Catalina 350 International Association

We suddenly started having intermittent problems with our windlass. Sometimes when you activate either the up or down buttons you can hear a click but nothing happens. Occaisionally it will work. At least it worked long enough to retreive the anchor. Now at the dock, it doesnt seem to work at all with no load on it. I assume it could be the reversing solenoid or the motor itself, but I am not sure how to diagnose. Any suggestions?

First/easy step is to use your digital voltmeter check voltage at both the IN and OUT of the relays.

Check both static and when someone activates the switch.

Even a loose or corroded connection can cause this. So, start by ruling out the easy/inexpensive first.

Brett,

Thanks, That is my plan for today. I was able to do some testing at the dock and monitor the main volt meter. When actuating the foot switches there was no change when the motor didn't work and only a minimal drop when it happened to work with no load on it.

I always have trouble following electrical schematics, but looking at the schematic in the VW 800 manual, it appears that +12V is applied to the foot switches and the reversing solenoid pack. Depending on which foot switch is depressed, the solenoid pack activates either the F1 or F2 terminals on the motor changing its direction. After I locate wherever the solenoid pack is and have confirmed voltages at the input and output side of the pack when the foot switches are pressed as you suggested, my thinking is that I should be able to place a jumper between the +12V connection on the output side of the pack to either the F1 or F2 wires going to the motor and the motor should run. That should confirm that the solenoid pack has gone bad after 17 years.

TBOT422 wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2024 8:25 am .... my thinking is that I should be able to place a jumper between the +12V connection on the output side of the pack to either the F1 or F2 wires going to the motor and the motor should run. That should confirm that the solenoid pack has gone bad after 17 years.

Yup, but make sure to use large enough gauge wire that your jumper doesn't overheat from the high amp load. A car jumper cable would work fine.

Also remember that both relay and motor need a solid ground to work. So, check the negative side as well.

Brett,

Thanks for all your input and advice. I finally got around to checking the input and output voltages at the solenoid pack. All seemed normal with 13V at all the proper places when the foot switches were activated. When I jumped the main 13V to the F1 and F2 terminals of the solenoid pack, the motor did not run. I removed the motor so that I could get to the terminal lugs on the motor and verified that when the foot switches were activated, I could measure 13V between the motor negative terminal and either the F1 or F2 terminals on the motor. Nothing! No hum, no buzz, no rotation! Dead motor!

Tech support at Vetus-Maxwell North America has been very helpful as well. 410-712-0740. They suggested it might be worthwhile to have a motor repair shop evaluate as to whether or not it could be refurbished with new brushes, etc. I do see significant discoloration where the brushes run on the armature, but carbon brushes will leave a dark ring. At a new price of $460 online, it may not be worthwhile to attempt to refurbish. One advantage of the new replacement motor is that it has 4 mounting holes versus 2 so that the motor can be oriented in 4 different orientations. I had already decdided I was going to flip the new motor 180 degrees so that the electrical connections would be on the bottom of the motor and accessible from the panel in the V-berth rather than on top where you have almost no access to the connections.

Find a local starter/alternator repair shop-- yes that IS a dying industry, but there are some around.

I worked with one in the Houston TX area, but am sure there are some scattered around the country.

Final report: I took the motor to a local Starter/Alternator repair shop. They fixed a bad connection inside the motor, and replaced the bearings and cleaned the brushes for $200. System now works like new. I did reinstall the motor rotated 180 degrees so that I had access to the motor terminals from the access panel in the V-berth rather than being on top of the motor that you can not get to without removing the motor.

Gary

Can I ask how many engine hours you have? Its not a direct measure of windlass usage but if you anchor a lot like we do there should be some correlation.

Since retirement 10 years ago, we've done an 8 - 10 week cruise every summer and use the windlass a lot. Sand Dollar is a 2003 boat and now has 2600 hours on the engine, I'm thinking I should do some preventive maintenance this winter on the windlass, including a motor inspection/rebuild. The clutch tends to slip from time to time, I just tighten it and its good for more uses.

More I use it the more I realize how much we depend on it. I have done the basic maintenance on it every 2nd year.

Kirk,

We have about 2300 hours on the engine. The Best of Times is a 2007 C350. We live in Fl, so use the boat nearly year round, rarely go to marinas, so the windlass gets a lot of usage. You are correct, once it started acting up, I gave a lot of thought of how we could pull the anchor up manually. That's not something I would want to do. The manual describes a process where you disassemble the top of the windlass and insert the clutch tool under the warping drum, then reassemble the windlass and use the clutch adjustment tool to retrieve the anchor. In light wind it might not be too hard to just pull up the chain hand over hand, but in 20 knots and no steerage things would be very difficult. It would be very important to have a chain stopper of some sort.

One suggestion I would have is to remove the access panel at the front of the V-berth. If your motor is installed as our was with the electrical connections on top of the motor, I would rotate the motor 180 degrees and reinstall it. With the connections below the motor, in an emergency you could bypass the foot switches and reversing solenoid pack by jumping 12 V directly to the motor. Note Brett's reccomendation to use automotive jumper cables for this work around.

A second suggestion would be to service the windlass and replace the shaft seal at the top of the gearbox (above deck). We had a leak there that dripped through into the V-berth and stained some of the paneling.

BTW, I like the name of your boat. We enjoy collecting sand dollars at the beach on Anclote Key near Tarpon Springs, FL and owned a small accounting firm for several years named Sand Dollar Services.

Hello

Thanks, my concerns are exactly as you describe. Very hard in windy conditions to get the anchor up. Even in calm conditions it would be challenging .... 120' of 3/16 chain and a Rocna 20 (44lbs) . I will do the 180 deg flip for sure. About jumping it with cables: Would need to determine the cable size and get a good quality set.

I'm going to have the boat yard techs do the seal and send out the motor for inspection/rework, then have the reinstall done with the motor flip.
Great advice!

RE: Sand Dollar

We changed the name when we got the boat 7 years back (it was named after his daughter). In our cruising area from San Juan Islands, to areas well north of Desolation Sound there are a number sandy beach islands. Savory Island is always a stop for us. The areas at around the low water mark are literally covered in sand dollars which inspired us. Our dinghy gets the name Sand Dime when communicating with the mother ship.