a bad roller clutch. The 2ed compound gear assembly had to be forcefully removed with a puller. (and yes..... I did have the washer in the correct position.)

I ordered all the replacement parts from Tim at Florida Rigging. 800-718-1649 Fluid Technologies at 904-384-9659 also has parts...nice people.

It seems that the cover may not have been sealed properly. There is no gasket only what looks like a silicone sealer and the main seal could have also allowed moisture into the unit.

I never inspected the windless that I had on my CD-22 (never had any problems) but plan on opening this one up to clean and inspect at least every two years. I will also rinse the outside of the SS housing but be careful not to use high pressure.

The parts should be here next week so we will see how it goes....WHATS IN YOUR WINDLESS!
 
Thats the same problem I had with a Lewmar v600 windlass: Install Lewmar winch.

I had the happy thought that the horizontal winches wouldn't have that problem. Looks like I was wrong. I replaced the whole winch with the latest Lewmar vertical model, cause i didn't know the problem.

So, where was yours made: in Europe or Thailand?

Boris
 
Boris
I will try to find out where mine was made. The photo on the link you had in your reply is worst than my 700H. I still think that a horizontal windless is the way to go. Lewmar actually says to inspect, clean and redo the grease yearly. Could be a good idea.

Thanks Tom
 
We sent a Pro 700 Series from our 2008 Venture back to Fluid Technologies in Florida to get checked out ours bound up tight. They replaced the complete unit no charge as it not far out of warranty. It got corroded from a bad seal so they reported. Some say they should be taken apart once a year and checked and redo the grease if it has been contaminated by water intrusion. They should be able to make more reliable sealing and a better quality grease to prevent corrosion issue from ever developing in the first place. The people at Fluid Technology from Florida were as nice as can be.
D.D.
 
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