The concept is that that windlass battery is used so seldom that you can
trickle charge it. Personally, I installed the heavy cable and generally
only run the windlass when the engine is running. An extra battery,
extra charger, etc seems more trouble than it is worth.

Doug
s/v Callista

ps. When did the word "ampacity" enter the alphabet?

"Dick Locke" wrote in message
...
On 27 Jul 2004 15:50:00 GMT, (Ray Cullum) wrote:

I am considering adding a electric windlass to my boat and I would like
some
opinions on the best way to connect to the electrical system.

The windlass will be approximately 40 feet from my house battery bank
which is
700amps. It has been suggested to me to place a small battery up close
to the
windlass so you don't have to run heavy battery cable such a distance and
sustain the power loss. Small cable could be run to the battery strictly
for
recharging.

Thanks for the help.

Ray Cullum
S/V FROLIC

Two For What it's Worth items:

West Marine in their Advisor pages in the catalog suggests not doing
this on the grounds that the proper cabling for full charger output or
full alternator output is almost as big as the proper cabling for the
winches. Remember most people have their engine running when raising
anchor. For a small savings in cable cost you lose storage space and
add weight in the bow.

Second, the boat I bought is wired this way and the forward battery is
connected through disconnect switches to both the windlass and a bow
thruster. It also has the capability to utilize the forward battery (I
think it's a 4D but I haven't opened the box yet) as a house battery.
It works fine but when time comes for battery replacement I'll examine
rewiring the cables that run forward ( think they are about size 0 or
2) and getting the battery out of the bow.