Wireless windlass controller

affinite

affinite

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Hi all
This year I plan to replace my windlass with a Lofrans Cayman.
At the moment I have a foot switch to control the old windlass which I'll probably keep connected (rather than fill the hole in the deck) but I also intend to supplement this with a 4ch wireless remote (Bow thruster and Windlass).
I can buy the Lofrans wireless remote for around £260 !! or a Shanghai special winch remote from ebay for £10-£15
Which would you choose and why (Apart from the obvious price difference !)
Thanks
 
I have fitted the cheap ones before with no problems. May depend on the wiring set up of individual boats. Buy one that comes with 2 handsets for only a few pounds more and you will have a spare as they are not particularly robust.
Potential issue is that in the unlikely event of someone else nearby using another one with matching frequency could in theory operate your windlass. Very unlikely but possible. Easily prevented by isolating the windlass when you are not using it yourself.
 
The Chinese winch remotes are OK, although they tend to have a short delay on switching off. I fitted one for my bow thruster. The actual remote handset won't be waterproof.

I would go for two separate 2-channel units, much less scope for confusion.
 
Another option is one of the wireless industrial crane controllers. It is about in between price wise.

BEC56A77-6FDB-4985-9343-84DA66AE4013.jpegI have been using one for 18 months or so and it is excellent. No lag, I can retrieve just a tiny amount of chain with a short push, great range (needed for an aluminium boat), takes AA batteries (I haven’t changed mine yet) and reliable.
 
pvb said:
The Chinese winch remotes are OK, although they tend to have a short delay on switching off. I fitted one for my bow thruster. The actual remote handset won't be waterproof.

I would go for two separate 2-channel units, much less scope for confusion.
Click to expand...

I concur with PVB in part. I have fitted two eBay specials now and both have provided excellent service.

Care should be taken to pot the receiver if it's exposed at all, but a small waterproof box sorts that out for pennies. I had the aforementioned delay when I set the receiver at a distance from the winch relay on the old boat. On the new boat, I have placed them together in a sealed box close to the windlass itself and there are almost zero delays (perhaps a tiny fraction of a second).

The batteries on mine are an odd sort, but readily available online (I bought 4 just in case - they were less than £3). I have 2 handsets - both have lanyards attached with clips for clothing (teenagers!!) and of course we only use one at a time.
 
We’ve also used the low cost ones for over 3 years, the little box just sites next the control solenoid wires in parallel to the cockpit manual switch, we did get one that has the larger hand set rather than the little key ring one, we fitted another to switch on deck lights as well. Battery’s on the hand set are 1/2 size little 12v if I remember correctly, used for camera ps and alarms so not too bad to get hold of.
 
Tradewinds said:
Anybody had experience of this one?

Claims "Almost instant response time (0.2 second) for minimum overrun"

Winchmax
Click to expand...
Looks good and a slightly better spec than the Chinese ones although at higher price, the switching lag is a little bit better, ours is under a second and has never been an issue.
 
Daverw said:
This is the one we use,
12V/24V Universal Wireless Winch Remote Control Twin Handset Anti-interference 6134561706348 | eBay

Admiral is very pleased with it, she’s the main winch operator
Click to expand...

Looks very close to the ones I bought in 2018, apart from being black instead of blue. I imagine they are the same internally.

Just spotted the link in #2 and think those are the ones we bought for £11.65 (same seller caramelsauce). Most now claim 30m and mounting in bows is only about 12m from cockpit with some fibreglass in between.

I had heard stories in 17/18 about poor range and mine said they had improved range. I gave up walking when testing them at home, end of drive, end of road, getting past 60m when gave up. No problem with range. Response has always been instant, same as with the original wired switch, for both on and off with zero over-run. It is mounted right beside the relay in the bows so no delay related to the installation. The unit certainly responded instantly when testing at home.

I wouldn't even consider the "marine" version for £260. Remotes don't aren't even look splash-proof let alone water-proof. Not a problem because they don't normally get wet, I have a spare and another pair would only be £12. The waterproof wired remote began to give problems last year and it is water-proof. I fixed it by dismantling one switch and cleaning the contacts though I don't use it much not.

Very handy to be able to deploy from the cockpit when reversing onto a quay and adjust by a couple of metres when lines are ashore.

Installation was trivial and my wife loves the remote and uses it to get an early start on retrieval when leaving a quay. She can help with lines and fending off and get the windlass running the instant it is needed. Then she goes forward to watch the chain but doesn't bother switching to the wired control by the windlass.
 
Last edited:
| fitted one of the eBay remotes. Was OK for about 3 seasons, then just died, athough I thought that I treated it well. Cheap enough not to shed tears over though.
I found the brief over-run at switch off to be of no real problem, less than 1/2 second I would guess.
 
Tradewinds said:
Anybody had experience of this one?

Claims "Almost instant response time (0.2 second) for minimum overrun"

Winchmax
Click to expand...

Thanks for all suggestions.
I opted for an ebay generic version of the Winchmax that Tradewinds mentioned.
It cost £16.64 rather than £35 for the winchmax but Im sure its the same unit.
Its just arrived and seems to work great on the test bench.
Good range, imperceptible delay on switching and two "chunky" remotes in soft rubber casings.
Very pleased so far.
Will post again once fitted to the boat/windlass
 
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