DIY electric winch?

[markxengineerin]

I ordered the components:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=3037#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbAQkJ_V7IQ

This video shows the internals pretty well- it does not look like it will be difficult to modify the main central shaft to extend down through the drive gear and out the bottom. I don't think I need the ratcheting functionality, which I believe is the only purpose of the pawls at the end of the shaft. I will most likely delete those and attach the shaft positively to the gear, but, TBD when parts are in hand.

According to my calculations, I should get up to 1000 pounds of pulling force on the line. The drill has a clutch with settings to reduce that, if necessary. 2+ feet per second of line pulling, which is high, hope that goes down to about 1 under load. No way of knowing without trying, as motor specs are not published.

[donradcliffe]

Feeling lucky?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...5540278b2SNdNh

[markxengineerin]

I'm anti-China, and wanted self-tailing : ). Interesting find though

[RaymondR]

I was thinking about trying to drive the existing self tailing winch from underneath but decided to mount an electric capstan beside it and went with a Muir VC800. I'll post an image when I get it mounted.

[markxengineerin]

The remote function is working:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBUZd2Rzpms

I am having no luck getting the battery to charge through my "charger extension". The same battery and charger work fine when directly connected, but no luck with each terminal set connected via some pretty heavy wire. If I can figure that out, the battery will charge automatically every time I turn on the boat's inverter, no need to swap batteries around. Set and forget.

The other interesting thing is that I could have easily done multiple speeds, by soldering multiple leads to the potentiometer track of the "trigger", or even done full variable speed control if I wanted to use a RC plane type controller. I kept it simple with just 1 speed for now.

Next up: mechanical drivetrain, parts should arrive for that today. Sprag clutch, shafts, couplings, etc

[goboatingnow]

my experience of using "winch mates " ie electric drills were they were heavy clunky units in order to generate enough power.

I think looking at my harken primaries , it would be easy enough to drive the shaft from the bottom , via a big DC motor gearbox. This would eliminate manual backup however, as adding a clutch makes the thing very complex . In my Bav I have further hardpoints aft for spinnaker winches , so a vertical capstan might be a better idea, or me the primary need is to allow me to be hauled up the mast

[markxengineerin]

I'm not sure about the power until I try, but according to the datasheet and my calcs, I should be able to pull 1000 pounds, much more than a human without a winch. As for a clutch, it's pretty simple to implement, I'm going with McMaster PN 6392K52.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by markxengineerin

I'm not sure about the power until I try, but according to the datasheet and my calcs, I should be able to pull 1000 pounds, much more than a human without a winch. As for a clutch, it's pretty simple to implement, I'm going with McMaster PN 6392K52.

That’s means one speed only then.

[markxengineerin]

That’s means one speed only then.

Not sure what you mean- I'm only planning to use one speed, which is low gear on max motor RPM. Output speed could be adjusted by changing to the other two gears, or using the variable speed ability of the motor. Torque would be lower in the higher gears, yes, if that's what you mean.

[RaymondR]

This is where I'm at so far.

I suspect that if I get the line wound around everything right I might even get it to self rail.

[markxengineerin]

Clever idea, I like it

[markxengineerin]

Project update:

New bottom spacer (white plastic) to allow access to main shaft from below


Winch with drum removed from deck side


10mm shaft coupling to 1 way clutch


forgot to get a photo of the other side of the 1 way clutch, which adapts to the drill chuck using a 6 sided post to grip.

test fit from below:


Upgrades in progress: i decided to make some "axial bearings" for the 1 way clutch, so that it will take thrust loads. In theory, I should only need to support the drill to prevent rotation (torque reaction) and all other loads are supported. If this works in practice, it will make the drill support easier than it would be if it had to hold a position axially or prevent itself from cocking to the side. I have my doubts but trying this first.

[markxengineerin]

Final results, I'm happy, it's strong enough to pick me up (200lbs) like an anchor when I run the winch line through all the normal furling line blocks then over the bow roller for test purposes. It's stronger than I am except when I use an all-out jerking motion with my weight, so, just about perfect strength for the application. The drill shuts itself off electronically before anything bad happens.
The custom parts:

Working from below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wbESRs994s

Working from above

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBxjCz03O10

Design

[markxengineerin]

Following up in case anyone tries this someday- it turns out the plastic handle that comes with the drill cannot handle the torque, it slips, so I had to make a new one from aluminum to react the motor torque.

Also, the 10mm diameter shaft nub that sticks out of the bottom of the winch's center shaft was not long enough to hold onto, was only using about about half of the length possible in a standard 10mm rigid shaft coupling. It also started slipping. I made a new one, longer. Hopefully this is the last of the revisions.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

This is where I'm at so far.

I suspect that if I get the line wound around everything right I might even get it to self rail.

I have found that the capstan runs too fast to try the line-around-everything self tailing idea but it sure as hell gets the main up without any effort on my part so I'm very pleased with it.