Winch Power Paranoid?
- Thread starter Mooney
- Start date
wfo9
New member
Those worried about 400amps... That has to be the peak and I doubt you would see extended loads like that (If so, you should be pausing anyway). The 200A Blue Sea I pointed out should work great. It should take 20 second peaks of 400... If it pops, no big deal just flip it back and try again. That is the beauty of a breaker vs a fuse. Seems perfect for this application IMHO. If it ever becomes a problem on the trail (a bunch of long hard pulls needed), just bypass it. Seems like a no brainer solution.
As far as acceptable risk goes, like other said, probably OK in this case. If however, you were running the cables through the interior of the truck it would not be acceptable risk. I have seen cars burn up for that very reason. The engine bay tends to be pretty fire retardant in general and with such a short run not much to worry about. I like the breaker more for the extra load protection in general (not really worried about an accident... but it works for that too).
The thing with wiring is that it is very unattended.... Just sitting in the garage some dumb mouse that likes the sweet taste of shielding can burn your truck down by causing a short or maybe some chemical spills on it, or the sun and heat just degrade the shielding, or chafing from vibration driving down the road.... it happens. Lots of insurance claims for stuff like this.
At least when you are winching or whatever (sure its dangerous), you know you are in a dangerous situation vs sleeping in your bed while your truck burns the house down. I'm not paranoid (or trying to make others), but I tend to over engineer myself. To each his own level of acceptable risk in the design. I built my deck to hold 10k lbs, overkill ~5x, but I never have to worry about it again... even if I decide to park my truck on it.
As far as acceptable risk goes, like other said, probably OK in this case. If however, you were running the cables through the interior of the truck it would not be acceptable risk. I have seen cars burn up for that very reason. The engine bay tends to be pretty fire retardant in general and with such a short run not much to worry about. I like the breaker more for the extra load protection in general (not really worried about an accident... but it works for that too).
The thing with wiring is that it is very unattended.... Just sitting in the garage some dumb mouse that likes the sweet taste of shielding can burn your truck down by causing a short or maybe some chemical spills on it, or the sun and heat just degrade the shielding, or chafing from vibration driving down the road.... it happens. Lots of insurance claims for stuff like this.
At least when you are winching or whatever (sure its dangerous), you know you are in a dangerous situation vs sleeping in your bed while your truck burns the house down. I'm not paranoid (or trying to make others), but I tend to over engineer myself. To each his own level of acceptable risk in the design. I built my deck to hold 10k lbs, overkill ~5x, but I never have to worry about it again... even if I decide to park my truck on it.
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1engineer
Moderator
No I don't.
Although
I know of hundreds of examples of tire blowouts causing deaths and nobody is running solid rubber tires.
I know of thousands of examples of head trauma in accidents and nobody is wearing helmets in passenger vehicles...
I know of ten thousands of examples where high forces acting on the occupants during collisions cause deaths and I don't see many five point seat belts.
...and I also know why. People want to worry about what THEY think is important instead of what is actually important. To the average person cupholders are more important than crumple zones or airbags.
If you really want a safe vehicle, buy a Volvo, weld in a roll cage and mount racing seats and harnesses and wear a helmet. Otherwise STFU and enjoy life with a little risk.
High_Country
New member
I hadn't seen the STFU acronym before but I think I know what it means. Haha.
To the OP, if you want to develop your solution to your concern, go for it! It seems there are products out there that would work. No one will scoff at you for making modifications to your vehicle that you think are important in the name of safety.
I think you've got your answer in that the general community is just not that worried about it. But again, do what makes you happy. We have that freedom here.
God bless America.
To the OP, if you want to develop your solution to your concern, go for it! It seems there are products out there that would work. No one will scoff at you for making modifications to your vehicle that you think are important in the name of safety.
I think you've got your answer in that the general community is just not that worried about it. But again, do what makes you happy. We have that freedom here.
God bless America.
Mooney
New member
Or buy a Lazy Boy and stay home.
Mick1
New member
OP excellent question and thought process.
The disconnecting and reconnecting the positive on the trail is a pain. I did that and first time of course dropped the nut down in the engine compartment.
I now have a plug to manually disconnect the winch for regular driving. Besides the alway live wire risk I have the wireless controller that I wanted unpowered. Now just pop hood connect the wire plugs and run the wireless. Simple and easy. The plugs are rated to carry the load.
It is fine for them, but i think guys that advocate doing nothing to prevent the risk are not using the first do no harm strategy of modding....
Goodluck.
Look in my sig for link to pictures.
The disconnecting and reconnecting the positive on the trail is a pain. I did that and first time of course dropped the nut down in the engine compartment.
I now have a plug to manually disconnect the winch for regular driving. Besides the alway live wire risk I have the wireless controller that I wanted unpowered. Now just pop hood connect the wire plugs and run the wireless. Simple and easy. The plugs are rated to carry the load.
It is fine for them, but i think guys that advocate doing nothing to prevent the risk are not using the first do no harm strategy of modding....
Goodluck.
Look in my sig for link to pictures.
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harper7
Senior Member
I made a small bracket and put a Blue Sea 6005 switch on mine and it was less then $25 on Amazon.Cheap insurance!
3 good reasons
Easy to reach Safety switch in case winch relay sticks in on position and can't be controlled by by my wireless/hand controller which can happen. I've already had one winch scare in my life and respect that dude now!!
Powered contacts like the winch relays will corrode faster(galvanic) if powered all the time especially where it's sitting down low and frequently gets soaked .
Safety from shorts in case of front end collision as the winch is right on the front bumper.
3 good reasons
Easy to reach Safety switch in case winch relay sticks in on position and can't be controlled by by my wireless/hand controller which can happen. I've already had one winch scare in my life and respect that dude now!!
Powered contacts like the winch relays will corrode faster(galvanic) if powered all the time especially where it's sitting down low and frequently gets soaked .
Safety from shorts in case of front end collision as the winch is right on the front bumper.
Attachments
sandcrawler
Senior Member
jrandom
New member
Anderson connectors were (indirectly) designed for this type of usage (which is usually why they are sold way overpriced by winch manufacturers) , you can connect to winch or jumper cables.
Do you have a photo of the bracket you made? Will be doing this "mod" very soon.
Thank you.
Thank you.
r1verf3nix
New member
I had thought the same thing about wiring direct to the battery and I am an electrical engineer. While the risk is actually low, there a several ways a winch power cutoff is a great idea and yes I have seen a winch malfunction IRL.
I used the warn winch power interrupter kit and an air on board 'winch power' switch inside the cab. It is very easy to install and gives people who are worried about the risk, peace of mind.
I used the warn winch power interrupter kit and an air on board 'winch power' switch inside the cab. It is very easy to install and gives people who are worried about the risk, peace of mind.
JKLNHYD
New member
The winch solenoid is just like any other solenoid. It has a "trigger" that allows the power to flow when you connect your remote cable (or turn on your wireless remote). Years back, my wife had a Jeep with a winch and voiced her concern about the winch always having power. She was afraid she would find her Jeep battery dead one day so I found this small-time switch guru that builds these in-cab winch controls:
https://www.12voltguy.com/winch-panels
His panels have a battery switch that you connect to your winch solenoid that basically disconnects the power to the solenoid. The added plus of being able to control the winch from in the cab is a huge plus if you happen to need it when you're all by yourself somewhere.
https://www.12voltguy.com/winch-panels
His panels have a battery switch that you connect to your winch solenoid that basically disconnects the power to the solenoid. The added plus of being able to control the winch from in the cab is a huge plus if you happen to need it when you're all by yourself somewhere.
Seattle206
Senior Member
Good information. I just installed my X2O winch and have the positive connected directly to my battery. I'll look into a cutoff switch as well.
r1verf3nix
New member
You can piece by piece it and spend less than $40 on it, but if you are looking for an all-in-one kit you can not beat the warn power interrupt kit. It is what I used and it allows for a switch inside the cab. Cheapest I could find online link below:
Warn Winch Power Interrupt Kit
Warn Winch Power Interrupt Kit
