Engine revs to charge battery whilst operate windlass

[GrahamM376]

Our windlass is wired from the battery master switch which is set to charge "all" once the engine is started. When hauling anchor we don't increase revs unless motoring into wind to take some load. If you want to change pulleys, unless you go to the extreme I wouldn't worry about over speeding the alternator as many are standard vehicle ones which, in the case of a car petrol engine would be doing 2 or 3 times the revs.

 

[johnalison]

I always attempt to rev the engine to 1400 rpm or more when operating the windlass. This requires some co-ordination but is not hard. If the wind or tide are pushing us aft, I motor up a short way, knock it into neutral, set the revs and call for my wife to run the windlass. Laying the anchor is a bit easier. I know that my 200 A/h or so of batteries can do the job, but I prefer to avoid the voltage drop with unaided use.

 

[prv]

Which bit? Running windlass from engine start or having a small battery?

Combining the two. They seem to be in direct opposition to each other.

For what it's worth, I have 420Ah of service battery, and a 28Ah snowmobile battery to start the engine. (I didn't specifically choose a snowmobile battery, it's what Merlin supplied when I ordered a small AGM for cranking purposes.)

Obviously I run the windlass off the service bank, along with everything else. The starter battery is only for starting the engine.

Pete

 

[prv]

The original engineer designed system in Beneteaus of the age of my boat is that there is a relay attached to the alternator that switches the control circuit on for the windlass. So, no engine running, no windlass!

That would have had me stuffed when I sailed into Newtown Creek with a dead engine, and then had to up-anchor twice before we were settled in a safe position. An unseamanlike arrangement in my view.

Pete

 

[johnalison]

You can always release the clutch and lower the anchor, and later wind it in by hand, at least you can on my Lofrans.

 

[KellysEye]

Always run the engine when using an electric winch I used 1,200 rpm. There is no need to do anything with the pulley. It is best to have a dedicated battery for the winch ours was under the fore cabin bed, because of the long cable run it must bigger diameter than the normal cables 2 to 3 mm from memory. Also put Vaseline around the connectors if the winch motor is in the anchor locker to stop corrosion.

 

[prv]

You can always release the clutch and lower the anchor, and later wind it in by hand, at least you can on my Lofrans.

The hand winding on mine is very cumbersome - you need to take the top of the windlass off and install a special adapter, which doesn't work particularly well. We probably could have just heaved up the chain by hand, but it would have been an added complication to an already difficult situation, in the dark with many other boats and a flukey wind (in retrospect we should have anchored outside Newtown rather than going in).

Pete

 

[johnalison]

Not so hard with mine. If you winch anticlockwise you release the clutch, if you wind the other way, you wind in the chain.

 

[PaulRainbow]

In an ideal World, 1 2 both switches would be dead and buried. We should all have two totally separate circuits, always separate unless they need to be combined for emergency use. A split charge system would keep them both charged, whilst still isolated from one another, which also does away with VSR's.

An engine battery with enough capacity to operate the windlass, with the windlass connected to the said engine battery. After a day/night at anchor the engine battery is still fully charged. Using the engine battery, with the engine running, safeguards the electronics from voltage drop, which will generally cause plotters. radar etc to shut down.

In extreme or unusual conditions you can use the combine switch so the house bank can help, or to start the engine if you got carried away and flattened the engine battery.

In an ideal World.

 

[Hadenough]

The hand winding on mine is very cumbersome - you need to take the top of the windlass off and install a special adapter, which doesn't work particularly well.

Pete

IMHO, equally unseamanlike.

 

[prv]

IMHO, equally unseamanlike.

True. I didn't choose this windlass, though, and it's not a big enough problem to make me fork out for a better one.

Anyway, I have a decent electrical system, so I don't expect to ever need the hand-crank function

Pete

 

[prv]

In an ideal World, 1 2 both switches would be dead and buried. We should all have two totally separate circuits, always separate unless they need to be combined for emergency use.

Agree.

An engine battery with enough capacity to operate the windlass, with the windlass connected to the said engine battery.

Disagree

The engine battery is for starting the engine. That's it.

The service bank is for running all other loads, including the windlass. It's the big one, so it's better suited to the job anyway.

Pete

 

[Babylon]

... Using the engine battery, with the engine running, safeguards the electronics from voltage drop, which will generally cause plotters. radar etc to shut down.

Except that you don't need either when anchoring or weighing.

Separate circuits yes, with the right electric gubbins to ensure the engine start battery always gets brought up to full charge before the the domestic bank gets its share.

But windlass volts from the domestic bank, and your choice whether to run the engine or not (I will).

 

[Venus1]

+1
And sometimes once the kick in revs has started the alternator charging it will keep charging, albeit at a low rate, even if the revs are dropped back down to idle or slightly above.
Richard

YES! My Volvo 2030 does that, with the annoying result that the charge alarm squeals at startup, until the revs are increased. Standard alternator, circa 1998. It has only behaved this way in recent years. Is there a way to fix this? (sorry for the thread drift, but the comment above made me glad to hear I was not alone!)

 

[Plevier]

A decent battery should not be perturbed in the least by supplying a typical windlass current for the length of time you are likely to use it.
I'm convinced the real benefit in running the engine is for the windlass. Within reason, a DC motor is better running at a higher voltage. Current is lower fr the same power and heating effect is less.
As it's a square law relationship, if you can keep the voltage near 14 instead of around 12, it's a big effect.

 

[geem]

In an ideal World, 1 2 both switches would be dead and buried. We should all have two totally separate circuits, always separate unless they need to be combined for emergency use. A split charge system would keep them both charged, whilst still isolated from one another, which also does away with VSR's.

An engine battery with enough capacity to operate the windlass, with the windlass connected to the said engine battery. After a day/night at anchor the engine battery is still fully charged. Using the engine battery, with the engine running, safeguaards the electronics from voltage drop, which will generally cause plotters. radar etc to shut down.

In extreme or unusual conditions you can use the combine switch so the house bank can help, or to start the engine if you got carried away and flattened the engine battery.

In an ideal World.

In my ideal world the system would be 24v instead of 12v as same size cable carries 1/2 the amps. The alternator would give 20amps on tick over (equivelent to 40 amps at 12v). The battery bank would be four 12v 200 amp hour batteries wired to give 24v. Everything but the engine would be wired into the domestic bank. Wind and solar would charge both engine and domestic batteries with dual charge regulators. There would be a 1,2 both switch that would never get moved as the engine battery would be charged from wind and solar.
The 24v windlass would be 1.7 kw and capable of pulling the boat to the anchor in any conditions without fuss. The windlass would have manual back up that was easy to use. There would be no reliance on interlocking relays in my system, no VSRs or fancy battery combiners.

 

[KellysEye]

Our windlass had a dedicated battery and we ran the engine at 1,200 rpm while hauling the anchor up.

 

[macd]

Our windlass had a dedicated battery and we ran the engine at 1,200 rpm while hauling the anchor up.

Did you get those tips from the chap at post #26?

 

[Steve Clayton]

We always increase the Rev when lifting the anchor .
For a start it works better . Also it replace some of the Amp

+1

 

[KellysEye]

>The engine battery is for starting the engine. That's it. The service bank is for running all other loads, including the windlass. It's the big one, so it's better suited to the job anyway.

The engine and winch batteries should be Cold Cranking Amps, the the service battery should be a deep cycle battery such as a Trojan, which should not be used for a winch.