Wiring a windless to the thruster batteries

[grahamdouglass]

At present my windless, a Lewmar Tigress, is wired to my house bank with a 25' wire run. I have a Lewmar bow thruster with its' own pair of 12V batteries that has a #8 wire connected to the house circuit to charge the thruster batteries .

I am thinking of rewiring my windless to feed off of the thruster batteries. I am also thinking of using the existing cable that is now being used to feed the windless from my house batteries to run from my isolator (Argpfet 3 output) to the thruster batteries. Therefore the alternator will be feeding both the windless circuit and thruster circuit.

To charge the forward batteries while at the dock I will use a separate Noco 20 that I will just plug into my AC system when I am hooked up to power.

Does this idea make a lot of sense? Has anyone done this? Is it this easy?

 

[sunchaser]

Is your present setup performing adequately? If so, why change it? My setup is about like yours and with BMKs and good house bank charging in place I prefer the house bank for the windlass. Plus on a few very long and protracted retrievals I appreciate the extra juice from the genset via the inverter's beefy charger.

 

[Delta Riverat]

I can't see a time when you'd be running the thruster and the windlass at the same time, so if the current demands work, should be good. My windlass draws 135 A at 12 volts.

 

[LN-RTP]

Keep them separated: My windlass is wired to the house bank for max amp/hours and
the bow thruster to the start bank for short bursts.
We also have a combiner button on the dash in case we need to run the thruster more than
a few seconds, like getting off a dock in a 25 knot cross-wind, or maneuvering in tight quarters between expensive boats.
(Combining the house and start bank)
No generator on this tub, but needless to say, the engine is running any time the windlass or the bow thruster is running.

 

[Greg S]

When are you using the windlass? Maybe after anchoring out for a weekend? The same weekend you flattened the house batteries by enjoying the piece and quiet with ambiance of the deck lighting, and a lot of other electrical load?
After you get your anchor back aboard, how long is it going to be before you use the bow thruster?
In my humble opinion the windlass is a good match with the thruster battery bank.

GS

 

[Scottwb96]

I have both my windlass and thruster on their own bank in the bow (24v). I have a Victron 24/16a IP22 charger on them. That charger is connected to the house bank, so it's always getting a charge. even after some hard thrusting, my batteries (2x-12v in series for 24v) are back up to full in about an hour or so. I also like I can monitor them from the Victron app...

 

[Bacchus]

I can't see a time when you'd be running the thruster and the windlass at the same time, so if the current demands work, should be good. My windlass draws 135 A at 12 volts.

I think DR has a valid point that I didn't see any mention of in your original post.
It's probably worth running the #s to convince yourself...
Thruster batty type, AHs available, A draw of windlass and normal or extreme retrieve times.
This is likely a case where either will work effectively and might be the "best" depending on your objective and any weakness in your use of the existing set up.

 

[RCook]

At present my windless, a Lewmar Tigress, is wired to my house bank with a 25' wire run. I have a Lewmar bow thruster with its' own pair of 12V batteries that has a #8 wire connected to the house circuit to charge the thruster batteries .

I am thinking of rewiring my windless to feed off of the thruster batteries. I am also thinking of using the existing cable that is now being used to feed the windless from my house batteries to run from my isolator (Argpfet 3 output) to the thruster batteries. Therefore the alternator will be feeding both the windless circuit and thruster circuit.

To charge the forward batteries while at the dock I will use a separate Noco 20 that I will just plug into my AC system when I am hooked up to power.

Does this idea make a lot of sense? Has anyone done this? Is it this easy?

I'm not clear as to what problems you're trying to solve.

FWIW, we have Lofrans Tigres windlass and bow thruster both powered from a "bow" bank of two 12V g31 AGM's in parallel, with short 2/0 cables. Both windlass and thruster work perfectly, even for long thruster use.

Charging from both alternator and inverter/charger is directed to the house bank. ACR's supply charging for the bow bank, start bank, and stern thruster batt too. Simple.

 

[ScottC]

For what it's worth, the Greenline 33's come standard with the windlass wired to the forward thruster battery. The thruster battery, house battery and starter battery are all charged by the same Victron 12v charger. Also delivered standard by the factory. This entire setup has worked absolutely fine for me for the 11 years I've owned the boat. The load demands are similar and the thruster and windlass never run at the same time. Cable runs are short. This entire setup makes perfect sense to me.

 

[ScottC]

I subsequently added a stern thruster with its own 12v battery, located aft. In order to minimize wiring and charger modifications, I used a DC to DC charger from the house battery to the stern thruster battery. This setup has worked out well for me too. It has proven to be a worthwhile short cut.

 

[SteveK]

I see no issue with Windless and thruster on same batteries.
I prefer the house batteries not to be connected to windless or thruster. The battery type should be different.
The #8 wires to house for charge may also bleed down house batteries.

Eta: my windless runs off start battery and only when engine is running.

 

[mvweebles]

I'm not clear as to what problems you're trying to solve.

FWIW, we have Lofrans Tigres windlass and bow thruster both powered from a "bow" bank of two 12V g31 AGM's in parallel, with short 2/0 cables. Both windlass and thruster work perfectly, even for long thruster use.

Charging from both alternator and inverter/charger is directed to the house bank. ACR's supply charging for the bow bank, start bank, and stern thruster batt too. Simple.

Exact same setup I have - right down to 2/0 cable and 2xG31s. No complaints.

Peter