Fuse for Windlass?

Tim Good

Tim Good

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Short Question: What size of fuse does everyone have in their windlass circuit?

Why: some dolphins came to play at our bow yesterday and our guests stood on the anchor deck switch. It caused the motor to run and pull the anchor bar tight. The clutch didn't slip in the windlass and instead the big 160amp fuse I have blew but only before the cable heated up and burnt all the self amalgamating tape off the positive connection to the windlass motor.

Either my connection to the motor wasn't great which caused it to heat up when excessively loaded or my fuse is too highly rated and I should consider dropping it down a bit. Amazingly the motor survived albeit a little black around the positive terminal.

Thoughts?

Additional info: motor is a Lofrans 1500w 12v motor.
 
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Don't fuse it, fit a thermal circuit breaker. In most cases, fuses/breakers are there to protect the wiring, but in the case of a windlass it needs to protect the motor too. What does the windlass manual sy the protection rating should be ? You don't say what windlass you have.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Don't fuse it, fit a thermal circuit breaker. In most cases, fuses/breakers are there to protect the wiring, but in the case of a windlass it needs to protect the motor too. What does the windlass manual sy the protection rating should be ? You don't say what windlass you have.
Click to expand...

Fair points. I've updated the info in the initial post.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Don't fuse it, fit a thermal circuit breaker. In most cases, fuses/breakers are there to protect the wiring, but in the case of a windlass it needs to protect the motor too. What does the windlass manual sy the protection rating should be ? You don't say what windlass you have.
Click to expand...

+1

Our breaker for 1000w Lofrans is 100amps.
 
Any idea if you can get thermal breakers to fit in the existing blade fitment I have already? It's all very neatly installed as it is and in a confined space:

4A829B73-3CDE-4DCD-808D-853AE89A589A.jpeg
 
Quick 1000W with 100A breaker.

The original 100A breaker fitted by Jeanneau failed after about 18 months. Internal examination showed signs of arcing, despite features designed to minimise arcing. It had tripped several times when chain had caught on something and gave no warning of the sudden load. These were isolated one-offs, not repeated attempts in same place.

The characteristics of the original ETA breaker didn't look great and I decided to replace it with something able to resist a surge in current for longer. I restricted my choice to those with similarly threaded mounts with the same spacing as the original.

I think I finally settled on a Carling unit with a number similar to the following CA1B0168106D2? It was back in 2011 and I don't know if it is still available.

Carling
C: Series
A: Handle, one per pole
1: Single pole
B: Series Trip (Current)
0: Without auxilliary/alarm switch
16: DC long delay (36 is long delay AC & DC)
810: 100A
6: Stud M6 threaded
D or U: Actuator legend black with white On/Off (U is short toggle)
?: Mounting barriers i.e. M3 screws (2,B or D)
?: Agency approval

100A seems fine for my windlass but it is worth checking the delay characteristics of the breaker before buying.
 
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northcave said:
Any idea if you can get thermal breakers to fit in the existing blade fitment I have already? It's all very neatly installed as it is and in a confined space:

View attachment 75556
Click to expand...

It looks like those might be in the windlass solenoid box, up forward? If so, that would be the wrong place to fit the thermal breaker, which should be back nearer the battery to also protect the cable. You also want it easily accessible in case it trips due to overload such as a fouled anchor or accidentally trying to pull it through the bow roller. Having fixed whatever the problem was, you might need to get the windlass back into action fast, and having to find a screwdriver and open up an enclosure buried under a pile of bags on the forepeak bunk is not ideal. Mine is next to the battery master switch, in a recess in a saloon bunk base.

This is the kind of thing normally used: http://www.cactusnav.com/lewmar-circuit-breaker-110a-p-20802.html?cPath=1118_5699_5646_5650_5652 . I've also seen them specially printed with neat little anchor symbols; alternatively I imagine you can buy it without marine branding for a fraction of the price.

Pete
 
prv said:
This is the kind of thing normally used: http://www.cactusnav.com/lewmar-circuit-breaker-110a-p-20802.html?cPath=1118_5699_5646_5650_5652 . I've also seen them specially printed with neat little anchor symbols; alternatively I imagine you can buy it without marine branding for a fraction of the price.

Pete
Click to expand...

Almost certain that those Lewmar ones are made by Cooper Bussman, the BlueSea ones are too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterpro...293045&hash=item33e6f009f4:g:EVcAAOSwEHhapCA2
 
Graham376 said:
+1

Our breaker for 1000w Lofrans is 100amps.
Click to expand...

So is ours.

Boathook said:
Mine is I think 50amp for my 1000 watt windlass. Haven't trip the circuit breaker yet after 5 years ....
Click to expand...

We've tripped our 100A breaker a couple of times if the load comes on and the clutch doesn't slip on the windlass. (Usually when snagging an underwater obstruction; once was when I pulled an old underwater cable up to the surface in Barn Pool, Plymouth...)
 
Lofrans are having a laugh. Their own 100amp breaker has a list price of £180! https://www.force4.co.uk/lofrans-th...5R-RRvlo7lvNm3TGV8NvH5F_cKcKGXsoaAphyEALw_wcB
Lewmar are not much better at £84.37 including VAT from Cactus http://www.cactusnav.com/lewmar-circuit-breaker-110a-p-20802.html?cPath=1118_5699_5646_5650_5652
Unbranded ones from ebay are under £10. I have an 80amp breaker like this one for my electric winch, and it is fine. It is worth buying one that is waterproof to IP67. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WILLKEY-...m=432056966514&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
 
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