Winlass controls

[Bill Z]

So this is a question I kept meaning to ask but always forgot to. I own a 2003 320 with Lofrans winlass. When I turn on the power at the helm the up and down switches do not work. We have always used the foot switches at the bow anyway but might like to use the switches at the helm someday. Am I doing something wrong ? Or missing something ? I bet I am going to be embarrassed by the answer to this.

 

[kevinnice]

does the switch at the helm also disable the foot switches? i think its meant to...

 

[Bill Z]

Yes the helm on/off does enable and disable the foot switches. Still when on I get no action from the up or down at the helm.

 

[kevinnice]

remove the nut which retains the up/down switch on the dash at the helm. push it through (its easy to reseat). theres enough slack in the cables to access it lying on your back. with the rocker switch set on (probably displays a green light), bridge the centre wire to either of the other two, thus bypassing the helm windlass control switch. does the windlass move now? if yes, then the switch needs replacing.
if no, then you are into running continuity tests on the cables running from the windlass control box to the helm. they're all colour-coded to help you do that.

 

[Bill Z]

Thank you Kevin ! Will give it a try.

 

[Phil'n Nauti]

Bill Z, I have a 2003 320 and my windlass would not work at all at one point in the summer the foot switch or the switch at the helm. Their is a windlass breaker mounted on the engine compartment wall next to the big bank of breakers. Try that and hopefully your helm switch will work. However my foot switch works even when the helm switch is on? It is interesting that your helm switch does not work but your foot switch does? Could be a bad helm switch? Good luck.

 

[dcremer]

I have a 1998 260DA and when I bought it recently my foot switches worked while the helm switches were all dead. After a bit of investigation it turned out that the power to the windlass is all controlled by a 'latching solenoid' in the engine area (on the starboard wall). This is turned on / off by the helm windlass switch. The solenoid retains it's on / off state continuously, unless it is switched by the helm switch. On my boat it was locked in the on position (which is why the foot switches worked). However, someone had removed the 2 x 5A fuses on the body of the solenoid, which prevented power going to the helm switches. That way, it was impossible to turn the windlass power off. I cleaned up the solenoid contacts, put new fuses in, and how the helm controls work too. There is a detailed circuit diagram for this in the 260DA owners manual supplement.

 

[asteriscus]

Hi dcremer

Do you still have that 260DA owners manual supplement with the detailed circuit diagram?
Mind to sent a copy to my mail carlos.goncalves@mail.telepac.pt ?
Would appreciate it!!

 

[Henry Boyd]

Bill,

Does your boat use the EIM technology? You probably do as our 02 280 has them. These are a combination of breakers and relays. The following photos lists all of the components for the 280 Lofrans windlass set up. Yours should be very similar.

The EIM is the black box on the ER wall with the orange stripe
The EIM breakers control the helm switches
The large breaker in the ER controls all power and mainly high amp circuit from battery to windlass
the latching solenoid, (shown in the picture with the unlabeled arrow)
the fuse located in the anchor locker controls the foot switches.

http://s494.photobucket.com/albums/rr303/SR280DA/Sea Ray Windlass/

Check the latching solenoid and the EIM breakers. If that does not solve the issue, find someone with electronics knowledge who can troubleshoot the circuits with a multi meter. The problem may be with the dash switch pad, or the controlling EIM.

As always Imtra's (the US importer of Lofrans) CS group is an excellent source of help. The contact info is on their website (Imtra.com).

Henry

 

[doozie]

Wierd i just had the same issue, if the footpedals work most likely it is the black box in Henry's picture 2 easy way to test, there are 3 small wire that controll it, the black is common the other two are up and down. disconnect the up and down, take a piece of wire and jump from the large center wire, that is positive 12 volt. Have the power on to the foot pedals, touch it to up or down see if it runs, if not the box is bad, Found one on E-Bay for $ 100.00 free Shipping. Bob

 

[Dasch Boat]

Did you try pulling up on the helm switch? I have to pull up on the helm toggle as I'm pushing forward or aft to operate the windlass.