I installed my windlass as you describe, and I am happy with it.
I ran #4 cable from the main batteries to the bow. I have a 100 amp
breaker installed to protect this cable. I bought a little 35 AH AGM
wheelchair battery for ~$50 and mounted this up at the bow to provide
power for the windlass. This is wired in parallel with my house
batteries, with nothing sophisticated.

So far so good. The battery is wired in parallel with my house and is
transparent. The AGM battery is small, requires no maintenance, and
has sufficient power to run the windlass for a couple of cycles.

The only problem I had was -- one time the breaker to the little
battery was switched open. I ran the windlass a couple of times, then
it stalled. The problem went away, when I flipped the breaker.

I understand the reasons to avoid this type of system. For me, I
simply wanted to avoid the additional $100 for the heavy cable.
Perhaps I lose some efficiency due to this extra little battery added
to the house circuit. I have a hard time believing that this would be
significant.

Good luck!

Jim




Doin it right wrote:
I want to install a windlass, but cabling it from my batteries with
large wires is a major job.

I am thinking of placing a dedicated battery up with the windlass and
running smaller wires from the main bank where the charger lives

Question:

How do you protect the smaller wire from over current? I am thinking
about a situation where the windlass battery is dead. The windlass will
try to draw current from the other bank. I can/will install a breaker of
course. But I was wondering if there are any other tips and tricks in
respect to the installation I have in mind.

Basically the house bank is charged from a charger/inverter, engine and
solar bank. There is a large (4 gauge I think) pair of wires that feed
from the batteries to a breaker panel half way to the windlass location.
I was thinking of running the new wires from the breaker panel to the
windlass location, with the understanding that when charging, the
voltage and current from the charge source will come from the breaker panel.

Anybody have an thoughts to share?

Thanks!