Anchor windlass voltage

[Leighb]

I have a S/L Seawolf windlass, which works OK although it has a tendency to stall fairly often when retrieveing the anchor.

I was overhauling it recently and fitting a new gypsy for 8mm chain and cleaned up the little name plate. To my surprise it said it was 24V, I have a 12V system .

I removed the motor cover to check and the data plate on the motor also states 24V.

Does this matter? Would I get significantly better performance with a 12V motor?

I assume it was not an original fit and that a previous owner got the windlass secondhand.

 

[gianenrico]

Well, if it says 24 Volts, the poor beast has ben starving for power!!
Best thing, if You have space, is to put 2 12 volts batteries close yto the w/lass and charge them in parallel while feeding the w/lass in series, in order to get 24 volts.

As an alternative You could change the 24 volts motor with a 12 V. one; if You want the same muscle, current draw will be of course double (1000 Watt/24 volts vs. 1000 Watt/12 volts), so again You should check the cable connections to see if they can manage the current required.

Third solution, buy a new 12 volt w/lass: the cable size aspect stays the same.

Cheers.

 

[ccscott49]

I have a S/L Seawolf windlass, which works OK although it has a tendency to stall fairly often when retrieveing the anchor.

I was overhauling it recently and fitting a new gypsy for 8mm chain and cleaned up the little name plate. To my surprise it said it was 24V, I have a 12V system .

I removed the motor cover to check and the data plate on the motor also states 24V.

Does this matter? Would I get significantly better performance with a 12V motor?

I assume it was not an original fit and that a previous owner got the windlass secondhand.

Well, theres the answer to it stalling all the time! If you can live with it and you may well have to, finding a motor, might be problematic. Not sure if it could be re-wound for 12 volts. You could try a motor supply company, as SL didnt make their own motors, does it say what the make is? That would be my first step.

 

[Leighb]

Well, if it says 24 Volts, the poor beast has ben starving for power!!
Best thing, if You have space, is to put 2 12 volts batteries close yto the w/lass and charge them in parallel while feeding the w/lass in series, in order to get 24 volts.

No space to spare in the forepeak I,m afraid

As an alternative You could change the 24 volts motor with a 12 V. one; if You want the same muscle, current draw will be of course double (1000 Watt/24 volts vs. 1000 Watt/12 volts), so again You should check the cable connections to see if they can manage the current required.

Third solution, buy a new 12 volt w/lass: the cable size aspect stays the same.

Cheers.

I will investigate the possibility of changing the motor as it sounds as if it would improve the performance.

Certainly don't want to buy a new windlass.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Leighb]

Well, theres the answer to it stalling all the time! If you can live with it and you may well have to, finding a motor, might be problematic. Not sure if it could be re-wound for 12 volts. You could try a motor supply company, as SL didnt make their own motors, does it say what the make is? That would be my first step.

Thanks, I suspected it might be down on power, but having found it was the wrong voltage I have an explanation.

I will look into getting a 12V motor, but it may not be possible.

 

[gianenrico]

If I recall there is one company in northern Italy which supplies I guess 80% of DC electrical engines for w/lass manufacturers; CIME should be the name, if You can wait a week a should be able to trace it; if you can post or pm the details of your w/lass (make, model, year even if approx.) could be useful.

Cheers.

 

[cowpat]

24v windlas 12v boat system.

I have the same, a 12v boat system on my boat. But purposfully bought a 24v windlass. The reason being that the power is considerably more than twice on a 24v one.The engine/ starting battery is seperate to what I call the boat system battery. By using a rotery switch I can change over to 24v by seriesing the two batteries.this runs both the windlass and the bow thruster.All other 12v systems still run normally of their respective batteries. You can keep your windlass just as it is and it will pull as it was intended to. You just need some work on the supply switching. My rotery switch is rated at 250A with similar fuse for the BT and 60A C.B.(simpson Lawrance)for the windlass. Let us know if you want any help with wiring detail.

 

[Leighb]

If I recall there is one company in northern Italy which supplies I guess 80% of DC electrical engines for w/lass manufacturers; CIME should be the name, if You can wait a week a should be able to trace it; if you can post or pm the details of your w/lass (make, model, year even if approx.) could be useful.

Cheers.

Thanks,

Windlass is a Simpson Lawrence Seawolf 520, the boat was built in 1980, but the windlass was probably added later secondhand, at least that is my guess, else why connect a 24V windlas to a 12V system?

 

[Leighb]

I have the same, a 12v boat system on my boat. But purposfully bought a 24v windlass. The reason being that the power is considerably more than twice on a 24v one.The engine/ starting battery is seperate to what I call the boat system battery. By using a rotery switch I can change over to 24v by seriesing the two batteries.this runs both the windlass and the bow thruster.All other 12v systems still run normally of their respective batteries. You can keep your windlass just as it is and it will pull as it was intended to. You just need some work on the supply switching. My rotery switch is rated at 250A with similar fuse for the BT and 60A C.B.(simpson Lawrance)for the windlass. Let us know if you want any help with wiring detail.

That is very interesting, I do have separate engine and house batteries, so would be interested to hear how I could reconfigure the wiring to achieve your solution. I currently have a separate switch for each bank, and an emergency parallel switch so I can use the house batteries to start the engine should the engine battery be dead.

 

[West Coast]

You could try www.slspares.co.uk - I understand these are some guys who used to work in the SL factory in Glasgow and bought a lot of the parts when the business was being wound up - they might be able to help you sort out a 12v motor.

 

[pagoda]

You could try www.slspares.co.uk - I understand these are some guys who used to work in the SL factory in Glasgow and bought a lot of the parts when the business was being wound up - they might be able to help you sort out a 12v motor.

I'd second SLSpares. Run by John McMaster - a very helpful and knowledgeable gent in Paisley. He supplied some bearings for my 12V Seawolf.
If you think of a motor exchange, be aware the grubscrew on the splined drive connection of the motor is an imperial size! Stripping the rest is not difficult.

 

[cowpat]

That is very interesting, I do have separate engine and house batteries, so would be interested to hear how I could reconfigure the wiring to achieve your solution. I currently have a separate switch for each bank, and an emergency parallel switch so I can use the house batteries to start the engine should the engine battery be dead.

The simple addition of a single pole heavy duty isolator switch,the type used for larger engine starters circuits is what I used. I appologise for mentioning the rotery switch before, I was thinking of another part of the boats distribution board. I shall now try to upload a scanned circuit?

 

[Leighb]

Thanks West Coast and Pagoda, I have been in touch with John McMaster and have had a helpful reply, he is making enquiries about supply of a 12V motor. Meanwhile I will also consider Cowpat's suggestion re arranging to have a 24V supply to the windlass.

I am unsure if this can be made to work with my electical configuration.

 

[Leighb]

The simple addition of a single pole heavy duty isolator switch,the type used for larger engine starters circuits is what I used. I appologise for mentioning the rotery switch before, I was thinking of another part of the boats distribution board. I shall now try to upload a scanned circuit?

I can see how that would work if the engine and house batteries are otherwise completely isolated from each other. In my case when the engine is running the VSR parallels them for charging, and isolates them again when the engine stops, and the battery voltage has dropped below a preset level, this may be some time.

I suppose, provided I did not have the engine running it might still be OK, but my electrical knowledge is not good enough to be sure? Also I really want the engine running when I raise the anchor.

 

[cowpat]

anchor windlass voltage

I can see how that would work if the engine and house batteries are otherwise completely isolated from each other. In my case when the engine is running the VSR parallels them for charging, and isolates them again when the engine stops, and the battery voltage has dropped below a preset level, this may be some time.

I suppose, provided I did not have the engine running it might still be OK, but my electrical knowledge is not good enough to be sure? Also I really want the engine running when I raise the anchor.

Yes, my two seperate batteries wiring do run on seperate circuits. I see how yours would not work using my sketched simple circuit. The paralleling device you use would put a direct short onto one of the batts....Now two thaughts.
1.You will find that the windlass' power running on the proper 24v will plesantly suprise you.engine as well may not be needed ?
2.You could use a rotery switch that has many different contacts within it that can be arranged to give different switchings.This could be used to break the paralleling and connect the two batteries in series. This happens similtainiously so is a foolproof system and no chance of switching one without the other.There may be other features in your charging circuit that I do not know about. So the whole system needs to be looked at.