Anchor Windlass for Bavaria Ocean 38

[1simon]

HI  All,

I have a Bavaria Ocean 38 fitted with a 20kg plough anchor with an 8mm chain.
The windlass just stopped working last weekend , out of the blues, and the technician has advised that the windlass motor has been overloaded a lot and needs repairing /replcing , and I am therefore considering a new windlass.

I have had the boat for a year , and know that the current windlass it has is not the original one.  I am wondering if the current windlass,  a Lewmar Pro Series (  specs for this windlass  say "for boats of up to 38ft@ and pulling power of 454kg) is sufficiently strong for the boat. I never had any problems in the pas year, expect some chain slippage, until it stopped working last weekend.

Can anyone advise the original windlass specs for the Bav Ocean 38, or any other windlass which has proven itself to be suitable for this boat.

Thanks in advance for all the help.

Regards
Simon

[Yngmar]

My 40 Ocean has a Lofrans Cayman 88, which I'd say is sufficiently powerful and apart from the Lofrans "moat" problems (search these forums), and poor maintenance under previous ownership, it is doing pretty well. Moat and maintenance have been rectified and I'm happy with it, except the chain can jump a bit due to insufficient angle. Someone posted a fix for that here as well. All windlasses need regular maintenance and will die if ignored (especially greasing the clutch and the occasional oil change).

[Salty]

My 40 Ocean has a Lofrans Cayman 88, which I'd say is sufficiently powerful and apart from the Lofrans "moat" problems (search these forums), and poor maintenance under previous ownership, it is doing pretty well. Moat and maintenance have been rectified and I'm happy with it, except the chain can jump a bit due to insufficient angle. Someone posted a fix for that here as well. All windlasses need regular maintenance and will die if ignored (especially greasing the clutch and the occasional oil change).

+1,
and even without the oil change.
The oil in mine was changed last winter for the first time in the boats 15 years of life. I guess it might have been changed more often if Lofrans provided a drain plug, but they don't, and so the filler hole is also used for emptying the windlass, and that means disconnecting the cables and lifting the windlass out to somewhere it can be turned onto its end and drained.
I warmed it up a bit with a hair dryer to try to get the old oil to flow out more freely, and that seemed to work quite well, then flushed it out with some diesel oil Before pouring in the required amount of fresh oil.
While the windlass was out I took the time to wire brush the under side to remove all traces of corrosion and then gave it a couple of coats of special metals primer and a coat of aluminium paint before refitting it.

[Symphony]

Another vote for Lofrans Cayman - which would have been the original. I had one on my 37 of similar age. It lasted 11 years , 7 of which were as a charter boat in corfu where the windlass gets more use in a year than most boats in a lifetime.

After an unstable period when Lofrans previous owner was bankrupt they available again at a price 20% less than I paid in 2011. As suggested paint the base and replace the foam pad with a piece of HDPE (Kitchen cutting board) to prevent corrosion, and unscrew all the fastenings one by one and coat the threads in Duralec before replacing. Cuts down corrosion between the stainless and the aluminium.

I have a Lewmar on my new boat = does not seem as powerful of as robust.

[IslandAlchemy]

Are you sure it's not just the motor brushes that have gone?

[1simon]

HI All,
Thanks for the replies and comments.
Windlass motor is being repaired at a cost of Euro90.
Will see how it goes .

Simon

[Anthony]

Did you check the relay overload switch first? This would explain a 'sudden failure'. Always have the motor running when using the anchor winch.

[1simon]

Hi Anthony,
Yes that was checked.
And yes, I always keep the engine running when using the windlass.

Thanks for your post.

Simon