Maintenance to the Powerwinch Free Fall Pontoon Windlass

Periodic maintenance to the Free Fall Pontoon Windlass will help to extend the service life of the equipment and the following steps can be taken to do this.

Always disconnect power to the windlass at the battery before preforming any maintenance on the unit.

1. Lubricate the gear train with a lithium grease at the beginning of each boating season.

2. Lubricate the shaft on the davit roller with a small amount of lithium grease at the beginning of each boating season.

3. Inspect the anchor line at the beginning of each boating season. Replace the 3/16in. diameter, 3 strand nylon rope if it is frayed, cut or kinked. When replacing the rope refer to the following instructions.

Anchor Line Replacement

Make sure that the windlass is in the free fall mode of operation. Next, disconnect the power to the windlass at the battery. Locate the portion of the rope that inserts through the hole of the rope spool. Push on this end so that the knotted portion of rope on the opposite side of the fl ange is pushed out of the counter bore and is exposed. Take a thin screwdriver or flexible piece of wire and pull the knotted rope end out from between the frame and rope spool flange. Untie the knot or cut the rope just below the knot and pull the rope out of the spool.

Take the new rope and hold onto the non looped end and throw the rope out into the water. Follow the illustration in Figure 22 to install the rope onto the spool. Note- The illustrations in Figure depict the rope spool unattached to the windlass for clarity purposes. The rope spool can be left assembled to the windlass when replacing the rope. Reconnect the power to the windlass at the battery. Finally, wind the rope onto the rope spool while being careful to maintain even wraps
of rope as it winds.

Light Bulb Replacement

To prevent damage to light, do not operate light for longer than 15 minutes.
1. Remove the two screws that hold the lens against the winch cover.
2. Remove gasket and inspect for tears or damage, replace if necessary.
3. Rotate the expired light bulb a 1/4 turn or 90 degrees inside the clips and pull out.
4. Replace with new light bulb and reinstall gasket,lens and hardware. The light bulb is a 212-2 automotive bulb.

The information provided here has been reproduced courtesy of Powerwinch. Wholesale Marine reproduced this information 08/07/2009