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S&S Swan General - Powered Halyard Winch 411 |
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Join Date: 16 May 2009
Posts: 252 |
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Powered Halyard Winch 411 |
Join Date: 02 January 2008
Posts: 1547 |
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Geoff A powered winch has a motor below. If installed near the mast either a recess in the deck is required for the motor (likely to show on the inside), or the winch could be put on a pod high enough. There is also another approach - install powered sheet winches in the cockpit, and lead the halyard temporarily there when help with the hoisting is required. Jib halyards are nowadays often hooked up to hydraulic rams on the mast, the tension can then be adjusted from the cockpit panel. Kind regards Lars |
Join Date: 16 May 2009
Posts: 252 |
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Geoff A powered winch has a motor below. If installed near the mast either a recess in the deck is required for the motor (likely to show on the inside), or the winch could be put on a pod high enough. There is also another approach - install powered sheet winches in the cockpit, and lead the halyard temporarily there when help with the hoisting is required. Jib halyards are nowadays often hooked up to hydraulic rams on the mast, the tension can then be adjusted from the cockpit panel. Kind regards Lars Lars: |
Join Date: 02 January 2008
Posts: 1547 |
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Geoff The small winches you mention are intended for the spinnaker pole fore guy/topping lift, but they are not strong enough for the halyard loads. Approximate halyard loads can be found with the simple formula (LOA [ft])^2, in your case this works out to about 1700 lbs. Winch manufacturers seldom disclose how much the powered winches can pull, but winch selection guides give guidelines, it appears that 44 or 46 would be a suitable size here. This number is the power ratio - i.e. how many times the winch increases the load put on the handle. Note that this is without friction. A hydraulic power pack would hardly be motivated for one function only. If you plan to add more functions later this is likely to affect the size of the power pack, and needs to be considered. Suggest owners are better suited to comment on certain products, would however like to point out that Harken has a powered winch with Rewind feature, meaning that the halyard also can be released from a distance. Happy New Year! Lars |
Join Date: 05 February 2007
Posts: 102 |
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Dear Geoff, |
Join Date: 02 January 2008
Posts: 1547 |
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Happy New Year Jayne! Thank you for pointing out an extremely important aspect with powered winches, and with all powered functions for that sake. Unfortunately they will increase the risk of damage or injury, because they are set to pull to a high maximum load, and do not stop before that unless the power is cut off in time. When you crank by hand you can feel when it is getting heavy, but a finger on a control button has no such feeling. And, pls note, buttons may malfunction, and not switch off, as Jayne rightly points out. A proper installation should include the following: - One or several Crash Stop buttons for the powered functions. Such a button is a red protruding mushroom shape, and hitting it switches everything off. After that the button can be re-set. At least one button within the reach of the helmsman is recommended, more is better, and everybody on board should be instructed about their use. - One or several circuit breakers for the powered functions, and a routine to keep them switched off except when needed. - The control buttons protected so they can not be activated unintentionally, for example by stepping on them, or by waves coming on deck. Folding covers are often used. There have been cases with hot sunshine activating buttons of pneumatic type. - The control button should preferably be close to the winch. For example an anchor windlass controlled from the cockpit may cause danger. - The winch motor must be disabled when a winch handle is inserted There are possibilities to limit the pulling force based on the current drawn by the motor, but this may become complicated as you sometimes need the full load, and at other times much less. If the winch has several speeds, disabling the slower speeds reduces the maximum pull, but retains the highest speed. Best regards Lars |
Join Date: 16 May 2009
Posts: 252 |
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Lars: |
Join Date: 05 February 2007
Posts: 102 |
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Dear Geoff, |
Join Date: 02 January 2008
Posts: 1547 |
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Geoff Lewmar have something they call EVC meaning Electric Variable Control, which is a speed controller. They also have a Soft Start function to avoid the jerks on start up of the motor. It appears, however, that the speed control does not affect the cut out system for overload, which is set according to the winch SWL. Best regards Lars
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