Adding a windlass to a 2320?

[MacFern]

Dom, I have the #10

 

[Porkchunker]

That EZ-puller doesn't look like it would hold 30' of chain and 250' of rope (which is what I have).

I just toasted a Simpson Lawrence (now Lewmar) Horizon 500 windlass (see thread I started about replacing it). Apparently these windlasses need to be pulled down, cleaned and regreased (just like trailer hubs/bearings) every couple of years. I didn't do that because I thought they were "sealed units." Me bad, and it cost me.

BTW, I increased my chain from the OEM provided 15' to 30'. There were several times in heavy seas at the CBBT, that I couldn't get the anchor to hold bottom, and at least one time that the current was so strong that it swept the anchor back up to smack the chine as I was lowering it. Went to Chapman's and discovered that chain should be 1 to 1.5 boat-lengths long. The standard anchor rodes made up by the big box marine stores (and apparently most riggers for our Parkers) seems to be 6' or 15' of chain spliced to 150' to 250' of rope. For the 25' hull that is insufficient.

 

[96TL]

Porkchunker, I think the #10 model will.

http://www.ezanchorpuller.com/

 

[riverwatcher]

I decided to purchase and install a windlass on my 2510 MV Parker. I e-mailed the Parker factory, and Robin and the engineering department responded very promptly to let me know that Parker uses the Horizon 500 windlass. Then I decided to check this forum and found some great information, especially from Porkchunker and Ranger Tim. Thanks for the pictures and helpful hints on the installation and maintenance.

Question for you.
What gauge wire did you use on the 25 foot Parker? I calculated the total circuit length to be about 75 feet, so I am thinking I need to use 4 gauge wire. The instructions suggested 6 gauge wire for 66 feet of circuit.
Thanks,
Tom, the Riverwatcher

 

[Porkchunker]

Our 2510s don't have 66' of wire harness associated with that windlass...so 6 ga. should be sufficient.

 

[DaleH]

Our 2510s don't have 66' of wire harness associated with that windlass ... so 6 ga. should be sufficient.

FYI - Au contraire' ... it probably does~!

Remember, to properly calculate the ampacity of the circuit, the TOTAL length of the run - counting BOTH WAYS - needs to be figured into the amp/load equation.

As is, I need close to 24' runs (one way) to get from my batteries to my helm circuit blocks. I can easily see it adding at least another 9' feet to get from the helm to the bow. So, 24' + 9' = 33', times 2 = and 66' is needed to CALCULATE the circuit, eve though each wire itself is only 33' in length.

All calculations in regards to the proper wire size need to be based on the "to & fro" run from the batteries to the load. So even if only 5' away from the battery, your wiring still has to have the ampacity to handle a 10' run, per wire.

See this post here for a free wire size calculator you can download.

 

[Porkchunker]

Um....Dubya...I mean um...Mr. President...I don't believe ampicity is a real word. May I recommend [amperage[/b]?

But I do stand corrected...there could be a total of 66' of wire from + battery post to helm switch to windlass, back to the helm switch, and back to the - battery post. I hadn't thought about total run for an electron.

 

[riverwatcher]

Thanks for the reply. I think I can shorten the circuit length, and I will follow your suggestion to use 6 gauge (marine tinned) wire.
Tom

 

[DaleH]

Um....Dubya ... I mean um ... Mr. President ... I don't believe ampacity is a real word. May I recommend amperage

Ampacity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampacity

Ampacity is the rated electrical current-carrying capacity for a conductor in a given situation, as addressed by the National Electric Code. It takes into account the AWG of the wire along with the type of insulation, proximity of other current carrying wires, ambient temperature, and other factors.

Wires are heated by I-squared * R heating caused by the electric current flowing through them. Copper or aluminum wires could conduct a large amount of current before melting, but long before the conductors melt, their insulation would be damaged by the heat. So the ampacity of a given wire is set by the maximum temperature that the insulation can withstand forever.

For common plastic insulations, this may be 60, 90, or 105 degrees Celsius. Bundling multiple wires together increases the amount of heating while decreasing the convection cooling of the insulation; this has the effect of reducing the ampacity for wires in bundles. For example, the National Electric Code specifies that a single 8 AWG (8 gauge) copper wire with common insulating material has an ampacity of 50 amps; this same wire's ampacity drops to 40 amps when bundled together in non-metallic sheathing with other conductors.

Me :?: ? Dubya ... ?? Ouch ... but I didn't accept my portion of ******* ....

 

[Porkchunker]

Man I'm glad I put the smiley-faces in that post.

Anyone have some salt I can eat with my crow?

BTW, crow is an acceptable meal...unlike those underwater bugs some of you eat.

 

[bigeye2k]

That was a great post all my questions were anwsered without even asking. Thanks.

 

[Ranger Tim]

There are times in my life when I consider myself fortunate that there are much more educated/brilliant people around to give me simple answers to complex questions. Such is the case with Classic Parker dot com! Thanks folks, for the constant good reading and the generous portions of marine expertise.