I have a Maxwell VC 500 anchor windlass on my Catalina 320. I need to slow it down by about half. Is this possible?
Can an anchor windlass be slowed down?
- Thread starter Sailduffer
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It's possible.
I sincerely doubt Maxwell will be able to help you. It's also probably no practical to attempt to change the gears in this to change the speed.
What is possible is to do what Zeehag suggests, which can be done with a DC motor speed controller.
What Zeehag is doing is pulsing the switch on and off to get the average speed he wants. A typical DC motor speed controller is a pulse-width modulator (PWM) that pulses the motor on and off very quickly, varying the width of the "on" pulse to get the speed desired.
It may be expensive, since windlass motors draw a lot of current, up to 100A.
I saw one "hobby" PWM controller on eBay for $68, though. Search for "12-40V 100A 1200W DC Motor Speed Control PWM Controller" on eBay. Would need an enclosure, and then you'd dial the potentiometer to the speed you want and just hold your windlass switch down for that speed. You'd have to go below to adjust the speed (assuming the enclosure is belowdecks in a dry place).
CAVEAT: I haven't done this, and don't know anyone who has; if you don't know what you're doing with electricity a and electronics, especially around high current circuits, you should not attempt this alone. Also, no telling how the Maxwell motor will respond to this, in terms of operation, thermal characteristics, and life span.
I sincerely doubt Maxwell will be able to help you. It's also probably no practical to attempt to change the gears in this to change the speed.
What is possible is to do what Zeehag suggests, which can be done with a DC motor speed controller.
What Zeehag is doing is pulsing the switch on and off to get the average speed he wants. A typical DC motor speed controller is a pulse-width modulator (PWM) that pulses the motor on and off very quickly, varying the width of the "on" pulse to get the speed desired.
It may be expensive, since windlass motors draw a lot of current, up to 100A.
I saw one "hobby" PWM controller on eBay for $68, though. Search for "12-40V 100A 1200W DC Motor Speed Control PWM Controller" on eBay. Would need an enclosure, and then you'd dial the potentiometer to the speed you want and just hold your windlass switch down for that speed. You'd have to go below to adjust the speed (assuming the enclosure is belowdecks in a dry place).
CAVEAT: I haven't done this, and don't know anyone who has; if you don't know what you're doing with electricity a and electronics, especially around high current circuits, you should not attempt this alone. Also, no telling how the Maxwell motor will respond to this, in terms of operation, thermal characteristics, and life span.
"What Zeehag is doing is pulsing the switch on and off to get the average speed he wants."
I AINT A HE.....I ARE A SHE. my pic even wears a DRESS ..no i am not a cross dresser..rodlmao
dang ye gotta train everyone......
and i do the feather-footing a s when chain comes off bottom it will be twisted---slow windlass and untwisting by hand wearing leather gloves works best for me to fix that problem.
no i will NOT use a sweebul(swivel to those not understanding spanglish)....i respect my barco tan mucho to waste it to rocks when the freek fails in a stormy condition.....
I AINT A HE.....I ARE A SHE. my pic even wears a DRESS ..no i am not a cross dresser..rodlmao
dang ye gotta train everyone......
and i do the feather-footing a s when chain comes off bottom it will be twisted---slow windlass and untwisting by hand wearing leather gloves works best for me to fix that problem.
no i will NOT use a sweebul(swivel to those not understanding spanglish)....i respect my barco tan mucho to waste it to rocks when the freek fails in a stormy condition.....
i know-is why i has to train em all--new souls--i am me-- i am she-- i am sailing on the sea----love me love my cat...i am straightforward, is plain as that...I caught that, great response.! Jviss hasn't been active on this board for a while. All us regulars know your gender.
omg my feets are showing their longness at all fellows'expense...lol
happy sails folks--is gently raining in manuel - land.....he was a dud, anyway..
seriously--had we not been feather footing windlass we would have not caught the runaway diesel as soon as we did
Do you have the 12 or 24vdc model, are you supplying it the correct voltage? If so you can reduce the voltage you are supplying it to reduce the speed.
You should not run your windlass continuously anyway. It is much the same motor that is used to start a car and you wouldn't continuously run that if you were trying to start a hard to start car, would you?
Maybe 10 seconds at at time, then a few seconds break. The last thing I think you would want to do is get the system hot and increase resistance in the wires, connections and motor windings.
Emergencies excepted, if you treat your windlass gently, it should give you years of reliable service.
Maybe 10 seconds at at time, then a few seconds break. The last thing I think you would want to do is get the system hot and increase resistance in the wires, connections and motor windings.
Emergencies excepted, if you treat your windlass gently, it should give you years of reliable service.
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