Leroy Somer windlass , who has one

[sailbleu]

I'm sure several members here still have one fitted on their boat , that will probably make me not the only one having problems with this type of windlass.
In the H&T you find a topic how to get the drum and shaft separated , Alu & SS combination you see . But the hiccups all piling up to an extend where the compelling thought of a new windlass emerges.

Recently I discovered the motor's carbon brushes where gone , or nearly gone , so I ordered new .
www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6277026161.html
The price is for 10 items by the way.

The old brushes are welded in so I cut the wire and reconnected the new by soldering.





Still need to cut the brushes to the right size/lenght.
I will do that next week when I fly back to the boat/marina for a few weeks


But since most parts of this windlass are made out of Alu , it's very susceptible to wear.



This is the chain slot , or whatever you call it , the chain passes through to drop into the anchorlocker.
Notice the red arrow where a large piece is missing , it just broke off after been partially grinded away by the chain.
The green arrow indicates the stump that used to be longer and that keeps the chain from staying on the gipsy . A sort of reversed shoe lift.
That part has been beaten alot and gradually got cut shorter by the chain up to a moment where it frequently got stuck between the stump and the gypsy creating a tremendous lateral force on the windlass itself. That needed to be adressed , preferably by a new part.
Unfortunately no parts are available anymore since this windlass is out of production , leaving here customers in the wind.
So I had two choices , or install a new windlass because of a part that at the time must of cost less than 100 Euro , for sure .
Or try to make a copy in stainless steel so the flaws of aluminum would be eleminated.

Guess what.








Ok , I'm happy with the result ,although it has yet to be reinstalled of course . This part , compared with the rest , will be indestructible , no doubt.
But how long before another one dies on me.
Obviously those whinches are not made to last or survive the rest of the boat.
Now my question , who else has had issues with this weak link on our boats ?
What type of windlass would fit the designated space/location for it ?
Has anyone replaced it yet ?
Are there secret places where you can still buy Leroy Somer spareparts ?

Thanks

Regards

[On y va]

The last time I bought some spares is now some years ago from a company called ADT Techniek in Dordrecht Holland, but this company has gone bankrupt.

It is getting a little hard now to find any parts. But, hold on to you Leroy & Somer anchor winch as long as possible, as power wise, they are the best in the field. They actually give the power they are ment to, unlike most other winches.

M

[On y va]

Sailblue, how have you isolated the stainless chain guide from the alu base plate?

[sailbleu]

On Y va ,

Maybe in this case we should agree to disagree.
Although I have no reference towards other brands concerning the power of the windlass , this being my first you see , I do have some experiences with this winch in general. Not quite pleased would be the expression. I already had several issues with it , which I earlier described in a scattered arry on the board

I know about that company you mentioned , mailed them a few years ago but never got a respons.
The s/s part has not been installed yet ,but as with most combinations of alu<>s/s I put some tec7 or sicaflex - depending what tube is open - in between after taping/masking the surroundings , screw the bolts gently and after half a day so tighten the bolts or screws very firmly.

But do you prepare yourself to what would be a final breakdown of this windlass ?
Meaning , what if a vital part gets broke ? No replacements to find , and maybe no means (tools/material) to rebuild it ? What wil be next ?
Have you tried to remove the drum yet (alu drum <> s/s shaft) ? If you fail to do that - lets say a few times annually - it becomes a challenge.


Regards

[hoppy]

What year are your 40's? Mine is 2002 and it came with the Lofrans Airon

I have the same issue with the wear from the chain. The groove is so deep that it is starting to catch the chain if it settles into the groove in the right way. To fix that, I think I have to replace the whole base plate. As it has been out of production for a few years, some parts are hard to find and cost an arm and a leg (looked for a replacement drum, horrible pricing) although I think normal service items and even the gypsy is still readily available. I expect the base plate to be a bit of a challenge and a nasty price, so because of that and a number of other reasons, I'm leaning towards replacing the windlass.

Good point on the alu and wear. Been looking at a Lofrans X2 or X3 and was undecided between the alu or chromed bronze. I was preferring chromed bronze because I like the look, but as I anchor a lot maybe the wear of alu is another reason to go bronze. Also thinking of getting the 1500w as in my mind, more power is better when you are solo and can't be at the helm and babysitting the chain at the same time.

You LS looks to be a snug fit which made me wonder what the measurements of the X2/X3 are compared with my Airon. The X2 is about 15mm wider and deeper and the X3 a lot more. I dug up a photo of my Airon to see that it is substantially smaller than your LS, so even the X3 should be no problem perhaps except for the shaft hole location.

[sailbleu]

Hoppy,

do you have a pic of your windlass setup ?

My boot is a 1999.

Regards

[On y va]

Hi sailblue. 

What you say about the spare parts not being available is very true and at some stage I will get a new anchor winch. What I said about the actual power of this winch, obviously does not come from me. But from the former "Zeilen forum" technical guru Ton Aarts, who actually worked at ADT. He was the one that spoke from experience (and actual test measurements), as they used to sell and service various makes of winches.

However, there is a simple solution, that will make things very easy to keep all going well and smooth. All you need is to have a little cover made and with that, no salt water enters between shaft and drum and I can remove the alu drum, by hand at all times. Obviously I keep it all (copper) greased too.

I was going to add a photo, but I get the message "this forum exceeded its attachment space limit". So sorry. 

[sailbleu]

On Y va ,

some time ago I've supplied a link to reduce and host your pictures . You can copy the link and paste it directly on this board.
Malcolm (head moderator) explains it here :
jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/631/adding-image-post

Looking forward the pics.

Regards

[hoppy]

Nov 5, 2014 8:02:49 GMT sailbleu said:

Hoppy,

do you have a pic of your windlass setup ?

My boot is a 1999.

Regards

Here you go...

The chain drops in the same location as yours, so it is mounted to the edge of the raised bit to port leaving quite a bit of space to starboard and aft.



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