Twisted and kinked Anchor Chain

[Whaler52]

I have a Lewmar V4 Windlass with 200ft of 1/2in chain. At about 125ft it is kinked so tight that it won't pass through the windlass. I have a swivel and have repeatedly removed all of the chain from the locker to straighten it out. (No easy task.) Continues to kink up. Anyone having this problem? Solutions?

Thanks.

[Jacko]

Hey Whaler I have the same problem would love to hear a way of solving this issue Cheers

[RTB]

Same problem. No solution, except anchoring where there is no current, or where the wind only blows from one direction.

Ralph

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by RTB

Same problem. No solution, except anchoring where there is no current, or where the wind only blows from one direction.

Ralph

If the kinks are in the locker (what it sounds like), then this comment is completely off the point; the twisting cannot past through the V4 gypsy.

Obvious, no?

It has something to do with how the chain is falling into the locker, and may be specific to the particular chain.

[gpeacock]

We had the same issue with our maxwell windless. It all started when we broke our pressure foot that kept the chain from twisting in the gypsy. Replaced that and haven't had an issue since.
Watch the chain as it goes around the gypsy. I put marker on one side so I could see if it was twisting. Once you figure out where its twisting you then just have to figure out why...
Good luck.

[JPA Cate]

We actually removed the swivel from our anchor chain, So how we get the twists out is to flake the chain out on a dock. Then start retrieving it, keeping it straight. PITA. As we come to the anchor end the hockles build up, then we have to go slow, eventually let the anchor unwind, and all is well.

Swivels can be sources of problems.

Ann.

[colemj]

Check your bow roller - it should have a deep groove right in the middle of the Vee. That groove helps to bring the chain on board in a non-twisting manner. If you don't have this, or it is worn down, replacing your roller may help.

Do you see your chain twisting around between the roller and windlass when it is coming aboard?

Is your chain old? Rusty chain will also develop kinks that accumulate and do not unravel well because the chain links have too much friction between them.

Mark

[thinwater]

I still can't imagine a twist passing through the Lewmar vertical windlass (I have one of these). I don't think it is possible, and you would hear the crunch. I've not used a swivel in 5 years and I have not un-twisted the chain; the twists all shake out as the anchor is lifted free of the bottom. But it would be simple to watch it while retrieving to see if I am wrong.

I think it is far more likely that the anchor is spiraling as it falls into the well and that the links are not allowing these twists to work back out. The solutions may be...
+ a little slope in the well floor
+ a new chain
+ kicking the pile over when retrieving

[FSMike]

I have no idea if this would work but ----
years ago I had an anchor locker that tended to jumble up the chain more than I liked. I was going to install a cone directly under the deck feed for the chain, the idea being that the chain would coil around the cone and stay a bit neater. Sold the boat before I did it.
Anybody ever tried anything similar?

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by FSMike

I have no idea if this would work but ----
years ago I had an anchor locker that tended to jumble up the chain more than I liked. I was going to install a cone directly under the deck feed for the chain, the idea being that the chain would coil around the cone and stay a bit neater. Sold the boat before I did it.
Anybody ever tried anything similar?

Cones are often used in lockers to stop the chain from castling

[colemj]

Originally Posted by thinwater

I think it is far more likely that the anchor is spiraling as it falls into the well and that the links are not allowing these twists to work back out. The solutions may be...
+ a little slope in the well floor
+ a new chain
+ kicking the pile over when retrieving

Spiraling - that is the word I was trying to describe in my post above. Watch for the chain spiraling between the roller and windlass. The deep middle roller groove is meant to help alleviate this.

Once it has spiraled into the well, it is very difficult for it to unspiral in the fall because the chain needs to unspiral to the end or kinks will occur somewhere.

For us, the swivel on the anchor end comes into play as the roller groove forces any spiraling down toward the anchor rather than up into the locker. Even with the swivel, we sometimes have the anchor come up and do some fast twisting when off the bottom.

Mark

[zeehag]

when anchored, raise anchor, straighten chain, re anchor. on th edock, let chain onto dock and re stow it, making sure you remob=ve the twisting.
PR
you can run into really deep water, let it allll go and re raise making sure the chain straightens out. thius method is difficult, and i have yet to try it, as i flake mine on dock when necessary to straighten, as do the cates.
no i use NO swivels.
whichever way you use to straighten the chain, you will need to physically WATCH your chain, not raise from remote place on boat as it comes out of the water.
of late i have been HAND RAISING my chain and straightening it as i do. hay, iffn a lil ol lady can do it, so can you

[bobnlesley]

Some good points above: We had similar issues, not least because the chain's old/tired/rusty (see colemj's post) and having read the posts about a 'cone in the locker' makes me realise that our problem has reduced significantly since we bought a new anchor: I now suspect that this is perhaps not due to changing the anchor on the end of the chain(20kg rather than a 15kg Bruce) but because the original, now 'spare' anchor is sat in the bottom of the anchor locker, so the chain drapes over/around that when it drops into the locker, rather than just piling-up in a cone-shaped heap?

[Mike OReilly]

Our chain gets twisted at times. Luckily, with a manual windlass it's not really a big issue. But we do use some of the techniques to untwist every couple of seasons (usually when I re-mark the chain).

I actually tried a swivel for a few seasons, but found that it made virtually no difference; our chain still got twisted over time. Since then I took the swivel off. We still get twisted over time . Just another thing to manage

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by Whaler52

I have a Lewmar V4 Windlass with 200ft of 1/2in chain. At about 125ft it is kinked so tight that it won't pass through the windlass. I have a swivel and have repeatedly removed all of the chain from the locker to straighten it out. (No easy task.) Continues to kink up. Anyone having this problem? Solutions?

Thanks.

Your chain is very likely incorrectly sized for the windlass gypsy. This is causing it to skip and twist as it is hauled aboard (or paid out) This is a DANGEROUS situation as it can ball up underwater. I once had to dive under a cat to rescue the boat as it was dragging on super short chain with a MASSIVE ball of chain around the size and shape of a big bottlenose dolphin hanging just below the bridgedeck. It was a dangerous and nervous job in very murky waters where 3 people had been killed by saltwater crocs in the previous 2 years. Balurin, Indonesia. The cause? An incorrectly sized windlass gypsy.

In retrospect it was a job I should not have done. My life for an anchor chain? I wouldn't do it again. But in the circumstances the folk, who were friends of mine, needed assistance urgently and it was rendered.

Anyhow, that is my remote diagnosis. That or a severely worn or damaged gypsy.