Reducing “coning “ in the chain locker -ideas ?

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by atoll

I have been toying with the idea of modifying a 12v windscreen wiper motor and a eccentric lever arm with a roller on the end or roller bar to move the chain from side to side with the wiring connected to the windlass motor circuit.
only really an issue when i use the remote helm control to raise the anchor and unable to monitor chain pile .

I have a friend who did exactly that. It worked, mostly, but he used a manual push button switch for the wiper motor. I think it would have been better to run the wiper motor the entire time the windlass was running.

[WalterJack]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

My Bav36 has around 70m of chain and it tends to cone up under the horizontal windlass then jam.

The usual task is to periodically break the cone using a boat hook. But it’s fiddly and sometimes you can’t easily stop getting the chain up to break the cone up . ( tight harbours etc )

Has anyone any ideas of anything that might help ( and “ get a bigger boat” isn’t useful thanks )

You could try laying a piece of plate in the locker slightly angled from for'd to aft, with that the chain should self stow drawback being is you sacrifice some locker space.

[BillKny]

The traditional answer (which seems to have been forgotten) is to have a short bulkhead in the chainlocker, usually fore and aft, but the direction is not important, right under the chainpipe.

The chain hits the top of this bulkhead, and falls to one side, or the other, back and forth effectively forcing the chain to flake itself and avoiding the castles that jam up into the chainpipe.

It doesn't work with all geometries. Some sailboat manufacturers just don't understand how to build boats that work in the real world, but it is an easy thing to try. It doesn't even need to be a bulkhead, just a bar will force chain to fall to alternate sides.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by Group9

I took a pvc pipe and routed our chain to a deeper locker under the chain locker to avoid the stacking issue. I now just use the old locker for the back up nylon rode.

We have the same arrangement, which means the windlass operator cannot reach the chain locker location easily. But we still have chain coning when using more than about 70' of chain since that lower locker is not much higher than the forward cabin bunk it is under.

Usually wife is aboard and she does a great job knocking down the cone.
I shall try the idea by BillKny to install a bar across the lower end of the pipe. Maybe this forms two smaller cones instead of one?

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by BillKny

The traditional answer (which seems to have been forgotten) is to have a short bulkhead in the chainlocker, usually fore and aft, but the direction is not important, right under the chainpipe.

The chain hits the top of this bulkhead, and falls to one side, or the other, back and forth effectively forcing the chain to flake itself and avoiding the castles that jam up into the chainpipe.

It doesn't work with all geometries. Some sailboat manufacturers just don't understand how to build boats that work in the real world, but it is an easy thing to try. It doesn't even need to be a bulkhead, just a bar will force chain to fall to alternate sides.

Hadn't heard that one - good idea. Think I will try that, just with a round stainless tube fore & aft. Have to make it not too high though or else I wont be able to knock over any cones that do build up.

[Sailshabby]

We epoxied a pice of lumber (probably 2.5” x 2.5”in) across the locker and stuck a bit of PVC pipe over it (should have slipped it over the lumber first, in hindsight). We placed the generally unused length over one side and the rest over the other. Since then, never an issue. You’ll have to experiment with placement first.

[b_rodwell]

I had stainless steel anchor chain on my last boat. It would never make a detectable cone. An expensive solution but with many advantages (another is that mud sticks less to the chain).

Brian

[sailon46]

If you have a basket ball place it right under the feed of your windlass no coning I promise you.
Ernie on the Loremar

[Oceanride007]

^^^^ that resonates with me.

[goboatingnow]

Thanks everyone. I’ll play with the simple ideas like a small traffic come or a fore and aft divider etc. The key thing is to try to get the chain forward in the locker as that’s where less chain tends to build up. ( in the 36 bav the windlass is too far aft in the locker in my view )

[Camille1]

I use a traffic cone for my 80m chain/80m nylon and it works well. Point of the cone must be right under the chain drop. Doesn't cost much to give it a try!

[Seriously Slow]

My problem was that the locker while large enough was deep well aft of the center of the chain fall center so I would build a cone in the shallow area and have to pull it back while it was building.
My solution worked so well I stopped even opening the locker to watch (after I got used to its' reliability.
I made a 2" diameter x about 14" roller out of PVC plumbing tube and 2 end caps with 1/2" holes drilled in the center of each cap. I Fashioned two 3/8"pivot pins (bolts) for the roller to spin on and attached them to the side wall of the locker. I positioned the roller about a foot back from the chain center and about a foot lower than the deck.

This allows the chain to be pulled back by gravity until it has built a cone in the deepest part of the locker. You always want to leave a little chain in the deepest part for its' weight to pull the incoming chain across the gap to the roller.

When it has built a large cone and reaches close to the roller the weight of the chain in the gap will cause the chain to fall in front of the roller and build another pile.

One additional note-- If your chain falls to one side of the locker as mine did you can also cure that on the large pile by turning the roller so that the chain goes from the incoming hole to the center of the the desired pile location.

You can hold the roller in various locations with your hands while someone operates the windlass so you can decide the proper location and angle by trial and error.
Sorry, I never took a picture or better yet a video and now my boat has been sold.

[goboatingnow]

I wonder if I fashioned a short hawse pipe at an angle to throw the chain forward in the locker as the cone built there it would collapse aft , the issue is the current system flakes the chain aft in the locker

[Gaia]

We installed a sloping platform on Gaia which after several iterations now has two compartments and a trap door over the most forward held up with properly tensioned bungee cord. When the back compartment is full the chain piles up on the trap door and lowers it. Works a treat! The chain is brought aft somewhat through a sloping 3 inch PVC pipe to bring it underneath the forward peak berths just ahead of the foremast on our junk rigged schooner,

Jim sv Gaia

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by WalterJack

You could try laying a piece of plate in the locker slightly angled from for'd to aft, with that the chain should self stow drawback being is you sacrifice some locker space.

+1 ... We had this problem til' we angled the deck in the bottom of the locker. Piece of plywood and some glass. Easy job, been working fine for six years now. Cost me about 3" at the back of the locker and 1/2" at the front.