Replacing Lewmar Manual 65 with Electric

[sv.BlueLagoon]

I own a Pearson 530 Ketch sailboat and I am thinking about replacing my Lewmar 65 with an Electric Winch. The question is whether I need a direct replacement ie.. 65 Manual to 65 Electric or is there a guide or rule of thumb that says I can go smaller.

Any thoughts, knowledge or experience?

Thank you in advance.

[Sailorman97]

Originally Posted by sv.BlueLagoon

I own a Pearson 530 Ketch sailboat and I am thinking about replacing my Lewmar 65 with an Electric Winch. The question is whether I need a direct replacement ie.. 65 Manual to 65 Electric or is there a guide or rule of thumb that says I can go smaller.

Any thoughts, knowledge or experience?

Thank you in advance.

I would not down size. At some point you may need to grind this. They were put there for a reason and most boats I am aware of that carry these winches could use larger ones.

[tkeithlu]

Sailorman's got it. You need for it to do electrically everything you can do with the manual version. That means an electric motor sized to the same gears, bearings, and shafts as the manual. Next step is to make sure that you can deliver the same electrical energy as your arm has been supplying, so don't skimp on the wire diameters, either. Good luck with your project.

[Sailorman97]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Sailorman's got it. You need for it to do electrically everything you can do with the manual version. That means an electric motor sized to the same gears, bearings, and shafts as the manual. Next step is to make sure that you can deliver the same electrical energy as your arm has been supplying, so don't skimp on the wire diameters, either. Good luck with your project.

Keith is right on the wire. You will need big wire making sure that you have no more than 3% voltage drop. If you do you will burn out the motor.

Bigger is better on wire. When your calculating the distance you need to include the distance from the battery and to the battery. That means distance x 2.

[CaptNemoO2]

Another reason for not downsizing, I believe Lewmar winches under 65 are single speed only when driven electrically. 65 and above will operate in both speeds electrically. Mine (66ST circa 1992/93) have a button in the winch socket to disengage the motor when a handle is inserted. The winch control box basically measures the amps drawn, and when it goes above a set threshold, reverses the motor for low speed automatically.

If you're in the US, keep an eye out at West Marine. Usually once a year they have a BOGO sale on all Lewmar winches. I got my 45s that's way, my father got 55s.

Also depending on the year of your existing winches, you can convert them to electric, essentially all you keep is the drum, but saves you some $$$. I believe it was sometime in the mid 90s that the winches we're made to convert. I think if the top of the drum has 4 screws and a black cap, they can not be converted.

[Scrimshaw4]

FYI: :Lewmar makes electric conversion kits for most of there winches, even the older ones. Secondly, once a year West Marine & Lewmar have a 50% off sale. Even if the conversion kit you're looking for isn't shown in the sale, contact Lewmar and they will make it available for the sale discount if it's still in production. Hope this helps.

[Madehn]

I did this conversion on my Barient winches on my Gulfstar. Lot of work. Cable needed was about as big around as my index finger. Need a breaker 100 amp for mine next to the batteries. Need room under the winches that you can access to hold the motors. I think I needed about 14 inches. Need room to put the switches where they won’t get leaned on accidentally. I ended up wiring mine with an extra solenoid and switch so that two buttons must be held down simultaneously to activate the winch. That way if a solenoid stick in the on position I don’t pull the rig down or break something. If I had to do it over again I would figure out a way to use a big red emergency stop button instead of the second solenoid and switch. It was expensive. I think I easily spent 6.5 k in the conversion and I did all of the work myself.