EDITOR: Now also published at: www.jeanneau-owners.com/hintsandtips/Leroysomerwindlass.htmlLeroy Somer windlass repair
Picures tell more than a thousand words
On those pictures unterneath you will find the complete repair of the windlass
But first let me give you the short story again.
The problem started when my windlass slipped , it was impossible to raise the anchor because the chain gypsy did not do her part.It seemed the clutch was worne down , or damaged in some way. I could not tighten up the topnut in order to put more pressure on the clutch. Eventualy , the drum was corroded onto the shaft and also there was no more margin to tighten up the topnut, but that last part was made to me clear at the end of the story.
With a pulley puller i tried to remove the drum with little to no succes. W40 had no impact , there was just not enough room between the drum and the shaft for infiltrating , the two seem to be glued to one another Heating up the drum also did not help.
So at the end ,with a lot of patience , much brutal pulley puller force , a few wedges , hotair blaster and a rubber hammer to bash the side of the drum i succeded in getting the drum off.
See picture 498
Once the drum was off , it was obvious why heating up the drum was partialy in vain.Because of the typical construction of the drum there was just not enough heat transfer to the centre part which needed to expand.
See picture 499
The picture of the chain gypsy shows a SS spacer as an in between to pressure the clutch
See picture 495
To get more margin to tighten up the topnut i added an extra spacer so the drum gets higher see picture 497 .The picture 503 of the next section indicates why the extra spacer is neccesairy
If those two spacers would decide to interactively slip , i can carve up the two touching surfaces with a grinder in a later stage to enhance the friction.
Picture 497
This picture 503 gives you an idea on how the drum is pushed on to the clutch. The topnut is resting on an inner edge of the drum so it can squeeze that drum down. However , that picture also makes clear the inner edge is at the same level as the sqaire part of the shaft. That means the topnut is not only touching the inner edge of the drum , but also the shaft. That means the topnut has no function at all and the clutch was left to here own devices.
See picture 503
Picture 500 to give a better view on the inner edge of the drum.
These pictures shows you the supplementairy thin spacer i used to get some elevating of the topnut and also to streghten up the inner edge of the drum.It fits exactly into the drum , and the inner diameter is somewhat bigger than the square part of the shaft (diagonally spooken that is)
Pictures 502 and 501
OK , problem solved .
So, maybe somewhere in this world there is someone with the same windlass issue i had , and maybe he/she will google his/her way to this board and find all the help they can get. I know I did , because i also got some tips on a dutch board (im Belgian you see , oeps , excuse me , i'm Flemish !!) that lead me to solve and save.
Good luck.
Sailbleu
