Windless Battery

[sailshe]

Hi To All,

Have new to us, Morgan O/I 415 "79".
Does the windless have a seperate battery, and where might the thing be hidden?
We were testing the windless and the battery was drained almost immediately, had to hand winch it in.

Any and all responses will be so greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Mattie

[TrueBlue]

The anchor windlass is typically wired to the main battery banks located in close proximity to your engine compartment. A circuit breaker and controller should also be wired between the batteries and windlass. There are many variations for house & engine banks, so some investigation into the boat's electrical wiring system should reveal which circuit the windlass operates from.

One important point - never attempt to operate an electric windlass under load, without first starting the engine. This will surely drain the battery banks.

[gc]

A rough rule of thumb. A windlass draws nearly as much power as the engine starter. In fact the motors are rather similar. If your battery would be run down by cranking the starter for several minutes straight, then don't be surprised if the anchor windlass runs it down also.
This is also why on most boats with separate starting and house batteries, the windlass is wired to the starting battery. Best strategy is to start the engine before hauling the anchor.

[hellosailor]

With a new (to you or otherwise!<G>) boat, you really need to scope it out, stick your nose in every inch from bow to stern. With the windlass, start by removing any cover plates or upholstery below it and check for corrossion or bad wiring. Follow the cables--they should be battery cables--from the windlass and you'll find out what powers it. With a 415, there "should" be a dedicated battery up front to power the winch, because there are only two ways to get high amperage up to the windlass.

One is to have a battery located up front, so you only need battery cables from it to the winch, and you can use lighter cables running aft for charing.

The other is by running heavy cables (possibly 0 or 00 gauge) all the way aft to the DC supplies.

The third option--using undersized cable/wires, is simply no good.

When you say "the battery" was drained right away...Were you able to check the main batteries? Is there a manual safety cutout for recharging a winch battery, perhaps?

There's no telling what the PO's have done, don't assume any wire that "starts here" actually "gets there" in one run.<G>