chinese winch getting hot quick!!

[new2zukes]

hi i have a kew6500 chinese winch and i let the wire out 2meter and the possitve and negative terminals on the the winch started smoking they were hot as and only after using the winch for about 15 seconds. does anyone no what could cause this i will be taking the winch off tomorrow and having a nosey but just wanted to know if anyone knows what it could be.cheers.

martin

[Sadam_Husain]

I dunno whats wrong with it but somethings definately farked with if theres smoke coming off the terminals Probably a farked motor, does the drum free spool freely when you disengauge the clutch?

[new2zukes]

not realy that well but it never has done since i got it .

[Sadam_Husain]

sounds like you'll have to do a strip down and see what you can find. If the motors farked you can usualy see all the melted bits inside

[NJV6]

Low battery power?
Terminals into the motor not tight?

Low power will drive up the amperage draw leading to a greater current. This is why full voltage in so important with electric winches.
Also if the connections are not spot on, even after a very short time they will get hot. Incl the Earth.

Glen

[Pedro]

another possibility is the brake is not adjusted right and is loading up the motor, when you get the end cover off the motor see if it turns freely, in both directions, if not then the brake is at fault,
or when you hit the go button does it sound like the motor is labouring and when you release the go button does the motor stop instantly or wind down?

Pedro

[NJV6]

If the brake was holding it back, still the terminals would not get excessively hot - the motor would get hot sooner. And 15 seconds of a loaded motor shouldn't casue it to smoke.

Whqat do you mean by the positive & negative terminals? T3ere are 3 positive terminals on the winch motor itself.

[mudlva]

yes there are 3 positive terminals and 1 earth terminal. if the unit has no earth lead then it is earhting to the body. if this is the case the earth strap to the battery may be to small.
my guess is that the terminals going from the body to the motor windings have become compromissed and are earthing out basicly creating a true short , this is not good for eaither the winch or your battery system

just my feelings
cheers mudlva

[skid]

just how old is it

coz if its not that old, then send it back for a warranty before you attack it yourself

just checking

[new2zukes]

its all in bits on my work bench atm the grease in the gears is brown the motor seems to be fine though , when the winch stops it stops straight away no a little wind down. well im goin to put it back together with new grease and then check all my leads and terminals on the winch then il just have to see.

[Pedro]

its all in bits on my work bench atm the grease in the gears is brown the motor seems to be fine though , when the winch stops it stops straight away no a little wind down. well im goin to put it back together with new grease and then check all my leads and terminals on the winch then il just have to see.

the motor should wind down, but not allow over wind. ie if you turn the drum and make the motor turn it should lock up, turn the motor and it should be free, m ramsey had simialr issues, i adjusted the brake i notch and went fine,

[Pedro]

its all in bits on my work bench atm the grease in the gears is brown the motor seems to be fine though , when the winch stops it stops straight away no a little wind down. well im goin to put it back together with new grease and then check all my leads and terminals on the winch then il just have to see.

the motor should wind down, but not allow over wind. ie if you turn the drum and make the motor turn it should lock up, turn the motor and it should be free, m ramsey had simialr issues, i adjusted the brake i notch and went fine,

[new2zukes]

well a little update, things have gone from bad to worse have had it all apart i re greased the gears put everything back in the right place i pulled the motor out had a good look nothing was wrong with it as far as i could see. looked at where the power goes into the winch those things with springs on them (dont no what they are called) put it all back together exectly as it came apart turned power back on and tryed winching out then in and the positive terminal on the winch sparked and then both terminal got too hot to touch in about 2 seconds of trying to winch oh and the worst thing is the winch drum or motor did not run it just gave off 1 solid click when i pushed the switch. so i gave up and worked on something else for the rest of the day.

[mudlva]

hi there i reckon there is major insulation problems with those terminal posts as mentioned earlier. a possibole check is to put the winch on your work bench get your battery and conect a cable to the body and earth on battery then use your circuit tester and check that the terminals are still insulated from the body. if you do find that theres is a problem go and talk to a electrical motor rewinder as they should have all the gear to repair this fault
cheers and good luck

[new2zukes]

okay cheers il take it to a m8 thats a marine electrics guy might be able to help me out abit. ive heard the constant magnet winch motors are no good this winch is one of those.

[Windsock]

well a little update, ... [snip] ... turned power back on and tryed winching out then in and the positive terminal on the winch sparked and then both terminal got too hot to touch in about 2 seconds of trying to winch oh and the worst thing is the winch drum or motor did not run it just gave off 1 solid click when i pushed the switch. so i gave up and worked on something else for the rest of the day.

Did you take the wires off the motor terminals and then re-connect them? If so did the terminls spin around while turning the nuts on? Had similar symptoms (not with a chinese winch) in the past where the "A" post was loose in the motor body and turned while doing the nut back up. This twisted the wires inside the body to cause a short... outcome was acrid smoke, very hot motor and terminals and a loud click. Inside the body, one of the end plate retaining bolts had tried (and almost succeeded) to weld itself to the main moter body as the short was against that.

Stopped the current flow just in time and it all still works once the spinning post short circuit was sorted out.

Good luck.

[new2zukes]

yes i think the teminal nuts did turn but the wires in do not go direct to the motor so i dont think that is the problem although i havent checked to good. the end panel on the motor comes off and then u can just pull the motor out as it is a perminant magnet motor but the symptoms are the same as yours. i am goin for a little drive on sunday so i think il just go without a winch as a few other people im goin with have winches. i have alot of things to check on this winch but if all else fails il just get someone to look over it. then if that fails then il get a new winch and this time i wont get a perminant magnet winch.