Windlass wiring

[duncan99210]

Nothing to do with dedicated battery or not but don't forget that most winches use a separate relay box to switch the current (some built into the winch, most not). The best place for the box would be close to the batteries (ease of access and dry) so you will need to run light weight control cables from the relays to your up and down control buttons/box - doing that at the same time as running the power cables will make life easier........

 

[noelex]

Nothing to do with dedicated battery or not but don't forget that most winches use a separate relay box to switch the current (some built into the winch, most not). The best place for the box would be close to the batteries (ease of access and dry) so you will need to run light weight control cables from the relays to your up and down control buttons/box - doing that at the same time as running the power cables will make life easier........

Good thought, you always need to plan ahead, but if the winch can reverse (power down) you need to have the solonoids up front, otherwise you need more thick heavy cables.

 

[snooks]

The relay box for mine is up at the bow, next to the gearbox.

 

[wotayottie]

I'm planning to fit a Lewmar Pro Series 1000 winch. Despite the name, it draws 700W. I intend to fit a battery in the forepeak to drive it. My question is: what type and capacity of battery? I'm guessing some sort of sealed battery (an AGM?) that is designed for a starter motor application would be best, but I'm not sure how to size it.

Also, what size of cable do I need from the alternator (or more practically, the house batteries) to the windlass battery?

Thanks in advance.

If you run the windlass for one minute ( might not seem long but at a speed of 32m/min thats typical) you will use 1aH out of the batteries capacity.

If you put an extra battery in the forepeak you will have to re-charge that after use and the voltage drop in the charging cables means that it will never quite be re-charged to the level of the other batteries nearer the alternator. Not good long term. The thicker the cables the better but then the reason for putting the battery up there is to avoid thick cables?

On the other hand if you wire the windlass back to the domestics ( as I have done and as Bowman did on my latest boat) you avoid the extra cost and weight of a battery in the bows, and you avoid any significant depletion of the charge in the main batteries because you use the windlass with the engine running and much of that 1aH comes from the alternator.

The cables? I used electric arc welding set cables and it worked like a dream. They were even quite sensibly priced.

 

[maxi77]

If you run the windlass for one minute ( might not seem long but at a speed of 32m/min thats typical) you will use 1aH out of the batteries capacity.

If you put an extra battery in the forepeak you will have to re-charge that after use and the voltage drop in the charging cables means that it will never quite be re-charged to the level of the other batteries nearer the alternator. Not good long term. The thicker the cables the better but then the reason for putting the battery up there is to avoid thick cables?

On the other hand if you wire the windlass back to the domestics ( as I have done and as Bowman did on my latest boat) you avoid the extra cost and weight of a battery in the bows, and you avoid any significant depletion of the charge in the main batteries because you use the windlass with the engine running and much of that 1aH comes from the alternator.

The cables? I used electric arc welding set cables and it worked like a dream. They were even quite sensibly priced.

Mind you as voltage drop is related to current then as the charging current drops so does the voltage drop, so in the end you will reach full charge. I ended up with a battery up forward because without major dismantling getting the required size cables fitted in the space available was impossible. Using a VSR for controlling the charge worked well.

 

[pvb]

Nothing to do with dedicated battery or not but don't forget that most winches use a separate relay box to switch the current (some built into the winch, most not). The best place for the box would be close to the batteries (ease of access and dry) so you will need to run light weight control cables from the relays to your up and down control buttons/box - doing that at the same time as running the power cables will make life easier........

I've never seen a windlass relay box mounted remotely as you describe - they're usually mounted close to the windlass. Windlass relay boxes are invariably waterproof and don't need regular access.

 

[Boathook]

pvb is right.
Whilst it is often easy enough to locate a battery in the forepeak for the windlass and consequently have 2 relatively short bulky cables you have to think about how it's going to get charged.
The process of charging requires some thought.
If you just connect it up to the domestic batteries it is in effect just an extension of the domestic batteries. The current draw from the other batteries could be significant.
If you want to isolate the battery so it charges off the alternator but is disconnected from the house bank under normal conditions then a voltage sensitive relay would do it. However, if you operate the windlass with the engine now running the VSR is closed and your are back to large currents being drawn from the domestic bank.
Personally, big cables from the domestic bank but increase the capacity if needed by adding an additional battery in parallel.
I have no experience of DC to DC chargers.

I use a 12V DC to DC charger for my bow thruster. Once the main batteries are suitably charged it then allows the BT battery to charge. Simple bit of kit and so far has worked well. I seem to remember the make as Adverc?

 

[johnphilip]

You might be really lucky

When I came to fit a windlass to our boat (1990's design) I am glad I checked out the cable route properly.... lo and behold the builders had installed some really heavy cables already. These ran not just from the battery boxes to behind the switch panel ready for the relay but also from there to the anchor well bulkhead and really heavy cables at that. Also a spare pair of lighter cables to run from foot switches at the bow back to the relay.