Everyone in oceanography has either seen firsthand or heard about the winch operator who was too tired and accidentally two blocked the winch leading to the loss or damage of their payload. Often this comes at great expense to the research team, the reputation of the winch operator and the morale of the vessel. Hanging two-block alerting mechanisms are often torn off the sheave due to sea states or improper use and therefore most winch operators won’t re-install them…and swear they don’t need them.
If your winch is monitored with the LCI-90 or LCI-80 display, you can set Low Payout Alerts at several levels of winch retraction…100 feet, 50 feet, 20 feet…you decide. You can set on-screen alerts to flash and you can use alternate opto modules to initiate buzzers or lights which even the most tired winch operator can’t ignore.
