Anchor Chain Wash System

[Sandero]

I am about to install a system to remove the mud from the anchor chain... which can be quite substantial.

My idea involves a housing which will sit over the stainless bow roller somehow TBD.. above the chain and blast it with pressurized stream of water as the windlass pulls it up. Alternatively I could use a separate hose (as I've done in the past...) to shoot a stream of water at the chain. If I use the new *system* I would like the deck wash pump to be connected the the windlass UP foot switch so that when the chain is retrieved the chain is washed... but not when it's dropped.

Of course I would have to remove the *washdown housing* from the anchor locker... where it would live until needed. I would place it over the bow fitting and connect the nose and press the foot switch and wash away!

So... is this a crazy idea?

Can I wire the pump into the windlass switch up switch?

Can I plumb the pump to the head sink waste line thru hull with a T? Do I need a diverter valve at the thru hull? Why?

Suggestions please.

[djmarchand]

While I think that any push the button chain wash system is a bit of a Rube Goldberg joke, here are some answers to your questions:

You can use the down switch to power the wash pump. The pump draws 6-7 amps and the foot switch is probably good to supply that current as well as the windlass solenoid. If not, use a relay.

The tee to the waste drain will potentially be messy, but what the heck it is a wash pump. But the pump will have to be mounted well below the waterline. Otherwise the pump will draw air in at the tee.

David

[Roy M]

I considered this when installing my windlass and washdown pump, but rejected it. The problem is that, when hauling muddy chain, some clumps are more resilient to washing off than others, so some chunks get dragged down into the anchor locker, making for a big stink when several days pass in warm weather. It was easier to use a powerful washdown pump, with a hose and pressure nozzle, combined with the remote windlass control handset, to carefully remove all mud before it pulled down into the anchor locker.

The washdown pump is a "piggy-back" that produces high volume and high pressure, enough to soak down another crew during a water fight at sea, 30 foot range. I use a separate circuit breaker for the high pressure washdown. If you aren't actively using it, it uses no power.

[Bash]

I spent an inordinate amount of time on my previous boat wiring and plumbing a washdown pump. I easily spent an hour installing the pump for every five minutes of use it got over the course of the next eight years I owned the boat.

The new boat has a superior system that has proven not only to be far more cost effective, but labor effective as well: a bucket on a rope.

[cat man do]

Seeing as one is supposed to use the engine to motor up to the anchor, how hard would it be to divert some of the water from that to the anchor wash?

Is there enough water and pressure from the existing pump to branch a line off?

Just a thought.

[Sandero]

Thanks for the comments. I am debating whether to use a hose and devote the appropriate time to the mud. I've seen some very sticky and messy mud where I've been anchoring. The smell is not a big problem as the chain locker is completely segregated from the boat. But the muddy chain does make a mess of the deck. YUCK. My anchor wash contraption will include stiff bristle brushes to knock most of the mud off... but this does aggregate at the brushes hence the need to some pressure water to do the job properly.

If the T is below the water line why would it suck air? A Y diverter valve certainly is possible... just another thing to set when using the chain washer.

Having the pump with a breaker.on off switch would cause it to kick in only when the pressure drops... Open the nozzle /valve and a steady stream of water comes out. Perhaps a better system than having the pump run when the windlass up switch is pressed. I do raise the chain from the bow so turning an inline pump /hose valve at the below hose outlet in the anchor locker would be no problem.

KISS?

Buckets of water are simply not enough to remove really sticky mud.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by defjef

If the T is below the water line why would it suck air?

If it isn't far enough below the water line, it will suck the standing head water out of the drain and suck air.

With due respect to Bash, I agree with you about the bucket - I don't think he has seen real East coast mud (and your problem is small compared to those in the Chesapeake).

Mark

[senormechanico]

I don't know what type of pump was used on Steve and Linda Dashew's original Sundeer, but I saw close up how the water was directed at the chain.
They had three or four nozzles made from crimped copper pipe, all focused on the chain from under and behind the chain roller.
I don't know how well it worked, but it sure looked badass.

[banjoship]

Mine is plumbed from a "T" in the head intake. It worked ok under the old system of manual head with siphon break in head intake line. However I think the siphon break might have been near clogged most of the time, preventing air being sucked in in any volume by the wash down pump.

I am currently installing an electric head with solenoid controlled siphon break. I think I am going to have to connect the solenoid to the wash down pump, so it is activated when the wash down pump is used. And think I will need a couple of diodes to prevent the head pump being activated when the washdown pump is turned on, and vice versa. A work in progress.

Lee

[Sandero]

After reading these comments I am thinking about the following (please comment):

1 a Y valve at the above the lav discharge sea cock... no possibility of sucking air, but something that has to be set when it's time to up the anchor (no biggie really as upping the anchor DOES involve all sorts of prep chores anyway... this is just another.

2. wire the pump directly via breaker to the main 12v batts so that when the pressure drops the pump cycles and provides a stream of pressure water... no wiring to up switch, turned on when it's time to up anchor.

3. Use quick connect fittings at the deck mounted outlet. I can connect the chain washer device or use a short hose and nozzle.

4. Install a on off valve in the chain wash hose just *above* the quick connect deck fitting so it can be turned off... and positioned without dealing with a steady stream of water shooting allover the place.

5. fashion spray nozzles to direct the stream at the chain as it comes over the bow roller.

6. stow the hose and the washer contraption in the anchor locker

7. Mount the pump and strainer to the underside of the V berth, forward of the head inlet and aft of the anchor locker in a dry accessible (but unseen and out of the way) location where I can clear the filter as required.

[lancelot9898]

Installing the pump washdown system is one of the best modifications I've made to the boat over the years. However, while it is now much more convient than using the old bucket on a rope to remove the muck of the Cheaspeake, there is some desire for a higher pressure system. I used a pump called the pro blaster and it seems lacking in it's blasting ability even though the stream of water does an adequate job as long as the retrival of the anchor is slow....which it always is using the old simpson lawrence manual windless. I've tee'd off the head intake below the water line and the pump is mounted there too and as a result it does have a large vertical distance to pump which explains the lack of "blasting". It's about 6 ft of vertical distance to the deck where the hose fitting is mounted. From that fitting I attach a short hose with nozzle that adds maybe another 3 ft of vertical rise. The electrical connection is directly to a switch which is normally off and wired into the DC electrical outlet. To raise anchor, I first attach the hose to that deck fitting, then I go below and turn on the switch and the pump fills that hose. The pump turns off automatically from the pressure switch on the pump until I return to the deck and press the nozzle. I don't believe that this pump needs to be mounted below water level( I think it's self priming) and mounting it higher in the boat may provide better pressure and more flow, but like anything else...it's on the to do list behind other projects.

[Juniper]

for teeing off the sink drain, just put the stopper in the sink.

[vientoman]

If a person would happen to be using an engine mounted cat pump as a component of their water maker system, as anyone installed a "T" valve on the pressure outlet and used it as a conventional pressure washer......that would do the trick.......3000psi water blasting on your chain as you're winching it up.........

just a thought.

[noelex 77]

I have thought about it and this is how I would do it.

Pump and hoses in the anchor locker. Power via the up solenoid (not the footswitch please)
2 hoses. Drop one in the water over the side, for feed and a second, outlet hose directed at the chain. After anchoring is finished retrieve the short feed hose.

The advantage is don't have a long hose filled with salt water in the boat. If a hose like this leaks and syphons it can sink the boat. It also easy to install electrically. There is already a large low drop cable supplying he anchor winch. Pluming is easy. There would be little pressure loss from the short hose connection.

Anyway just an idea. I have not got around to it and never seen it done, but I think it work well. You would however need a self priming type of pump.

[Sandero]

I think electrical gear is better no left in the anchor locker... a wet salty place. NO NO NO.

I am moving the pump to a nice dry accessible location... and running wires.. easy and hoses easy