Lofran's Royal Windlass disassembly assembly

[@johnperry7139]

Excellent video Philip, extremely helpful to all of us Lofrans royal windlass owners . Thank you

[@Tampo-tiger]

I don't know how long it took you to make this video presentation Philip but it certainly has helped a great many people, myself included. It must have saved folk a fortune in damaged parts, and a great deal of time that they'd otherwise have spent on the trial & error nightmare. I don't know anywhere else we could have gone for the video dismantling/reassembling procedure and advice as I've found nothing like it elsewhere. Thank you enormously from myself and I'm sure thousands of others. I see you have 3600 views, and it's hard to imagine those people coming here for any other reason than the teardown and re-build details.

[@PhilipWinckle]

Thanks so much for the nice feedback. I am pretty new to the sailing community and I am impressed with the positive support from others when we get stuck (as I do often)

[@Tampo-tiger]

@@PhilipWinckle You're very kind Philip. I'm just starting the process of reassembly, and there seems more to it than I expected. Very enjoyable stuff though, and in two years or less I will hopefully recall how I did it.

[@jefferyschwartz7026]

Great video, thank you for not blocking the camera, as often happens

[@michelauroy2982]

Thx a lot Philip, you really saved my day. My week, even and most certainly.

[@richardbarnard1211]

Well Done! This was very helpful. Without it I would not have been able to service my windlass. Many thanks!

[@999pjo]

Thanks for the video, it was helpful when I renovated my winch.

[@claypass8424]

Great video... I definitely needed a three-prong puller to get the capstan off. The aluminum capstan was bonded to the shaft. You can put the three prongs into the holes of the "handle wheel" and remove both at the same time, otherwise, if you put the prongs under the edge of the capstan itself, you can damage the thin edge of the aluminum capstan. Don't ask how I figured that out.

[@PhilipWinckle]

Thanks for your input about the 3 prong puller. I bought one at the start of the process but could not work out how to use it without destroying the capstan, so I had to go with alternative methods. Well done to use the holes for the crank handle.

[@andrewredfern1557]

Thanks Phillip - Excellent..! I was scratching my head wondering what to do. Mine is a Vetus Ursus but virtually the same. A few design faults I fancy. Same problem with dissimilar metals...

[@freyamac8926]

Brilliant. Very many thanks Phillip.

[@marcderveeuw]

Dear Mr Winckle. You are brilliant for making this video, therefore many many many thanks. It is a unique resource for me and I guess for many of us. Congratulations for freeing up the seized system and we all hope you're sailing and anchoring now. With your permission, allow me to ask some questions because I just bought a boat with a Lofrans Royal windlass. 1) My anchor chain is 8mm shackle size, while the gypsy ( what you call a chain roller) is for a 10mm shackle size chain. The surveyor said I should buy a new 70 metre anchor chain 10mm (for a frightening 2500 euros). A change in gypsy or chain roller with the cone/friction plate for a 8mm chain would only cost me 200 euro's. Would you change the gypsy with the friction cone and place one for a smaller shackle size? The manufacturer does not mention any change in performance between 8 and 10 millimetres chain gypsies. 2) in the video you're very generous with left over grease on the friction plate, friction cone. Wouldn't you want to keep it clean and dry? 3) You have removed the whole device from your boat for the purposes of the video and resolving the problem you had. What would you do for a regular maintenance? I suppose the windlass could remain in place on the boat , I guess one would remove the chain gypsy and the rope winch, remove the plate and largely grease the inner mechanism, or not? 3) eventually could you let us know or share with us how you would do your regular maintenance of the windlass. 4) we all thank you for not recording the swearing which was most probably accompanied with the hammering and all other hard work for releasing the seized windlass system. 5) Thanks for sharing the message of not removing the upper bolt right from the beginning. Without your video I would have removed the upper bolt instinctively as a first for maintenance step and filling up the windlass chamber with grease, it appears as just a natural invitation from the design. Again, I think you have produced an online resource which is of great value for many of us. Cheers Marc

[@PhilipWinckle]

Hi Marc, I applaud your patience in watching the whole long video, but you know why it is so long! I try to answer your questions as best I can: 1. I think that the choice of chain size and length is the first question here. This depends on your boat weight and the conditions in which you anchor. I have a 10m 5 ton boat in the Stockholm Archipelago. It has about 10 metres of 8mm chain and then 50m of rope. Mostly we are anchoring at 5m to 10m depth in sheltered natural harbours, so this is fine for us. As I understand it the purpose of the chain is to lie down on the sea floor and make sure that the anchor is dragged horizontally into digging into the mud, so I don't need more than 10m of chain. If you can live with a shorter length of 8mm chain and change the gypsy then this might make sense. Of course your anchoring needs are the key here. 2. There seems to be so much friction on these plates that I have had no slippage when tightened, so I would not worry about cleaning them, but maybe I am wrong. 3. I do the regular maintenance in place by removing the plates and adding grease exactly as you say. I should do this every year, but every second year works here in Sweden where the boat is out of the water in winter and under a nice cover :-) 4. Swearing is optional, however I find it helps, as you correctly guessed. 5. Good point about not removing the upper bolt, it is so tempting to take it out before doing anything else. Happy boating. I will post more videos when I find more difficult problems that I can actually solve :-)

[@marcderveeuw]

@@PhilipWinckle Cheers

[@StemtoSternSailing]

Well made video. Thanks,,,, it answered my question. I diddnt see any seals or gaskets in the exploded diagrams i found on the web. Now i released that there isn't any. I picked up a sorry looking unit yesterday. Nothing was seized. But this was one of the factory painted unit, and when moisture starts too creeping in underneath the paint on the housing, the aluminium starts to oxidizing like crazy. So i peeled it all of today, but i didn't want to disassemble the cover behind the chaingypsy if i didn't have the gasket for it. Now I know there is none. Thanks for your efforts. Best regards from Jarle

[@PhilipWinckle]

great that I could help out. Most of the jobs I do on the boat have some sort of video instruction, but I could not find anything useful for this windlass, so I thought I would give back a little experience...

[@coucoufrancois]

Many thanks Philipp

[@rickdaniel8478]

Thanks for sharing.

[@PhilipWinckle]

Thanks for letting me know that people are still using the video. To be honest I need to review it myself soon to do a new clean up!

[@kenowens1688]

Hi Philip.Thanks for the video. I had the same issue and had to use the big hammer as well. After the rebuild, my windlass has too much end play in the bronze rod. How much end play does your windlass have? My windlass does not have the spacer as your's between the bronze cogs but I don't see that causing this issue.

[@PhilipWinckle]

Hi Ken. I am lucky and have no play in the bronze rod. Maybe yours has lost the plastic sleeve spacers? Not sure what parts are available but I can only suggest throwing in some nylon washers if it is a problem.

[@kenowens1688]

@@PhilipWinckle Hi Philip. Thanks for the reply. I have two nylon washers and put them both behind the chain gypsy. Problem solved!

[@joostdejager5489]

Hi Philip! I am trying to get of this round plate with the Allen screws. But my Allens seem to be a little smaller and dance inside. Does this Lowrance has different Allen sizes?

[@danielwatters1731]

good work skipper 😜

[@gordonturnbull8937]

Nice one .thanks Philip

[@jenshjort-petersen9479]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience

[@freyamac8926]

What grease do I use? Noticing dissimilar metal ie aluminium and brass in the mechanism so best using a non conductive metal additive free grease yes? Please advise Phillip.

[@PhilipWinckle]

Hi, good point. I was not aware of greases having metal additives. I used a marine propeller grease which is fairly sticky but very very water resistant, which is the most important thing for me. I hope it had no metal additives. Good luck

[@Hindukushsailing]

Hi one question is there any play side to side on these units?

[@PhilipWinckle]

Hi Hindukush. There should not be any side to side play in the windlass when properly assembled. If you look at the discussion with Ken Owens below you will see that he fixed this by adding some nylon washers to replace the worn down parts. I was lucky in that all my plastic/nylon spacers were intact and I had not had to ruin them too badly to get the unit apart. Good luck.

[@diablo8199]

Thank you for this. One quick question (if you still monitor this): your windlass apparently has a friction bearing, spacer, or washer (possibly black nylon) between the inner clutch cone and the main body of the windlass. In your video you take it off as a separate piece but upon reassembly you have it inside the inner clutch cone when slipped onto the shaft. That bearing, spacer, or washer is not shown on the Lofrans parts diagram and my windlass does not have one. However, the inside of my inner clutch cone is worn suggesting that there should be a spacer of some sort. Does your part look like an original, and either way can you let us know what it made of and its approximate dimensions? Thanks again for a very helpful video.

[@PhilipWinckle]

Hi JV. I do still get messages on this and am happy to answer what I can. I think you are referring to the black nylon sleeve you can see at 13 minutes 10 seconds? If so then there are 2 sleeves, one on each end of the rod. One of them (rope end I think) you can see on the rod at reassembly 24 minutes in. The other stayed inside the cover plate on the chain side, which you can see around 19 54 disassembly or 20 40 assembly. So on my windlass there are 4 nylon sleeves. 1 on each side between cog and body and the two on the inner spindle, one on each end protecting the spindle ends from the cogs. Sorry but I don't have sizes as I did not need to buy new pieces. I suggest that they are necessary for a smooth function. They are numbers 491, 493 and 498 on the diagram at this supplier: www.p2marine.com/lofrans-windlass-parts/lofrans-royal-windlass-parts. Come back if you have more questions or if you find a good source for the parts in europe.

[@diablo8199]

Thank you, Philip. The part on your video that I was asking about is not one of the black nylon sleaves, which are largely cylindrical, but rather is the flat "ring" that you discuss at 6 minutes 21 seconds. It is also just visible on the inside of the inner clutch cone (part 277) at 27 minutes 50 seconds, presumably held there by grease. This "ring" does not appear on the parts diagram but may have been added to take up play on the horizontal axis or alleviate friction between the inner clutch cone and whatever it butts up against. On that front, I noticed that the inside edge (along the shaft) of my inner clutch cone was damaged (worn or scraped), possibly from my efforts to take things apart, which might have been prevented had the "ring" (or flat washer) been in place. Anyhow, your input re the "ring" would be most appreciated. Also, I too have been unable to slide the "wheel" that you discuss at 7 minutes 46 seconds ("emergency wheel", part 506 on the parts diagram) off the main shaft. You mention that you were able to remove it by applying heat. (You also mention that you drove the bar through the body of the windlass, it seems likely that you did that after removing the circlip, part 500, from the inside of the "wheel".) I have a heat gun but am concerned with damaging nylon parts so if you have any suggestions for how to apply the heat it would also be appreciated. My guess is that it is corroded to one or both of the keys (your "locator bars"), part 501. Thank you again for all your help. Rick (aka JV)

[@PhilipWinckle]

@@diablo8199 Hi Rick, thanks for the clarification. I had not noticed that the "ring" or flat washer was not actually on the parts diagram. I like your suggestion that it was added to take up play. Back to the real problem of removing the emergency wheel (although why it is called that I don't know). Clearly I could not have removed the circlip as it sits under the wheel and is inaccessible at this point. When you look at 15 min 40 sec you will see that the circlip is on the cog arm protruding through the body, not the inner bar. So the circlip does not need to be removed, only the locator piece, 209. When was applying heat (to the alloy body which expands faster) I did not realised that there was a nylon sleeve and had no idea of the risk I was taking, however it is a big piece of metal and I only had a small blow torch so I clearly did not get it up to glowing temperatures. I then had to use quite some force to belt the rod through, using a piece of wood to not burr the end of the rod. Clearly I took off every other element I could on the chain side first. The corrosion I had which was blocking removal of both the bar 502 and the cog 499 was between the metal item and the nylon sleeve. The alloy parts of the housing and the cog had corroded and tightened to grip the inner parts , so in my case it was not a key problem. Heating the alloy parts allowed them to expand away from the inner bar and allowed a still difficult removal. Good luck, I want to hear of success! regards Philip

[@diablo8199]

@@PhilipWinckle Thanks again for your thoughtful response. Having now tried without success to pry the "wheel" off using penetrating oil, a two-prong puller, and heat (using an electric heat gun), I am puzzling over my next step. The shaft itself slides back and forth (about 1/2 inch or so) and the bevel and other gears certainly rotate. My problem seems to be simply that the "wheel" is bonded to the shaft of the bevel gear (499), which I suppose may also be stuck to the shaft. Since the circlip prevents me from driving the shaft of the bevel gear out of the "wheel" it is not at all obvious how to proceed other than by means of a more aggressive, three-pronged puller (if I can find one). I suppose I could lubricate the clutch cones and leave the frozen "wheel" for another day, but having gotten this far I'd be interested in any additional suggestions you might have for moving forward. If driving the main shaft out would help, do indicate which side to hit. Thanks again for your help - I apologize for being rather a pest. Cheers, Rick

[@PhilipWinckle]

@@diablo8199 Hi Rick. I actually bought a two pronged puller for that exact purpose but could not get it to fit as I could not get the "fingers" of the puller into the very small space between the capstan wheel and the body and was also worried that it would break the "wheel". If you have managed to remove the chain side fittings and can take off the chain side cover plate with the hex screws then you should be able to hit the bar through from the rope side, without having to remove the circlip. This still leaves you with the capstan wheel bonded to the shaft of the bevel gear but hopefully less bonded. What I say at 8 minutes 19 seconds is that pushing the inner bar through from the wheel side then allowed me to remove the capstan wheel. I don't say how it helped and to be honest I just don't remember. I did not break any circlips so clearly did not push the bevel gear through until the capstan wheel was off. I did not use a puller but did use some heat. I wish I could remember how I got it off or that I had made a video of the actual first removal, but this would have been full of swearing and been a 48 hour video. One thing I did not try which occurs to me now is to insert lots of small wedges around the edge of the capstan wheel and gradually drive them in to produce the effect of a 20 pronged puller. Good luck, again. best Philip

[@ericmacvicar7752]

Brilliant video. I didnt know how to operate mine. 1st time i have has a manual windlass. Just to confirm ( yes I watched the video) this windlass is not filled with oil to stop corrosion ?

[@PhilipWinckle]

Yes I thought it would be full of oil too. But it is not. Just lots of grease. In my case it had not been opened in 20 years and the grease had turned pretty hard, which meant it did not operate at all. It does not seem all that useful with only a 12kg anchor to pull up, until you get the anchor really buried in mud, in which case the power of the windlass really saves my back. have fun.

[@markstaniland7655]

Thank you.

[@markstaniland7655]

Thank you Sir.

[@vitaliorehov3612]

thanks a lot, very helpful

[@Tampo-tiger]

When I first watched the video and you were talking in terms of "days" to do this strip down and rebuild I was wondering how it could take so long. However, I am now on day four of trying to reassemble this Lofrans Royal Pain In The Arse windlass and no matter what I do the rotation of the main spindle is always opposite the direction of travel of the long bar, rather than always the same direction of rotation. It surely must be associated with the two 'dog' gear cogs but there is nothing obvious wrong. It's very perturbing, and becoming quite tedious - god knows how many times I've opened it up, taken it apart and then Allen screwed it back together. I've done everything described in all the various articles and How Tos, but nothing works to make the rope wheel and chain hauler pull IN regardless of the lever bar's direction of travel. If I tried to use it like this the anchor would be up and down like the proverbial drawers forever. It's certainly a clever device when it works but mine is looking increasingly likely to get launched into the local quarry before I waste another day on it. Sorry for my negativity, am just letting off steam.

[@PhilipWinckle]

So sorry that you are struggling to get it to work correctly. As you say, the two "dog" cogs are confusing and it took me several attempts to get the order of reassembly correct, however once assembled the ratcheting effect works well for me. If it was not such an expensive item I would agree with throwing it in the bin, but the replacement cost is crazy. Maybe you have a missing or broken part or are repeating an assembly error, who knows with such a complex device. I suggest you get a friend to look over your shoulder to spot the problem as you work through the assembly. Sometimes we go "blind" to the alternatives of assembly when we do it repeatedly. You have my sympathy.

[@Tampo-tiger]

@@PhilipWinckle You are absolutely right Philip, a fresh pair of eyes on it may just spot a mistake I keep repeating. Will ask my brother to watch me and see if he can see what I'm dong wrong. I'll leave a message here when it's up and running, as it was before I disassembled it to clean out the mayonnaise, ha ha. Thank you so much for your kind comment - it has spurred me on to take a less flustered and more rational approach to it. Very kindest wishes to you.

[@Tampo-tiger]

@@PhilipWinckle Sorry Philip, I thought I'd messaged you to let you know I'd managed to get the Royal back together and functioning. It now works well and is getting its bronze polished and its body painted. I have no idea whatsoever why I was struggling so much with it but it suddenly all went back together and is just about ready to be installed. Again Philip, thank you so much for your help, support and encouragement - I couldn't have done it without your kind assistance. Your video is tremendous.

[@PhilipWinckle]

@@Tampo-tiger well done! Patience pays off. Have a a happy summer sailing and anchoring

[@Tampo-tiger]

@@PhilipWinckle Cheers, and the same good wishes to you!

[@wverduyn1]

Nice to see the inside of the windlass. But a very boaring video too much talking, 5 minutes of video showing the removal of a circlip and changing a glove, and untechnical/incompetent part discriptions, e.g. locatorbar, chaincog, fingerplate etc. Video could be shown in half of the time and give the same amount of information.

[@PhilipWinckle]

Thanks for your feedback. I spend my time on boating, not editing videos. I leave it up to you to use your finger to fast forward to the bits you need.

[@brucepetty6059]

lol