[Rhodes22-list] Replacement of winch for motor lift

Lowe, Rob rlowe at vt.edu
Mon Nov 11 10:19:57 EST 2019


Jesse,
Thanks for posting this.  Nice job.  My winch had failed and I was looking to replace it myself, but changed my mind and just let GB do the work for me.  Now that they are done I need to retrieve my boat. - rob


-----Original Message-----
From: Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org> On Behalf Of Jesse Shumaker
Sent: Friday, November 8, 2019 9:50 PM
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Replacement of winch for motor lift

My boat had the Chicago Electric Remote Control 12 Volt 3000 LB winch, model #95912.  There was no wired switch and the remote had seen better days. 
Towards the end of the season, the winch would occasionally keep running for a bit, even I had let off the up or down button. 

Rather than working on this winch and trying to wire in a switch, I decided to replace it with a Rugcel 3500lb waterproof IP68 that has a wired switch as well as a couple of remotes.  It is 1.2HP.  It got the version that had the nylon rope since I figured that would be easier to remove than the version that came with a metal cable.  I got the winch on Amazon for $130. 
You can also buy them at rugcel.com, but that is the version with the metal cable, which is a bit cheaper.
https://www.rugcel.com/products/rugcel-winch-3500lb 

Removing the old winch was straight forward, but it’s a two person job since you need someone to hold a screw driver on the outside of the boat and someone to use a socket or wrench on the nuts from inside the lazarette. 
Fun fact: it turns out that a 5’9” tall person can (barely) sit cross legged inside the lazarette with the lid raised.

My new winch didn’t have a mount for the solenoid to strap on to the winch, but I cut off the curved feet from the solenoid-to-winch mount from the old winch and glued them onto the new winch and solenoid.  I also used a couple of hose clamps to keep the solenoid attached.

The seatbelt that is used to raise and lower the motor is attached to the winch with 5 small screws.  The old winch had some sort of plastic or composite core.  The new winch has a metal core.  I drilled pilot holes, tried some self tapping screws but ended up going back with small sheet metal screws.  One of the screws got stuck before going all the way in and I had to cut that off and drill a new hole nearby.  I used some Gorilla glue to secure the seat belt along with the screws.

I was worried about having to patch the old mounting plate holes in the hull and drill holes for the new mounting plate, but fortunately the new winch could attach to the old mounting plate so I didn’t have to drill any new holes.  There was a bit of corrosion on the mounting plate so I sanded it and applied a coat of Rustoleum primer and then paint.  I also replaced the bolts attaching the mounting plate to winch with stainless since the old bolts had some corrosion.  I applied some silicone around the bolts that went through the hull and also put some on the back of the mounting plate.

I mounted the switch on the the ridge that separates the lazaratte from the cockpit, as close to the center of the cockpit as possible so I could reach it.  The switch is supposed to be waterproof, but this placement keeps it out of the weather, away from getting hit accidentally and avoided drilling anywhere that is visible.  I can still easily reach underneath to operate the switch.  The wiring is fairly self-explanatory based on the colors. 
There is a red wire from the switch that needs to go directly to the post that connects to the battery, but it wasn’t long enough so I had to run an extension for that.

Both the wired switch and remotes work well.  Some photos of before, in progress, and after version of the project are attached.  Perhaps this can helpful to anyone else considering a similar project.

<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR001.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR002.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR003.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR004.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR005.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR006.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR007.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR008.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR009.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR010.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR011.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WR012.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/WRstern.jpg>
<http://rhodes-22.1065344.n5.nabble.com/file/t907/Rugcel.jpg> 




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