Windlass winds in, but not out

[wakeup]

good idea wakeup,
I'm going to try this out,
plenty of space in my chain locker and good acces,
and defo cheaper then 100m 12mm SS chain

Definitely cheaper if you happen to find one in the street. The police cones are the best i'm told at keeping unruly chain in order

[jimmy_the_builder]

Is the picture how you found it Jimmy, or was the part broken in two and you've pushed it back together to show where it went? If it was broken, then the loose bit could have jammed in the gypsy cover I guess, but otherwise I can't think how this break could cause your problem.

That's how I found it. If you pick it up it holds its form, the break doesn't get any bigger.

Cheers
Jimmy

[Nick_H]

That's how I found it. If you pick it up it holds its form, the break doesn't get any bigger.

Cheers
Jimmy

Then I can't see it could possibly be causing the problem (though good idea to replace it anyway of course)

[kashurst]

as per Divemasters post I would still go through the big electrical cable connectors. I have had similar too in the past. I had a bow thruster that did the same and an anchor winch on a different boat. Although the connections are pretty big it doesn't take much corrosion to create a significant resistance at very high loads. I'd take them off one by one de grease with meths and clean them with wire wool. The stripper looks cracked but I don't think that's the issue

[benjenbav]

The stripper looks cracked but I don't think that's the issue

That was more or less the last thing I said in Stringfellows. Next thing I knew I was on the pavement.

[mikef]

IMHO, the clicking is simply the chain jumping off the gypsy as it strains to wind the chain out. Again IMHO, if it was a sticky solenoid, it would happen when you were winding the chain in as well which it doesn't seem to do. Not something to particularly worry about but it doesn't do the winch any good. That component which is cracked looks like a support for the shaft and gypsy arrangement and the crack may have been caused by the chain jumping off the gypsy.
Its good practice to have the anchor chain hatch open when dropping the anchor just to check that the chain is coming up freely. You can usually see when a snag is about to happen and clear it before it reaches the gypsy

[MYAG]

Its called a "stripper ring", this is what happened to one I had on a previous boat after a couple of weeks daily heavy usage. They are just not man enough imo. I replaced the part (bought in the US but sure you can find in UK) with a ss version, never had the problem again.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?...387&id=1212230

[jfm]

That component which is cracked looks like a support for the shaft and gypsy arrangement

Nah. There is no bearing in it. It's a stripper, to peel the chain off the gypsy

[jimmy_the_builder]

Its called a "stripper ring", this is what happened to one I had on a previous boat after a couple of weeks daily heavy usage. They are just not man enough imo. I replaced the part (bought in the US but sure you can find in UK) with a ss version, never had the problem again.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?...387&id=1212230

Myag, this is super helpful, thanks. Some further googling suggests that (a) failure of the plastic stripper ring is relatively common (b) as a result Lewmar now ship the windlass with the ss stripper ring as standard but (c) the ss stripper ring is not readily available in the UK - 14 days special order from Lewmar via Aquafax. I'm just waiting for a price now.

Cheers
Jimmy

[jimmy_the_builder]

Myag, this is super helpful, thanks. Some further googling suggests that (a) failure of the plastic stripper ring is relatively common (b) as a result Lewmar now ship the windlass with the ss stripper ring as standard but (c) the ss stripper ring is not readily available in the UK - 14 days special order from Lewmar via Aquafax. I'm just waiting for a price now.

Cheers
Jimmy

... and hilariously Aquafax have just told me that altho the part only costs £5.49, the p&p is £34.50...! I'll have to think of some creative way of getting one back from the US.

Cheers
Jimmy