Horizon500 windlass will not pay out rode

george nygaard · Dec 10, 2009

My name is George and I am a new member with a 1995 2530 parker with 2 200hp 2002 Honda 4 strokes. I am in Ft Myers Beach, FL.

My problem is with my Horizon 500 windlass. It pulls the anchor up fine but will not let it pay out. I believe it should both power rode down and let it free fall but it will do neither. Up works fine.

I took it apart and everything seems fine.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Megabyte · Dec 10, 2009

Before going too far, are you certain that windlass has a free fall option?
If you do not have a manual for that windlass, you can get one here:
http://www.lewmar.com/Product-literature.asp

Welcome aboard!

TheOtherLine · Dec 10, 2009

Kevin is correct. The 500 does not have a true free fall feature. The closest thing to "free fall" is when you pull the rode out of the teeth and let it fall, "freely".

The 500 was designed to be powered up and down.

I know this because I had one and sold it to buy the Pro Fish with the free fall option.

Water Taxi · Dec 18, 2009

New member as well. Just bought a 2520 with a simpson- lawrance 500 windless. Same problem. Tech support from Lewmar said it had a one way gear that failed. You could send it to them and they can repair and refurbish it for a fee.

Porkchunker · Dec 18, 2009

I have a thread around here in the Projects folder about rebuilding my Horizon 500.

Easy to disassemble, replace parts, and reassemble. Parts are expensive though. That little clutch that allows reverse is a permanent part of a large gear that is over $200. I believe I purchased the parts through Pyacht.

Dave

aka