Deck socket - for anchor windlass remote

J

jwilson

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 Jul 2006
Messages
6,227
Visit site
My windlass installation originally came with a 3-pin Bulgin plug/socket for the handheld remote. After about a year the contacts corroded, and it was changed for a bigger 3-pin deck plug/socket from the chandlers. This has now been changed many times, this year actually twice. In the anchor well it does get salt water splashed around.

The need is for a three-pin plug/socket type that will survive this location: current capacity is low as it is only taking a small solenoid switching current. I don't want to drill holes in the deck for footswitches.
 
Not a direct answer, but faced with the same problem we rewired our remote in the forward cabin and extended the lead so that it comes out through the forehatch when needed. Also have a radio remote which does away with the lead completely for use at the helm.
 
Bulgin make really waterproof plugs and sockets to pretty high IP ratings, so I am surprised at the ingress of water if the cable is properly installed.


Perhaps a gel such as Contralube will help ? Gadegt User has some for sale, IIRC, at a reasonable price.
 
Tranona said:
Not a direct answer, but faced with the same problem we rewired our remote in the forward cabin and extended the lead so that it comes out through the forehatch when needed. Also have a radio remote which does away with the lead completely for use at the helm.
Click to expand...
As the boat gets chartered out at times I'd rather not have anything that encourages users to open the forehatch in the pouring rain. Another reason for not wanting footswitches is that people will leave the windlass switched on and stand on them, either lowering anchor or trying to shorten the distance between bow roller and windlass.

I'm sure the original Bulgin one would have been perfectly OK if it was left permanently connected, but being plugged in and out in all conditions gets water, sometimes salty, inside.
 
sarabande said:
Perhaps a gel such as Contralube will help ? Gadegt User has some for sale, IIRC, at a reasonable price.
Click to expand...

No he doesn't - I tried to buy a tube, and he declined to sell it on the grounds that he shouldn't have been advertising it on the For Sale forum. Seems silly to me, but there you go.

Pete
 
Skipper_Christoph said:
What about Hella marine ?

http://www.hellamarine.com/en/products/accessories/sockets/plastic-waterproof-plugs-and-sockets.html

Good luck
Christoph
Click to expand...
Thanks, but these look exactly like the Bulgin ones that lasted 12 months. The problem seems to be that all have brass pins and receptacles, which go green rapidly. I'd pay more if I had to for something with heavily gold plated contacts that might last. As changing the socket takes over an hour, including dismantling joinery inside the boat, constantly replacing these sockets is a real pain.
 
Spray your socket with one of the many magic water displacement sprays. My anchor windlass control uses one of the 3 pin Bulgin sockets, and has worked faultlessly for the past seven years, and I don't know how many years before that. It's also worth putting some Vaseline or similar, on the threads.
 
Does the handset definitely need to be removable? Could you not just wire it in directly via a deck gland?

Failing that, wireless remote. I have one that was under a tenner from eBay and I can't see any reason it wouldn't be suitable. I'll be installing it later this winter. Although on a charter boat there might be problems with flat batteries I suppose.

Pete
 
The original controller died on us a bit back, so I made a new one up with a more robust switch. Used a normal deck fitting plug to connect it and used it for the rest of the summer. That winter, I bought a wireless remote off eBay for about £15 and fitted that. That was four summers ago and it still does just what it said on the tin. The wired control is still there, tested every now and then, for emergency use should the wireless fail.
I also carry a complete spare set of relay box and wireless remote to replace the original, should it die.
 
On our previous boat and current one we have had Bulgin bucanneer type plugs. I bedded the socket part into a small alloy chain pipe (with its cover removed). I filled the whole of the interior of the chain pipe with Sikaflex. That coupled with a squirt of wd40 into the contacts at the start and end of each cruise gave no problems (so far!) for a total of around 20 years.

View attachment 36774
 
jwilson said:
Thanks, but these look exactly like the Bulgin ones that lasted 12 months. The problem seems to be that all have brass pins and receptacles, which go green rapidly. I'd pay more if I had to for something with heavily gold plated contacts that might last. As changing the socket takes over an hour, including dismantling joinery inside the boat, constantly replacing these sockets is a real pain.
Click to expand...

Bulgin claim they have gold plated pins. http://www.bulgin.co.uk/PDFs/2013-catalogue/Buccaneer-2013_400_series.pdf
 
I'm very interested in this solution of using a remote but how does it work. I have a 3 pin pug exposed on the foredeck into which I plug the handset when needing to use the Lofrans Airon elecric windlass. It works ok but I have noticed some corrosion appearing in the plug. So my questions are

What exactly do I need to buy as a remote?
How does it work?
What do I need to do to make it work?

Please bear in mind I haven't a clue about electrics so need a proper idiot's guide to solving this problem
 
I have one of these eBay number 271091548752 works a treat with extra remote ( I think you can get with upto 4 remotes) very easy to wire to contractor all instructions included, very quick and hassle free delivery from China
 
Paddydog`1 said:
What exactly do I need to buy as a remote?
How does it work?
What do I need to do to make it work?
Click to expand...

There are two basic types on eBay - the general remote-controlled relay type (eg http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Fixed...70790705751?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item3f0c624257 ) and the dedicated winch remote type (eg http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1PC-WIREL...4293?pt=UK_Recovery_Tools&hash=item2584f73865 ).

I originally bought one of the former, just out of general interest without any specific application in mind. I was impressed with it, and realised I could use it as a windlass remote, but decided I wanted a controller with specific up and down buttons rather than "A" and "B". Since they're all so cheap, I ordered one of the second kind. However, this turned out not to work as well - it introduces a half-second delay to each action whereas the original was instantaneous. For stowing my anchor, I need to be able to give momentary blips of up and down. So I managed to find another of the first type whose buttons are labelled "IN" and "OUT", and I'm currently waiting for this to arrive from China - I hope it will be instantaneous like the one I originally bought. (If it isn't, I'll see if the original can "learn" the new one's controller, and if not then I'll physically swap the buttons over.)

You wire it up to the contactor box in exactly the same way as a pair of switches. The units intended for winch control include the necessary wires and instructions. For the relay kind, you simply run a positive supply to the common terminal of each relay, then a wire from each of the normally-open contacts to the relevant studs on the contactor box (mine has a label stuck on it saying what's what). You will of course also need to connect the incoming positive to the power terminal for the receiver, and a negative wire back out again.

(Incidentally, does anyone else with the "winch controller" type of remote in my second example above, get an instant response rather than delayed?)

Pete
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

Y
The Seafarer 700 and NASA clipper sounders saga
Replies
10
Views
415
Dellquay13
Dellquay13

Share this page

Top