@Capedory3062 #5: Although there is good info in SailingHarmonie’s #4 response, the last sentence was pretty harsh, which is his style.
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I tried contacting your business (phone/email)regarding this to no avail
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Website is terribly out of date.
As Gord stated you can
power the windlass with either a local battery at the bow or from your starting or house bank further aft.
There are pros/cons for either method.
With the battery in the bow:
> eliminates the requirement for long run of relatively large gauge cable from house or starting batteries to the windlass
> it can be charged either off of the existing
charger in the E/R with a long run of appropriately sized conductor to minimize voltage drop or from a dedicated
charger in the bow.
> has to be sized properly to support the expected weighing operation or operations as recharging will be slow; e.g.,
anchor will not set in chosen spot so it must be weighed and you move to another spot and try again. Wash and repeat until the anchor is set. There will be no significant recharging of the windlass battery during these evolutions.
Powering the windlass from the house or
engine start battery (assuming they are in the E/R or well aft) has accompanying pros and cons:
> must run large gauge wire from the batteries to the windlass to provide sufficient
current with acceptable voltage drop
> consider how your alternator output is routed to the start battery and house bank. Use the battery being charged by the alternator to power the windlass. This is the biggest advantage of this
installation: the battery powering the windlass is being recharged during the
anchoring evolution
To answer your questions directly:
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The question is can I run wire (cable) from my starting battery that's being charged by what I believe to be a 35 amp alternator to keep that bow battery charged?
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Yes.
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I'll need 30 feet of wire to make the run between the batteries so I think I have to double that (60 feet).
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Correct.
Current flows from the battery and returns to the battery.
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What gauge wire? and I'm certain you know running that wire won't be easy so smaller is better.
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I feel your pain regarding running new wire in an old boat!
Wire size on a boat is a function of the current and the allowable or desired maximum voltage drop. It is general practice that critical
equipment is provided with current at a max voltage drop of 3% while other
equipment (e.g., lighting) can tolerate a 10% voltage drop. There are a lot of tables and apps available to determine wire size for a particular circuit length and current.
For your question:
assume that all 35A from the alternator is available to charge the windlass battery and, since a windlass works hard at times, size the wire for <3% voltage drop. Using 105C Boat Cable you will need AWG 2 (35mm^2) to supply the windlass.
Note that this wire will need to have a fuse or breaker to protect it located properly (that is a whole other lecture!).
Although some windlass manufacturers don’t specify it, it is considered best practice to provide power to the control station/foot switch via a second circuit usually supplied from a circuit breaker on the panelboard.