Good Windlass Installation

J

jmicklov

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2004
RO Number
15952
Messages
188
In the process of replacing my old rope windlass with a Good F850 rope/chain model. Any Thoughts/suggestions on installing it? I removed the old solenoids and disconnected the old motor. I can use my existing wiring and switch.
The retrofit kit includes a piece of starboard that mounts on the deck and covers the existing mounting holes (which I'll need to plug with sealer). I can use the existing 31/8" hole and just have to drill an additional hole for the rope feed. Existing rope feed is an oblong hole
It looks like it might be a 2 person job to secure the motor to the windlass.
Figure I'll need to seal the starboard to the deck pretty well.
Anything to look out for? Thanks.
 
Steve, are you back yet? How did it go?
Going to try this afternoon. Not supposed to rain, a good time to drill holes and seal old ones. Not sure what time my wife will be getting home this evening, but should be good for a few hours anyway. I'll give you a call later.
 
The wire terminals on the terminal block of the Good Windlass are exposed. Coat with liquid tape. Be sure the wire gauge is heavy enough. Sand the hole the rope drops through. I replaced the bolts holding the anchor pulpit with larger diameter ones. The Sea Ray bolts are small.
 
Did the same thing couple years ago. It really is a one man job. The "cant" of the motor against the shaft will hold it while you add the washers and nuts. One thing I remember being a particular issue is that no sealant will stick to the starboard deck trim, so ensure you have a good seal at the holes and openings. I also recall needing to modify the angle of the return hole for rode returning to the locker, but only very little. I then used epoxy/resin to seal all the openings.

My anchor locker is pretty shallow where the rode returns and the original gel was not smooth, so the rode would pile up under the motor. You can solve this by using awlgrip or bilgecoat to give a slick surface and allow the rode to slide to the deeper end of the locker. Good luck. It really is "plug and play".
 
Great suggestions folks.That's today's project- to wire up this thing. Yesterday, I got the holes drilled and the topside unit mounted. All went quite well. Plugged up the old holes with sealant or epoxy resin. My rope locker does feel pretty smooth, but I never though about the situation you describe. Now, I'm going to make sure the locker is nice and clean before I feed the rope into it.
Nice idea about the motor being held in place like that. Will also be tackling that today as well.
 
I did the same only I am lazy I had Good come down and do the physical installation I did the wiring. The factory is only 10 miles north of my marina. It's a great unit but I will caution you with this my Mainship had #6 running all the way from the bow to the cockpit. Total round trip + & - 90 feet. I did away with that set up and used my 3-31 series thruster bank under the forward stateroom berth. I had the wire changed out to 1/0 from the solinoid to the windlass and 4/0 from the battery bank to the solinoid. Completely overkill (on my part) but check your wire size it seems many manufactures undersized thier wire depending on the boat's age. Mine was a 1993.
Which rode did you have made? I went with a custom 50 feet of chain and 300 of rope they also installed a nice swivel (bullet style).
Bill
 
Lucky you for being so close to Good. My marina owner helped me with the windlass hole drilling efforts and plugging up the old holes. I also did the wiring myself. Having had an older Good rope only windlass, I used the existing wiring from the battery and helm. I think they ran #8 wire. I used #6 for all the solenoid and motor connections- (all 3' of it). I finished the wiring yesterday and it actually worked!
WirelessOne, I got their standard 200'rope/10'chain color coded anchor line but with 15' of chain. Figure that should be sufficient for my 33' Sundancer. He threw in the extra 5' of chain at n/c. The person there was very nice and seemed to know his stuff. I've been favorably impressed with them so far.

One question I do have though is, when you go to release the anchor, does the motor actually rotate the gypsy continuously to feed the rope out? Or does it do this just for a few seconds? I presume you need to keep switch in the down position continuously until you have let out your desired scope?
 
I simply releases the rode or free wheels (called a free fall), you need to hold the switch or foot pedal (I have both) down as you want scope released (gravity). As far as the dash switch #8 is fine I was talking about getting the primary power from the battery bank to the Windlass. The switch on the dash handles little to no current.
Bill
 
Almost done! Final step- feed the anchor rope through the windlass. They tell you to do this in open water, where you get the anchor line wet from each end, feeding it off the spool it's wound on feeding 1/2 of it out, and then pulling back into the boat. Repeat with the other half and then put the bitter end through the gypsy, pay out the line as you back up and then start winching it in. After you bring in several feet, you secure the bitter end inside the rope locker and continue winching.
I'm assuming this process will minimize kinking as the rope can rotate freely in the water and the wet rope will also set better inside the locker with less tendency to bunch up.

If there was ever an excuse to go out during the week, this is it. Thanks again for all your great suggestions.
 
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