www.iFourWinns.com

Hello, We purchased a boat hoist for our boat finally!! With this boat hoist I have the option to hoist the boat manual or electrically. The hoist comes with an electrical motor thats used to hoist the boat. I have no experience with the hoist, specifically the electric motor. The motor gets its power from the boats battery via a cable of sorts (have not seen the actual assembly yet) so Im assuming it's a plug in of some kind that connects to the ships battery. My question: Obviously its set up this way and people most likely use it this way, but is it really "safe"? By "safe" I mean is this bad for the electrical system on the boat?? I can see it now, I go to hoist the boat up or down and hit the power button and "ZAAAAAAAP!!!!!!" there goes the fuses and all the other electrical components of the boat and have a dead in the water boat. Does anyone have experience with something like this that is willing to offer some insight. Thank you in advance.

Jim

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2011 H210 SS
MerCruiser 350 MPIC/Bravo I 300hp
"Crooked Wake"


Prior Boat
1999 Bayliner 1950 CL

While I do not have experience with this setup, its important that there is a fuse within a few inches of where it connects to the battery terminals. Personally....I would rather tote a "spare" battery down to your dock on the weekends and just toss it on the charger when not in use.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Yes, fuse or use a breaker. Forgive me, I would go over the manual first. It should give you the proper size wire that would be needed. Do not under size it, if anything use the next size wire bigger!!! I would use marine rated, it is tinned.

Myself, I would use a connector http://currentevtech.com/Anderson-Connectors-c43/ to go from the boat to the lift motor. In this way, just grab the cable, plug it in, rise or lower the boat and disconnect. Remember, you need enough wire to go up or down. The batteries will stay charged, and nothing to carry.

The amount of power required to lift the boat may be more than the battery is designed to provide. That and you're taking a whole lot of power out of the battery and not immediately recharging it. I'm not sure that's all that good for the batteries. To pull enough power you're going to need a pretty heavy gauge set of wires and appropriate plugs to handle the load. Use the wrong plug and you'll melt it, or set fire to wires if they're not heavy enough gauge.

Most lifts I've ever encountered use AC power. Yes, this means digging a trench to get power out to the docks and then conduit along the wood.

I'd be more inclined to set up a battery on the dock itself and then rig up a solar charger for it.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

If you don't have a jump pack already, you should... just in case you have battery drain on the water. If you do have one, just use it to lift the boat up and down, and leave the boat battery alone.



This is just an example, there are many kinds you can get. Mine hac AC and DC outlets on it, so if the lift had an electric motor, I would
just plug it in to the pack for lifting, then take it home when you are done for the day. That way no digging to run power to the lift from the cottage. Charge it back up, and it's ready for the next time.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

The upside to the portable device is a bit of added security. Taking the power away makes it that one step harder for anyone to get the boat off the lift! I'd want to have a connector on the wires not just alligator clips. Better to reduce/eliminate the spark risks or corrosion to exposed terminals all the time.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I am not too crazy about taking power from boat battery for lift operation…. I would suggest installing a dedicated battery (w. tray and case) which you can mount on the lift and using solar panel to charge the battery….. my 2c

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08 H260 VP 8.1Gi DP.....Previous
2013 Crownline E6 Merc 8.2MAG BIIIX, DTS/SC

This is were you go back to the manual for power needs/rating. If you have a dual battery system, I would think you should be fine. But it all goes back to "how many amps is this going to pull and for how long?" I have never had a lift, maybe it should be run on A.C. "how far do you have to dig?"

I hit 3 web site, all 3 only had A.C. motors at about 5 to 6 amps/ 3/4 to 1 & 1/2 HP. Which in the D.C. world the same motor is about 60 to 75 amps. A lot more then my windlass.

Thanks for all the advice, a few really good suggestions to think about. I've decided to go to a separate battery and battery box type set up that will be mounted to the dock next to the hoist. This eliminates all potential issues for the boat etc. I already have the battery box and cables/fuse set up, so next time I go up north I plan to buy a decent marine battery for the power of the lift.

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2011 H210 SS
MerCruiser 350 MPIC/Bravo I 300hp
"Crooked Wake"


Prior Boat
1999 Bayliner 1950 CL