Nice job Rick. I would like to see it one day.
I had though about the same idea without the remote gear. I was not sure if you reverse the polarity that the motor will revers itself. Yours is much better specially for single handing. Great photos.

I plan on doing this myself. I upgraded the windlass last year; once I add enough chain to not need to handle rope rode, it would be great to be able to both raise and lower using the windlass. I like the remote, since I single hand a good bit of the time.

One thing I'd suggest; I'd put insulated caps on the cable ends. If one of the nuts on the studs loosens, the cable could rotate and short against it's neighbor; big spark :eek: I'd also suggest using red ones for the positive cables and black for the negative, since not all of the positive cables are red; helps avoid confusion.

These are the caps I'm referring to -

[url]http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?produ...

Thanks for posting the text and photos, Rick.

I wished I had thought to repeat my advice for you once you had the windlass exposed - loosen the large plastic nut and separate the transmission housing from the veritical tube. Clean and lubricate the interface with good grease and then reassemble.

My PO and I let the aluminum transmission housing and steel tube stay in uninterrupted contact for too many years and they were literally inseperable without destroying them. I wound up buying a new windlass for less than the cost of the replacement parts.

One of my short list projects is installing a quick access door in the teak panel so that I can perform this task avery year without too much fuss. BTW, the original instruction manual recommended disassy, cleaning, and lubing every 3 years. The 'new' manual says every 3 MONTHS. Clearly, they realized they had a problem.

[QUOTE=RPowers;9861]3) Lube the innards...Can you please elaborate on the plastic nut? Maybe annotate one on the photos to show me exactly where.[/QUOTE]

Rick, on your first photo, the plastic nut is a large black collar with heavy ridges around it. If you follow the steel tube down from the deck, it is the first piece you find. Unscrew that (right-hand thread) and be prepared for the whole heavy motor/gearbox assembly to come off. And you hope it WILL come off, so be prepared.

I removed the motor first and secured it without detaching or straining the attached cabling.

Rick,

You can probably download a manual for your model which is always a good starting point.

The gearbox is sealed so the oil stays in there as long as the seals are still intact.

I would remove the heavy motor first, but you can probably find a way to suspend it without having to remove any cabling.

If you should be unfortunate enough to find the gearbox stuck to the shaft, you will have to be careful not to damage something. If they are truly 'welded' together by dissimilar metal corrosion, you might be better off just living with that until the day when you 'need' to get them apart. At that point it would be a do or die situation. In my case, it was total destruction and a new windlass.

[QUOTE=RPowers;9912]Do you need to remove the circlip on the bottom of the shaft in conjunction with the large plastic nut, or does the plastic nut alone release the unit?[/QUOTE]

Good catch, Rick. I had forgotten that part, but when I consulted the manual (always a good idea), it shows that the clip on the bottom of the shaft needs to be removed to get the gearbox off.

[QUOTE=RPowers;10217][B]The motor unit does not want to separate from the housing[/B]. [/QUOTE]

I hope others will chime in with their own experiences with this problem, but it IS a problem. If the seals keeping the water out of the gearbox fail, as mine did, the gerabox will eventually fail, too, and then you'll have no choice but to replace the entire gearbox and shaft assemblies. The parts cost more than a new windlass, so that is how I went.

There is hope that you will get many years before that happens, so don't fret and enjoy sailing.

One of the tasks I had for this weekend was to separate and relubricate the gerabox on my replacement windlass that is now about 20 months old. Guess what? It is 'frozen' on the shaft, too.

I have resigned myself to live with it and hope it gives me 9 years before it fails like the first one.

Maxwell surely has a bad design when normal usage has two major mating parts 'weld' together in a marine environment in such a short time. As I mentioned long ago, the original owners manual called for separation, lubrication, and reassembly every 3 years. The latest manual states EVERY 3 MONTHS. That is ludicrous in a below decks windlass.

So, Rick, you are not alone.