[Rhodes22-list] GBI Motor Mount

Sat May 25 10:22:35 EDT 2024

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Begin forwarded message:

From: ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com>
Date: May 25, 2024 at 10:13:15 AM EDT
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Appropriate fuse for power lift winch (and Hello!)
Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>

Hi Rosie,

My Rhodes 22 has the manual 6:1 GBI motor mount.  SO, I don’t have the electrical terminals to which you refer.  But, Murphy’s Law would argue against any exposed electrical terminals in the lazarette compartment.  Think about the sort of conditions it would take to make gear shift around enough to make a short circuit.  Then think about not being able to raise or lower your outboard in those conditions!

One of the things I really like about the GBI motor mount is the ability to run the outboard in any position from fully up to fully down.  The reality of small sailboat sailing in heavy weather is that to make any progress to windward, we must motor sail.  On port tack, I can lower the GBI mount all the way down to keep the lower unit submerged.  On starboard tack, I can raise the mount up to keep the power head out of the water.  This feature of the GBI motor mount gives the Rhodes 22 significantly more heavy weather capability vs similar sized sailboats with transom mounted outboards.  You wouldn’t want to build in a crippling failure mode that would strike at just the moment wherein you need the ability to adjust the outboard’s vertical position.  For me, this would be a critical safety issue.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
1978. Sanford, MI

Sent from my iPhone

On May 25, 2024, at 9:53 AM, Rosie Krueger <rosie.krueger at gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks, Roger!  Yes, exactly.  It feels a bit silly to use the lift for
such a small outboard, but since it’s there already it seems easier to add
a fuse than switch out the lift for a manual one.  The 12v outlet is
already there and has no labeling whatsoever.  I was thinking about adding
a smaller fuse just after the terminal to protect that one, but maybe I
should just remove it completely.  Trying to avoid doing too much actual
rewiring until we have a chance to sail the boat and see how we use it!

Another question - the terminal in the lazerette is just a couple of bolts
mounted to a plastic block, and doesn’t have any sort of cover.  That seems
like it might have been built that way - if anyone has added a cover, I’d
be interested to hear what worked.  I was thinking about getting some
rubber battery terminal covers and trying to rig them up.  The second
anchor lives down there and I can imagine it sliding over and making some
exciting contact when heeling….but if everyone else’s are that way and have
had no problems then I might leave it.

Best,
Rosie

On Sat, May 25, 2024 at 9:20 AM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:

Hi Rosie,

Assuming the wire runs, counting both + & - legs, are less than 5 meters
and the wire runs are not at elevated temperature or thermally insulated,
10 AWG wire is rated for up to 30 amps in continuous service.  Your winch
is capable of drawing much more than that if heavily loaded.  You are
proposing to use the winch to lift an electric outboard?  Under normal
service, the current draw should not blow the 30 amp fuse.  But, if
something were to jam or seize up ... well that's what fuses are for.
Remember to use 10 AWG wire and a HD 12 VDC receptacle for your cockpit
power port.  It would actually be better practice to put the power port on
a smaller, more appropriately sized circuit.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
1978  Sanford, MI
________________________________
From: Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org> on behalf of
Rosie Krueger <rosie.krueger at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 25, 2024 8:49 AM
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Appropriate fuse for power lift winch (and Hello!)

Hello all,

New owners of a 2007 Rhodes 22 (formerly "Last Mango" - about to be
renamed) in Vermont.  Thanks to the wonders of the archives and search
function, I haven't posted yet because all of my questions had already been
asked and answered sometime in the last 22 years - an amazing resource!

Here's one I couldn't find though:

The TLDR of my long explanation below is that I'm wondering if anyone has
any input on the appropriate size fuse to use for the wiring leading to
the power lift winch.  Will 30 Amps be too small?

I am doing some preliminary wiring fixes before we launch.  A prior owner
made some sloppy electrical additions, including a bunch of wire nut
connections and other funky things that I want to clean up.  Thanks to a
recommendation here, I got a copy of "Sailboat Electrics Simplified" and
have been working my way through understanding everything.  One major issue
seems to be that only a few of the (many!) wires leading out of the
positive battery terminals have fuses.  I'm planning to remedy this by
adding some terminal mount fuse blocks, with a separate fuse for each
outgoing wire.

One of the wires that is not fuse protected is the one that leads from the
starter battery to the terminal connection in the lazarette.
Previously, this terminal connection also powered the electric start
outboard, but we've removed the gas outboard and switched to a battery
powered epropulsion spirit - so we no longer need this terminal to do
anything except power the winch for the lift, and power a separate line to
an existing 12 v outlet in the cockpit.  I doubt we'll use the 12v outlet
at the same time as the power lift, but it's possible we could forget
something is plugged in.

The wire leading from the "starter" battery to this terminal appears to be
10 AWG, although it's not actually labeled and is a little larger in
diameter than the labeled 10 AWG wire that runs from the terminal to the
winch. The winch is a Bad Land 2500 ATV winch and doesn't appear to have
any legible labeling about its power draw or fuse size.  The manual for a
similar winch has a chart showing a huge range in Amp draw from 10 - 132,
with 10 Amps when pulling 0 kg at 4.1 mph and 55 amps when pulling 1000kg
at 2.5 mph.  Based on that and the rule about sizing the fuse to save the
wire, I'm thinking about trying a 30 amp fuse.  The type of battery mount
terminal blocks available for 30 amps and below and 30 amps and above are
different, so it wouldn't be a matter of just changing out the fuse if I
initially go too small  (For those interested, I'm planning to use the Blue
Sea ST-Blade Battery Terminal Mount Fuse Block - 5023 for everything else.
For this use, would be choosing between that and Blue Sea Systems Single
MRBF Terminal Fuse Block - 5191).  The larger MRBF fuses also seem like a
specialty marine item that has to be special ordered - much less convenient
for potential future replacement than the blade fuses available at my
hardware store.

So, any thoughts or input on this?  Do others have fuses on this wire? If
so, what size?  If not, am I being overly cautious in installing a fuse
here?

Thanks, all!
Rosie