Windlass maintenance

[Pilot]

My Quick windlass didn't work most of the season. Last 2 years I replaced the solenoid, the bow foot switches and the breaker in the bilge. This year when I tried using it, nothing, no clicks other than when you turn on the helm switch and you hear the one click from the power and breaker activation.

I tested for power from battery to breaker to solenoid and all seemed good, banged on components a few times etc, and still no good. I could turn the windlass so, wasn't jammed. No loose wires/connections.

Anyway, today after messing with it a lot, off and on, it finally decided to work. Just curious as to why? I don't use it much and my thinking is maybe this is what caused it to stop working? Anyone else have similar issue? Are they like generators that need to be run a lot? I've used it maybe 2 dozen times in 13 years. Just curious as to others experience. Thx

Thx

 

[Fill Ess]

The only issues I've had with mine are loose/dirty/missing connections. Luckily those are the easy and cheap things to check. How about the connections at the motor itself? And the main ground?

So neither the footswitches nor the helm switches did anything?

 

[Pilot]

Nope, helm switch stopped working a couple years ago, not that we use it to up/down. It was not until recent that the foot switches started working again. Motor connections are fine as best as I can tell.

 

[JHornsby3]

Almost sounds like corrosion in the motor it's self. Around the salty air and moisture can cause the magnets and windings to build rust. You can spin the motor but the rust and corrosion around the brushes and it will stop the connections. Been there done that. And just trying to think outside of the box.

 

[Quint4]

I put a new motor in my windlass a few years ago. I was amazed at the difference in performance, it was a huge improvement. The old motor was tired, slow, and weak.