Anchor raised itself

[StoneCrab]

These posts have made me grateful for the first time for the "traditional" nature of my sailboat. In a few years, I'll be looking for some electric crew members too, but now I know to keep an eye on them.

[CassidyNZ]

I have a Lofrans Tigres which started running on its own while I was repositioning the chain, took my hand over the gypsy and all but removed a finger on my right hand. We were anchored 30nm from the nearest medical services. When I got to a hospital they were able to refit the finger and it now works about 90%

Turned out to be caused by the relay/solenoid box in the anchor locker in which one of the solenoids stayed partly engaged when the foot switch was released and the circuit was re-made at exactly the wrong moment.

When the timing of the incident is simply wrong it’s just luck that prevents such an event. I wasn’t lucky that day

[PiAn]

If you have a bow thruster you probably have a main power relay, besides of the left/right relays. This mais relay is switched on for a limited time with a kind of safety procedure (pressing "ON" for a long time, or pressing simultaneously on two "ON" switches). And it is switched off by pressing "OFF", or after some minutes.
It is possible to supply the windlass after this relay.
Plus :
- you power the windlass for limited time only when you need it.
Contras :
- you have to switch on the bow thruster to use the windlass.
- it adds some complexity to the windlass circuit which can make it fail when you urgently need it...


I'm not favorable to the "power with engine" solution, because if your engine fails to start then the safest solution is probably to anchor.

[alaskasail]

Standing on a glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska, I saw my boat drifting down bay apparently unattended. I raced down to the skiff and caught up to the boat. The anchor was half up and the circuit breaker had been tripped (the winch was off). Huh???

Another good story and incident later, I discovered that Ravens love to pick at things like switches and had turned on the windless until it jammed and tripped the breaker.

I now trip the breaker after anchoring.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by PiAn

I'm not favorable to the "power with engine" solution, because if your engine fails to start then the safest solution is probably to anchor.

I find that when I’m likely to anchor, the engine is running anyway since I would never sail into an anchorage. Similarly, when I’m ready to weigh anchor, I would want the engine running in preparation to motoring out of the anchorage. So whilst I don’t necessarily subscribe to the “windlass power with engine” either, it’s actually always been a by-product of the process.

Certainly when weighing anchor I also think it beneficial to have an alternator providing some electrical juice while the windlass is busy draining it at the other end.

If the engine fails to start, necessitating an “emergency” anchor deployment, my windlass has a controlled free-spool facility that drops the anchor quickly without power but with a brake to control speed of deployment.

[CassidyNZ]

This thread really has got me thinking. I have have no breaker in the power supply to my anchor winch so, with all the reports here of potential disaster from malfunctioning I got to thinking how I would do this. So here’s what my system looks like.

The anchor winch is obviously on the foredeck with its own battery in the anchor locker directly below. Foot switches on deck for operation. The anchor locker only has access from inside the forepeak, no access from on deck. The battery is connected to the electrics via two thin charge lines coming from the engine room half way down the boat. The heavy duty “battery cables” are short runs between the local battery, the solenoid box and the anchor winch.

So here’s the dilemma: obviously a breaker needs to be in the heavy duty battery cables, no point in having it on the charge lines So that means it either has to be on deck (totally impractical) or in the forepeak. If in the forepeak, it means a long walk through the boat and a climb over someone’s bed to get to it. Then back to the cockpit and on to the foredeck. So whilst this isn’t exactly prohibitive, it is a considerable nuisance every time the winch needs switching on/off.

How would you solve this?

Unfortunately in this instance I can’t fall back on my typical “it’s never happened to me” refrain

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

This thread really has got me thinking. I have have no breaker in the power supply to my anchor winch so, with all the reports here of potential disaster from malfunctioning I got to thinking how I would do this. So here’s what my system looks like.

The anchor winch is obviously on the foredeck with its own battery in the anchor locker directly below. Foot switches on deck for operation. The anchor locker only has access from inside the forepeak, no access from on deck. The battery is connected to the electrics via two thin charge lines coming from the engine room half way down the boat. The heavy duty “battery cables” are short runs between the local battery, the solenoid box and the anchor winch.

So here’s the dilemma: obviously a breaker needs to be in the heavy duty battery cables, no point in having it on the charge lines So that means it either has to be on deck (totally impractical) or in the forepeak. If in the forepeak, it means a long walk through the boat and a climb over someone’s bed to get to it. Then back to the cockpit and on to the foredeck. So whilst this isn’t exactly prohibitive, it is a considerable nuisance every time the winch needs switching on/off.

How would you solve this?

Unfortunately in this instance I can’t fall back on my typical “it’s never happened to me” refrain

See Jedi's post above, #16.

[Jim Cate]

An observation: nearly all of the reported accidental activations involve a solenoid operated windlass. Something inadvertently triggers that device and off the windlass goes.

I know that it isn't a popular choice, but so far we've avoided these problems by using direct acting foot switches and not having a solenoid at all. This means no remote, and that would be a convenient thing for single handing, but the trouble free aspect has, for us, been compelling.

Jim

[Bycrick]

One possible solution for a "switch" for the forward-mounted battery might be one of the latching type relays from Blue Sea. You can mount the relay close to the battery and control it remotely, even from multiple control points. That wouldn’t solve the problem of resetting a blown circuit breaker or fuse, but might give to time to open the circuit manually if the windlass somehow turned on. A blown circuit breaker should be caused primarily by either a real fault (in which case a reset wouldn’t help) or a chain jam which stalls the windlass (which should take several seconds to pop the breaker).

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

See Jedi's post above, #16.

Mmmmmm.

I read the info on that device, I can’t find anywhere where it says it’s a circuit breaker. So if the windlass starts running on its own someone still has to be handy to the switch to turn the power off when things get tough.

Maybe it does work as a circuit breaker and I don’t understand the spec.

[bcboomer]

It's not a circuit breaker. It is a remotely controlled switch so one can prevent the windlass from activating when it isn't supposed to.
If there is a dedicated battery near the windlass then this would let you disable it without going all the way to the bow.
A circuit breaker is still needed.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

An observation: nearly all of the reported accidental activations involve a solenoid operated windlass. Something inadvertently triggers that device and off the windlass goes.

I know that it isn't a popular choice, but so far we've avoided these problems by using direct acting foot switches and not having a solenoid at all. This means no remote, and that would be a convenient thing for single handing, but the trouble free aspect has, for us, been compelling.

Jim

Hi Jim

The switches I have on my deck have light-weight wires that energise the relevant solenoid which “makes” the heavy duty connections between the battery and the winch. Effectively a relay-type application.

Given the serious current drawn by the winch, these switches would fry in a heartbeat. You’re obviously not using the same switches. What foot switch do you use that can carry the current draw of an anchor winch?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

Hi Jim

The switches I have on my deck have light-weight wires that energise the relevant solenoid which “makes” the heavy duty connections between the battery and the winch. Effectively a relay-type application.

Given the serious current drawn by the winch, these switches would fry in a heartbeat. You’re obviously not using the same switches. What foot switch do you use that can carry the current draw of an anchor winch?

Ours come with Maxwell windlasses and have been quite reliable now for at least 17 years. One was on the boat when we bought her in 2003.

Jim

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Ours come with Maxwell windlasses and have been quite reliable now for at least 17 years. One was on the boat when we bought her in 2003.

Jim

Hi Jim, I’m pretty sure your switches are control switches for a solenoid box like others have. You could add more switches but that multiplies the risk of-course.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

Mmmmmm.

I read the info on that device, I can’t find anywhere where it says it’s a circuit breaker. So if the windlass starts running on its own someone still has to be handy to the switch to turn the power off when things get tough.

Maybe it does work as a circuit breaker and I don’t understand the spec.

Assuming you now have a circuit breaker, you could put the switch in series, between the breaker and the windlass or you can replace the breaker with an ANL fuse holder. I would prefer the fuse as it’s more reliable and you don’t need the switch-part of the breaker anymore.

Like someone wrote, you can add multiple remote control switches to it, but just one in a strategic location should make life fantastic