windlass wiring?

boatman37

boatman37

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2015
4,251
pittsburgh
Boat Info
2006 Crownline 250CR. 5.7 Merc BIII
Previous: 1986 Sea Ray 250 Sundancer. 260 Merc Alpha 1 Gen 1
Engines
5.7 Merc BIII
Talked to a local shop last week about installing a windlass and they said with the new windlass's and putting the controls up front you only need to run about a 10GA wires to the front? They said they install about 10 a year.

Sound right? I'm far from an electrical expert so have no idea. I mentioned to him about how hard it would be to fish the thick wires up to the front and he said you son't need thew thicker wires now and something about the control box or something up front?
 
All you need is the draw in amps of the windlass (newer ones are around 35 amp I believe) and the distance in wire both directions. Plenty of online calculators. I did a quick lookup and for your boat length it would be a 2 ga wire.
 
10 seems way too light for a windlass. I've used 4 gauge for stereo gear...
 
With 10 gauge you will be tripping breakers and have a system that is under supplied and an electrical hazard. Install it according to the manufacturers instructions. That way you know you are using the correct materials.
I did one on a Maxum 2700 SCR, it wasn't bad at all.
 
A windlass requires a lot of power. The reason you need to run the thick cables is because of the inherit voltage drop from the resistance introduced from the cable alone. This can be offset by using a heavier gauge wire. As the wire gets thicker the less of a voltage drop there will be over a fixed distance.

-Kevin
 
I too did a windlass install on my 270 and had to run battery cable size wire, (second biggest cost after windlass price) to the bow. The way around this is to locate the battery near the bow and only the switch wire would need to run to the helm.

MM
 
MonacoMike said:
I too did a windlass install on my 270 and had to run battery cable size wire, (second biggest cost after windlass price) to the bow. The way around this is to locate the battery near the bow and only the switch wire would need to run to the helm.

MM
Click to expand...

That's exactly how my bowthruster has it too. Charging cables go forward to battery. Solenoid and controls are all low voltage smaller gauge.

-Kevin
 
Thanks guys. Don't want another battery up front so looks like big cables it is.
 
Just looked it up and looks like 6-8GA for my boat with a Lewmar V700 (40 amps and 25' boat). 6GA would be the safer bet. Not sure what I was thinking but I was thinking 4GA was like 5/8 thick like battery cables. Looks like 6GA is about .30 or so thick? Shouldn't be as bad as I thought. My boat already has the Lewmar breaker and a switch on the dash panel. There are no cabinets along the starboard side to worry about either. My battery switch is on the starboard side just behind the helm seat and the breaker is right next to it. There may be wiring already going to there from the battery but I doubt it? The battery switch is only a couple feet from where I can reach and there is a pretty large panel that comes out where the battery switch is. The biggest problem would be getting the wire through the head area. Don't see anything that removes in there so would have to run a fish tape or something to pull the wire through. Then if I can get the decorative 'strip' off in the v-berth area that covers the existing wires I should be good?

Doesn't sound that bad (famous last words)...
 
So when buying the wire it looks like with a 25' boat a 6 GA should be good. I see when calculating you pretty much double the length of your run. That had me thinking I would need 50' of red and 50' of black but after looking at the instructions online I only need about 25' of each?
 
Correct. The calculation doubles it to take account for the red and black run.
 
To save on all this wiring you could just put a Honda Generator up on the Bow and plug in an old electric motor with a pulley. The motor could be switched via a single wire and just tap into a common ground via the bow rail. :eek:

-Kevin
(Disclaimer: okay, yes this is sarcasm - please do not try)
 
On a serious note, if you did not already review my write up please take a moment and feel free to ask me any questions. It's really more scary of a job than hard. The hard part is finding and getting into all the spaces necessary.

My one insight would be to make sure your bow is setup to accept one properly before proceeding. Your tie off cleat might be properly supported but that may differ from the mounting area for the windlass and you want to make sure your drop area will not cause a rope backup.

-Kevin
 
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you might want to consider using 'welder's cable' instead of a conventional stiff wire.....they carry the same level of amps but are very flexible and easier to run....

cliff
 
I did review your write up Kevin. Good stuff. Looks pretty straight forward. Just making sure I have everything right in my mind. I don't think running my wires will be that bad as there are no cabinets along my starboard side. Just fishing them through the head area and everything else should go pretty smooth.

A windlass was an option on my boat and it looks like they used the V700. Mine has a 'shelf' under the locker hatch that the windlass would sit on so it would be hidden under the hatch. That is where they mount them from the factory.
 
scoflaw said:
Use the tinned marine wire, very flexible and won't corrode
Click to expand...
i did see that wire and that was my plan. rather do it right once...lol
 
just dug around and the Lewmar breaker near my battery switch has 2 wires connected, input, 1 output. Haven't figured out where it goes to but the input does have 12V power to it already. I can't get my arm into the anchor locker. I held my phone down in there but the wiring is in conduit. I can barely reach the conduit but can't get my head in there to see anything. There is also a blue and a yellow smaller gauge wires in there that are not connected to anything but looks like there is a set on each side. My thoughts were these were from the windlass switch at the helm but not sure why there would be 2 sets.
So pretty sure the wires are already there. Can't see any marking on them but I'd say probably 8GA, maybe 6.
I think what it will take is once I get the windlass and cut the hole in the shelf in my anchor locker then can probably reach and see the wires a little better but likely won't know for sure until then.
 
Finally found a pic. For a better idea of what I am talking about this is how my boat is set up.
 
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