Is it broke ???

[GJD]

Here's our Galley Maid Windless looking pretty (mostly). Right now, however, there's about a half quart of oil running out of it and onto the deck.

Anyone be be so kind as to offer a diagnosis???

Kimi Dee's on the hard and it's been freezing here in Cincinnati.

Add another Spring project (to the list of 50!)

Thanks kindly for any advise!

 

[yachtsmanbill]

I bet its full of water pushing the oil out. You really ought to drain it and flush it ASAP! Rain water can get in there (accumulate) and when it freezes, it expands.
ws

 

[Genesis]

Yep.

There is an O-ring seal on the shaft that requires disassembly to change. Its easy once you take it apart, and they're easy to take apart.

Remove the capstan/gypsy, unbolt it and disconnect the wiring, and it comes out downward.

Remove and disassemble, remove the shaft, replace seals.

 

[GJD]

Thank you gents! Will kick that one right up the list.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

Just wait until you try to remove it. Ours was stuck in the hole by caulk. I had to use a huge bar and work it back and forth through the bulkhead door. Take the motor off first. It is heavy, but so is the windlass case. Working your body around in the forepeak is no walk in the park either. Karl Genesis makes it sound easy. I did ours 5 years ago and I still remember the pain. I don't remember the easy ones, just the real tough ones.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I couldn't get my GM windlass out so I called Rick at GM. He told me to make a pipe with a plate welded on top to beat it out. The pipe slides over the shaft and rests on the outside housing, just outside of the seal. I beat on it several times with a 30lb sledge hammer to break it free. I really thought I might break something, but everything seemed okay. The amount of 5200 on that thing was amazing. I still had to cut some of it loose with a utility knife. I surely would not call it EASY to remove.

 

[Walter P]

Gee Greg, only 50 items on your list? Boy some guys have all the luck. My 48 has a GM also which I removed. It actually came out pretty easy and I probably won't be re-installing it since mine lacks the chain Gypsy. GM quoted me way too much to convert it to Capstan and Gypsy so I decided to buy a new windless instead.

Walt

 

[Genesis]

I had to make up a pipe "basher" to get mine out.

Used a piece of pipe sized to fit the area of the boss (there's a clear mating line between the plate and the body) long enough to clear the top of the spindle.

Screw on pipe cap, place pipe, have someone hold it and pound it out. I used a small (8lb) hand sledge and had to BEAT on it. I also removed the motor first.

Leave the nuts on loosely otherwise it will CRASH when it breaks free.

Oh, and use lots of PB Blaster. The tube seizes to the plate.

It should NOT have been caulked in such a way to prevent it from being removed, but who knows - if someone 5200'd it in place you're in for a lot of NOT-FUN time getting it out.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

You need to make it HOT HOT HOT and the 5200 will liquefy. Heat the brass till spit sizzles (250F) and you can ease it out (of the 5200 anyway)!
If youre worried about the paint, cut a hole in a thick towel the diameter of the base, and keep it wet. Like my Russian friend sez, "thats merely a pie walk". ws

 

[SKYCHENEY]

If you weld a larger plate on the top of the pipe, then the guy holding it won't be quite as scared of being hit by that hammer. It makes for a bigger target. Unless, of course, you want to hit that guy.

 

[tom5518]

Have any of you guys tried one of the 5200 debonding products out there like this one?

http://www.marineformula.com/

 

[spartonboat1]

Have any of you guys tried one of the 5200 debonding products out there like this one?

http://www.marineformula.com/

Thank you, thank you. Popped that into my Favs immediately!

 

[dastahl]

I had to use the sledge hammer too. Quite a crowd had gathered before I blasted it out. Very hard job and even harder to get back on. Even though the windless worked fine, I had to take it off to remove the bow pulpit. Once I had it apart I had to replace the worm gears, top housing, rebuild the motor, buy new $40 each bolts and pay the yard $750 to put it back in cause it wieghts 100 lbs.

I would avoid it. GM says they all leak (the new housing plate I bought has an "O" ring and is not press fit). If you have not checked your oil level in years the leak may be very slight. I would drain the pan, flush it with mineral oil several times, then put the 90 wt. lube oil back in.

If the GM works well leave it alone and make a cover for the whole bow pulpit. A cover will solve a long list of Hatteras and GM problems.

Skooch
Worotn Creek MD

 

[MikeP]

Not all Hatts came with GM windlasses - some came with Ideals. They look nearly identical (not surprising since GM copied the Ideal but left out a few internal parts!) Ideals have none of the issues that the GMs do but I don't understand why Hatt used both or maybe they used GMs for some period and Ideals for another.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Not all Hatts came with GM windlasses - some came with Ideals. They look nearly identical (not surprising since GM copied the Ideal but left out a few internal parts!) Ideals have none of the issues that the GMs do but I don't understand why Hatt used both or maybe they used GMs for some period and Ideals for another.

I don't know, Mike. My boat has a GM, but I know a guy with the same boat, same year, and he has an Ideal.

Some of the confusion comes from previous owners or yards interchanging parts. You can find GM windlasses with Ideal capstans, for instance. The only way to know for sure which one you have is to look at the gearbox tag.

 

[Pascal]

interesting... I have a GM on myt 53, Angela has an Ideal on her 58...

the Ideal is almost twice a slow as the GM, especially when dropping and paying out scope. it doesn't feel like a voltage or motor issue, it almost feels like the gearing is not the same.

has anyone noticed a difference or seen the speed specs for both?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I noticed just the opposite. The Ideal that we had on a previous boat was faster than the GalleyMaid that we have now. Maybe one of them changed gear ratios at some point.

 

[GJD]

And this was the 'one' project I was hoping to dodge for a few years. The underside of the GM (in the chain locker) looks pretty pitiful - badly coroded, essentially falling apart but it still worked. Until now I guess.

That's one thing we do most on the 'beautiful' ohio is find a pretty spot and drop the hook. I had called GM to inquire about refurbushment about 6 months ago and it ain't cheap (several boat-bucks).

We'll most certainly look into cleaning her out and topping her off as Skooch suggests.

(and yes the list is 50 - this is our first season coming up on this boat - next year list = 0, right?)

 

[Norm Mayer]

I don't have a GM, but do have the original Ideal, which seemed to be shot. I shipped it to their factory, they rebuilt it, rechromed it, and it came back like new ($975)
However, the hard part was getting it out. Ideal sent me three faxed pages on tricks to get it out, including a pipe to fit over the shaft and whaling on it with a 10 # sledge, drilling holes in the brass plate to shoot penetrating oil between the shaft and the case, etc.
What worked was drilling and tapping the bronze plate and using a steering wheel puller with threaded shafts instead of bolts, with the puller pushing on a peice of pipe to the cast iron case, applying pressure with the puller and heat to the plate. After all the factory suggestions (the last was using C4) and spending 5 weekends, the puller worked like a charm. Now my windlass works and looks like new!

 

[the kuz]

We have an Ideal and it has been flawless for the 16 years we have had the boat. I made a sunbrella cover with elastic (bungee) sewed in to hold it on. Covers the whole windless and most of the mount. Keeps the rain away and stays nice too. Simple, cheap and easy to sew up yourself - not really expensive to have one made. Might help some of you with water intrusion issues. Regards, Bob K