[C320-list] Maxwell 500 Windless - Maintenance

[Warren Updike]

Here is a heads-up re. a maintenance item likely overlooked by many.  The
Maxwell VC 500 windlass manual recommends that the oil be checked and shaft
greased annually, and oil changed every three years.  I've owned #62 for 7
years of its 16.  I doubt the windlass have ever been serviced.  

 

Because the unit is installed in the horizontal rather than the vertical for
which it was designed, you cannot check the oil level unless you remove it,
because the sight glass is at the top in the horizontal installation.  A
real pain just to check the oil level.

 

To begin with, it is so tucked away under the deck at the bow that you have
to remove V-berth panel to even see it.  I found that a water leak had
corroded the negative terminal - there was not drip loop provided in the
cable.  That's where I'm at now, working on the corroded terminal.

 

Removing it was a breeze.  I just followed the instructions I found on the
320 web site.  Remove the plastic cap on top of the drum, remove the center
screw in the shaft, remove the four bolts you see once the drum is off.  The
unit can then be removed from inside.  The mounting ring remains attached
with the 4 thru-bolts.  Because the shaft hadn't been greased in 16 years,
it didn't just slide of as it should.  I bought a set of pullers at Harbor
Freight to pull it off.  That was easy.  I think that a regularly maintained
unit could be removed in a half-hour, including removing the V-berth panel.

 

Once I had it out and held in the vertical, I could see no oil in the sight
glass.  I guess it's time for new oil.  

 

Like the Lewmar winches, this unit seems so ruggedly built that it continues
to function with no attention.

 

Warren & Pattie Updike

1994 C320 #62 "Warr de Mar"