Affordable alternatives for Lewmar Sensor + Magnet Kit for V1-V5 Windlass?

[HERMES_M]

We (or, more precisely, my hubby) are looking for an affordable alternative for Lewmar Sensor + Magnet Kit for V1-V5 Windlass (part number LE66200076). We have V2 Windlass and my hubby wants to make a chain counter. The price of Lewmar kit is so extreme (about £82/€99), so my hubby ordered a cheap one for €2,50. It didn’t work because the sensor was too slow to catch the movement of the chain. Has someone managed to make DIY chain counter without this extremely expensive Lewmar magnet kit, which I guess same cheap parts from China in…

 

[Boathook]

We (or, more precisely, my hubby) are looking for an affordable alternative for Lewmar Sensor + Magnet Kit for V1-V5 Windlass (part number LE66200076). We have V2 Windlass and my hubby wants to make a chain counter. The price of Lewmar kit is so extreme (about £82/€99), so my hubby ordered a cheap one for €2,50. It didn’t work because the sensor was too slow to catch the movement of the chain. Has someone managed to make DIY chain counter without this extremely expensive Lewmar magnet kit, which I guess same cheap parts from China in…

I found it cheaper in the UK but then add on shipping, etc makes it more than your £82.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I fitted a chain counter as below which seems to be now sold by lewmar

https://autoanchor.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/AA150OWN-B.pdf

Part 2 of the attached doc may help hubby

A small reed switch sensor may do the job

 

[Ian_Edwards]

First question, are you sure that a magnetic on the gypsy and read switch aren't already fitted?
If they are there will be 2 white wires coming out under the windlass. These are the output from the reed switch. I'm about to replace the windlass on my boat, a V4 if I remember correctly. It came with the reed switch fitted.
If the reed switch is missing, then you can buy one quite cheaply.
Magnetic Sealed Reed Proximity Security System Switch - Normal Open Dia 6mm, less than £4, fee post on eBay.
This switches in 1msec, which is way faster than you need.
It's encapsulated so should be OK in a windlass.
You'll need a matching 6mm magnet, less than £2.
The most difficult part is drilling a hole in the gypsy, in the right place. Insert the magnetic in the hole and secure with Arialdite, covering the head of the magnet with a thin layer epoxy, to stop it rusting.
If you buy an additional magnet, you can check the reed switch by moving the magnet in front of the reed switch, and measuring the resitance across the reed switch. It should be open circuit until the magnet is close, then it should switch to a short circuit.
I've done this twice in the past, to a Quick and a Lewmar. The electrical bit is easy, access and drilling a hole in theright place is the bit I found hard.

 

[HERMES_M]

Sorry, I was not really good what I described here. My hubby just told me that he built the chain counter system and used it already. The last weeks in this season, the display didn't show the anchor chain data. He checked the parts, the magnet worked well, so he decided to replace the reed switch, and he found that it costs €99.

@Ian_Edwards yes, you are right, the magnet and reed switch were already fitted in.
After reading your answer my hubby started to find right thing under the search term "Magnetic Sealed Reed Proximity Security System Switch - Normal Open Dia 6mm" immediately. Thank you! He just showed me the windlass and I understood why you wrote the access and drilling is quite hard. You must do extremely precise work on this thick metal If you do it from scratch...



If someone is interested: my hubby used this to transfer data from windlass to display: GitHub - AK-Homberger/ESP8266_AnchorChainControl_WLAN: Remote control for anchor chain that shows current chain lenght via WLAN to phone/tablet (with ESP8266 D1 Mini).