winch install 101

[00falcon]

Right guys...
I've got a winch...
Gonna install it this weekend...

Just one question...

I get that the solenoid it's the switch essentially for forward and reverse... But does this also suffice as the master power switch...

Or do I need to get an isolating switch so the winch (solenoid) doesn't always have power to it...

Cheers

[crazyclark31]

i'd say no you don't. think you'd be lucky to find a switch that would handle 300-500 amps flowing through it.
if your worried about it being activated when you don't want it to be just make sure the hand controller isn't permantly left pluged in.(hard wired).
When sitting they don't drian any juice from your batterys.

[pjb]

It's usually a pretty good idea to install some form of isolation. This prevents tampering, accidentally activation, and also sometime solenoids can get stuck, and it's nice to have some other way to turn it off!
I installed one of these http://www.bep.co.nz/home-mainmenu-8/product-319/701-master-battery-switch

You should also install a fuse as close to the battery as possible. These ones are good: http://www.lusty-blundell.co.nz/afawcs0130944/CATID=40/SUBID=281/ID=19465/SID=696268925/productdetails.html
You can get specifically designed holders for them. Buy one holder and two fuses. Without a fuse you risk an engine bay fire (bad).

[wjw]

If you dont have the time to drive around or call around like me you can buy those switches online from these guys:

http://www.smartmarine.co.nz/batteries- ... 9_892.html

[UBZ]

I wouldn't use one of those BEP 701 switches with a winch , as it only has a 270amp continuos rating .

I know my 9000lb winch draws approx 380amp at full load

[pruggerdore]

personally I run nothing. as I dont have much chance of it being tampered with but apparently it does happen. a winch is all about getting every bit of power you can to it. anything and everything additional on its way there will reduce it. every connection. every additional inch of wire. every switch. I dont believe even those big switches are capable of the amperage a winch requires continuously with out heating up. a fuse is a good idea but will still reduce power. maybe several in parallel like 2000 amps worth which will still be the weakest link and melt before a battery explodes or blows a battery terminal off. I have a switch that turns power to the controller off and thats all. I have 3 large batterys and if I have a melt down it's going to be nasty. had'nt thought of the solanoid jamming so mentioning thats got me thinking. all my cable is double insulated welding cable and routed carefully to be protected so really Im relying on that to avoid a melt down. Maybe running a couple of those big switches in parallel would work so I could switch them off if something goes wrong, would work if the solanoid jammed. but in a meltdown it would be too quick and would be busy running away from exploding batterys any way. then trying to get too the fire extinguisher. above post has got me thinking. interested to hear what others do. probably dosnt matter what you do if your truck is more for looks than function.

[rangimotors]

I wouldn't use one of those BEP 701 switches with a winch , as it only has a 270amp continuos rating .

I know my 9000lb winch draws approx 380amp at full load

have you used a BEP 701 switch? They are pretty heavy duty rated to about 1200 amps for cranking and i'd say if you melted one of them from winching you'd be melting your cables, battery connectors/clamps etc as well.

[pruggerdore]

but 1200 for how long. can take a while to haul in 40 metres of rope on a double line pull with 3 ton hanging of the end of it. there must be switchs capable of the job but would need to be pretty big in my opinion. 1200 amps cranking for the 3 seconds it takes for your vehicle to start isnt even close

[rangimotors]

but 1200 for how long. can take a while to haul in 40 metres of rope on a double line pull with 3 ton hanging of the end of it. there must be switchs capable of the job but would need to be pretty big in my opinion. 1200 amps cranking for the 3 seconds it takes for your vehicle to start isnt even close

it sure can take a while but how many amps ya reckon your drawing the whole time? All i'm saying is have a look at the inside of those switches, they are built to handle as much if not more load than most battery clamps/cable. How often do you hear of people melting battery clamps off?

Don't get me wrong things sure do get hot with the huge loads we put on them from winching but I very much doubt that these would be the first thing to let go.

I'm sure you will find most of the solinoid packs are rated to 400-600 max which probably means working load of about 200. Even if you run 2 x 1000 CCA batteries they put out 2000 CCA for a few seconds and then strart dropping really fast as they aren't built for high drain over long periods either.

A big reason why things get so hot is most of the winch cable is far to small which creates heaps of voltage drop and therefore the winch sucks even more amps creating a visious cycle the equals huge amounts of heat.

Each to there own.

[UBZ]

I wouldn't use one of those BEP 701 switches with a winch , as it only has a 270amp continuos rating .

I know my 9000lb winch draws approx 380amp at full load

have you used a BEP 701 switch? They are pretty heavy duty rated to about 1200 amps for cranking and i'd say if you melted one of them from winching you'd be melting your cables, battery connectors/clamps etc as well.

No I haven't used that particular switch , but I have seen switches and cables etc ,melt and catch fire on ships. Particually when attached to electric capstan winches.

The lesson I was taught was use electrical gear that exceded your continuos current requirement .

The Solienoid I use is rated to 600amp continuous , the cable 500amp , The winch 380amp
Putting a piece of gear in line that has a continuos amp rating below your expected current draw is simply asking for a fire .
the reason things get hot is because of restriction to the flow of electricity .

[rangimotors]

Sounds like u have a good strong setup and i couldnt argue that when it comes to safety its better to go overkill. I personally have never had a problem with those switches but am open to suggestion if you have any ideas for bettter switches on the market

[rangimotors]

ps. the intermittant load rating of that switch is 455 amps which means its good for 455 amps for up to 5 mins I would of thought that was plenty. If not it will run up to 1250 amps for 10 seconds at a time.

Way off topic, this is not a "my switch is bigger than your switch" topic LOL

[meatc]

I have seen a melted as in been on fire BEP switch. We never did decide weather the motor burning out cause the switch to over load or vise versa (twin motor winch on seperate curcits) either way the switch got hot, plastic got soft, losened the contact, created a poor contact, got hotter, melted some more etcetc then caught fire. went out when the load came off. A safety switch was nearly the cause of a truck destroying fire. I dont run a isolation switch for my winch. did a bit of reasearch after the above incident and did locate a couple of option capable of around 750-1000amps continous but big $$$$$ from overseas. Fuse might not be a bad plan though

[crazyclark31]

all these switch options seem to be a good idea but personally i wouldn't use them. I am in the "less you have the less can go wrong"camp.
For a general use truck as long as you use good quality gear,good beefy power cable(50mm-75mm) and good solinoid pack you should have a fairly safe and reliable setup.

[pjb]

I've got a 701 switch running my 9000lb - it's not even warm after a minute of slow winching. But if heavy duty is your flavour - there's a 720 switch rated at 600A continuous.
I like these switches because they are designed for the marine environment and are well sealed. So hopefully will last a little while longer in the engine bay...