Hello: My winless on my 1997 D...

[SMT]

Hello: My winless on my 1997 D 450 quit working. I am fortunate to have a wiring diagram on it. My suspect was the breaker before the solenoid. Great. Now to find the fuse or breaker. After a few days of looking I discovered it in the battery shut off under the passengers seat on the helm. Sure enough there it was pushed the breaker and in business again. Posting this to hopefully save someone time in finding the breaker. Cheers!

[gtstang462002]

When breakers trip, especially big ones, I tend to want to know why. Knowing the why will prevent it from tripping again. I say this because my windlass motor was full of water this past spring.

[wingless]

+1 on checking and maintaining the system.

The windlass requires periodic maintenance that should not be neglected.

A DC motor, like exists in the windlass, draws maximum current when powered and the rotor is stalled.

If the anchor is being retrieved and the windlass stalls, such as from the anchor being buried in mud, don't keep the up winding continuously energized. Instead, pull the rode taught, stop application of power and wait. Normal light wave action will create slack in the rode. Pull the rode taught, stop power and wait. Repeat until the anchor may be fully retrieved.

[SMT]

Thank you wingless, I did all the above in running down the problem. Working backwards. I first learned (over 50 years ago) to start at the source of your electrical problems and trace it from there. Little did I know Sea Ray likes to hid their fuse panels in the 97 450 in various locations. Thanks for your support and comments you save a lot of people time and flustration!!

[Airwaves]

Haven’t had problem with windlass on 93 550 SB but bow thruster popped breakers in July and my electric guy was able to get the Vetus motor cleaned and rebuilt for ~$500, far less than the $3k for new Vetus. I’m probably going to have him pull the windlass motor and do the same to head off any failure there.