Observations and Questions... Smittybilt XRC10 Relay Box

drdolittlerwc

drdolittlerwc

New member
A while back I asked about how it could be possible to waterproof or 'protect' the relay box for a Smittybilt XRC10 winch. Without much input, I placed it in a location that I thought would at least be protected. Well, it wasn't and has been subjected to quite a bit of water lately...

Anyway, I went to test and run my winch to let the cable 'air out' and run the motor. Needless to say, I did not check to make sure that it was functioning before I ran it out. Which led to a scramble to either manually spin the spool to wind it up or figure out how to get it running.

After a few minutes, I fell back on a method I used with an old corolla starter that was giving me problems. I tapped on the body of the relay while pressing on the joystick control and it came to life! YES!! Well, at least that is now an option if it is giving me trouble in the future, BUT....

Does anyone know what the inner workings of these relays are like? Could it be possible that it will rust and become completely unusable?

It seems somewhat confusing that a product that is supposed to be designed for outdoor use in rugged environments would be so delicate with regards to water intrusion!

I would love to hear your thoughts!:shrug:
 
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You could just take it apart and look at it....?

My xrc8 has never had an issue and my winch only has a milemarker pleather cover thingy. My old milemarker would get temperamental and I'd have to pop the cover clean up stuff.
 
BigBluePile said:
You could just take it apart and look at it....?

My xrc8 has never had an issue and my winch only has a milemarker pleather cover thingy. My old milemarker would get temperamental and I'd have to pop the cover clean up stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm not sure the relay can be taken apart, yet, I haven't looked into that option, though it's not something that I would not consider... double neg... oh well.

I guess, I'm a little more concerned about it's overall lifespan if it's exposed to a lot of 'moisture'....
 
Hmmmm...well I am picturing my xrc8 control box where the remote goes. That is fairly easy to open up and peek inside.
 
BigBluePile said:
Hmmmm...well I am picturing my xrc8 control box where the remote goes. That is fairly easy to open up and peek inside.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I already disassembled the 'control box' (that thing was massive and unnecessary!), and mounted my remote connection inside my rig, but the relay I mounted outside, and that is the problem. Guess I could of extended all the cable, but at the time I didn't want to spend all the money and time...
 
I have an ENGO and have been replacing solenoids quite often. I originally had the control box mounted in the front bumper but it got water in it an killed the solenoids. So I extended the wires and put it in the engine bay. This kept the water out but the length of cable created an excessive current draw and on long pulls ended up killing a solenoid. I switched to an all in one solenoid pack recently but have not had a chance to test it. I really like the way it mounts and the size along with the fact that is designed for 100% duty cycle unlike the heavy duty starter solenoids most controllers use. Here is a link to what I ordered.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/spw-90-14452/overview/
 
I also have an Engo. I relocated the control box to the inside of the engine bay, right near the battery (where the coolant overflow used to be ).

I upgraded to 0 gauge wire, as I thought it would be helpful for the longer wires. I also went in and basically smoothered the solenoids in liquid electrical tape.

I also disassembled the winch itself and silcone sealed as many of the seals as possible. not sure if that is worth it, as there are still major ports for water to come in, but nonetheless, I did it.

So far so good, but I haven't had it submersed in water, jsut some heavy splash up, and i've only done about a half dozen test/show-off pulls.
 
drdolittlerwc said:
Now that sounds like a winner, I will try that as soon as things dry out here. Lata rayn dis side...
Click to expand...

I've ran into your same problem with the solenoid. I pulled the solenoid apart and found the problem is the magnetic plungers that are supposed to engage when you hit the toggle IN or OUT. They get water in and rust them, causing the plunger to stick. This is a common problem for XRC10s. You can pull it all apart and clean it up like I did. To better water proof it, just use some Blue RTV on the box. I still have hick-up with it once in a while. I have a spare, someday I'll get off my ass and install it. 4WheelParts has them for around $75.
 
Kurtis said:
I've ran into your same problem with the solenoid. I pulled the solenoid apart and found the problem is the magnetic plungers that are supposed to engage when you hit the toggle IN or OUT. They get water in and rust them, causing the plunger to stick. This is a common problem for XRC10s. You can pull it all apart and clean it up like I did. To better water proof it, just use some Blue RTV on the box. I still have hick-up with it once in a while. I have a spare, someday I'll get off my ass and install it. 4WheelParts has them for around $75.
Click to expand...

Great! Thanks, hopefully mine will hold out till I can get back to the states!!

:nod:
 
gentlemen,

how are these boxes mounted? Horizontal or verticle?

I mounted my solenoid box like this


if water went it, it will drain back to the bottom.

inside all there is a high current relay

like this
SE-PMBC200LOCM.jpg


to prevent this again, just seal the box up with silicone. dap apex 230 is a good choice, i use that for my headlight projector retrofit projects.
 
gshadow325 said:
gentlemen,

how are these boxes mounted? Horizontal or verticle?

I mounted my solenoid box like this


if water went it, it will drain back to the bottom.

inside all there is a high current relay

like this


to prevent this again, just seal the box up with silicone. dap apex 230 is a good choice, i use that for my headlight projector retrofit projects.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I understand the dynamics of the 'box', which I discarded...

I am more concerned about how to protect the relay....
 
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