Bruce Palmer
Veteran Member
My windless, a Muir Cheetah 2500, is matched with what I have always thought of as a 3/8” chain fitted when the boat was built in China. It works great with light loads, say retrieving 40’ of chain. But with longer picks or with 40’ plus anchor the chain rides up in the gypsy and eventually slips and/or binds up with the chain pipe/stripper. My solution is my rather inelegant tennis shoe pressed against the discharge side of the gypsy, and then it again works great.
Attached are two photos. The first shows a link of chain (on the right) in the center of a gypsy indentation, and then the next link on the left starting to rise up on the indentation shoulder. Pic 2 is the same after moving the camera a bit to the left.
I understand that there are two main chain sizes in the US. When I go to various web sites like Chains - Chain by Type - Windlass Anchor Chain - BBB Windlass Anchor Chain - 1st Chain Supply I see that BBB chain has 11 links per foot and G40 HT chain has 9.8 links per foot. My chain has 10.40 links per foot, or an inside dimension of 1.15”
I also see a metric chain Short Link Galvanised Chain that has a pitch of 29.5mm which, if my math is right, means 10.36 links/ft (very close to my 10.40).
What I suspect, but don’t know, is that my chain is a 10mm metric variant and the gypsy is for BBB chain. The boat was built in China and they used world class parts like Muir, but may have used a locally available metric chain to keep costs down.
So, two questions: First, can anyone confirm that the photo shows the chain is not the right size for the gypsy? It clearly looks like it, but does anyone know for sure? Secondly, does anyone know what chain a Muir gypsy stamped “133” is matched to? I have looked everywhere without finding.
Thanks very much – Bruce Palmer
Attached are two photos. The first shows a link of chain (on the right) in the center of a gypsy indentation, and then the next link on the left starting to rise up on the indentation shoulder. Pic 2 is the same after moving the camera a bit to the left.
I understand that there are two main chain sizes in the US. When I go to various web sites like Chains - Chain by Type - Windlass Anchor Chain - BBB Windlass Anchor Chain - 1st Chain Supply I see that BBB chain has 11 links per foot and G40 HT chain has 9.8 links per foot. My chain has 10.40 links per foot, or an inside dimension of 1.15”
I also see a metric chain Short Link Galvanised Chain that has a pitch of 29.5mm which, if my math is right, means 10.36 links/ft (very close to my 10.40).
What I suspect, but don’t know, is that my chain is a 10mm metric variant and the gypsy is for BBB chain. The boat was built in China and they used world class parts like Muir, but may have used a locally available metric chain to keep costs down.
So, two questions: First, can anyone confirm that the photo shows the chain is not the right size for the gypsy? It clearly looks like it, but does anyone know for sure? Secondly, does anyone know what chain a Muir gypsy stamped “133” is matched to? I have looked everywhere without finding.
Thanks very much – Bruce Palmer