fusing a winch

is your winch fused?


  • Total voters
    33

grntrdtaco

Adventurer
are people fusing the positive lead to the winch? I know that its a very smart thing to do but I have looked through the warn manual and the smittybilt manual and there is no mention of fusing the winch at all.

mine caught fire after the solenoid shorted out and it pulled the cable in while i was driving. the hawse bent into a U shape from the saftey thimble then it overheated. the wires completely melted along with the wire loom then they caught fire. I have decided to put in a quick release and completely disconnect the winch when not in use but cant decide if i should put in a big breaker or a fuse.

i didnt hear it turn on, i was driving pretty fast on a rocky bumpy steep road and thought i smelled burning brakes from the traffic that was coming down, the traffic cleared and the smell got worse so i slowed down and saw black smoke then fire in the front of the truck.
 
Last edited:

Sheep Shagger

Adventurer
Breakers will fail over time (or trip incorrectly) if you use them like switches. So personally I'd rule that out if you want to use it to turn on and off. Fuse will work, but again a pain if you want to remove the fuse so it works like a switch.
Personally I'd recommend a battery key switch (battery disconnect) that race cars / boats etc use if you want to completely turn it off when not in use. Something like this
battery-switch-with-key-1.JPG
 

Count Fred

Observer
When I installed my 2nd battery, I fused the wire between the two at both ends, and fused the winch wire at the same time. All are fused with a 350A ANL. This covers my winch's max-current, at least as new. Most of the time the winch is not used at full capacity, so this is plenty of cover.

Cheap insurance in case the wire gets damaged or the winch solenoid shorts out.

Cheers,
JFS III
 

grntrdtaco

Adventurer
Breakers will fail over time (or trip incorrectly) if you use them like switches. So personally I'd rule that out if you want to use it to turn on and off. Fuse will work, but again a pain if you want to remove the fuse so it works like a switch.

i was thinking of using a high amp breaker so if something went wrong it would trip. i wouldn't really use it as a switch just something with less consumables than a fused setup.

this situation really has me rethinking a lot of the electronics I have installed. having emergency cutoffs in the cab would be a really good thing for both the AUX battery and the main battery.

solenoids can stick.. what happens when that happens while winching? that could be a VERY dangerous situation if you couldn't turn off the winch and it was reeling the cable in, having a cutoff in the cab would make that situation a non issue.
 

grntrdtaco

Adventurer
When I installed my 2nd battery, I fused the wire between the two at both ends, and fused the winch wire at the same time. All are fused with a 350A ANL. This covers my winch's max-current, at least as new. Most of the time the winch is not used at full capacity, so this is plenty of cover.

Cheap insurance in case the wire gets damaged or the winch solenoid shorts out.

Cheers,
JFS III

do you carry a bunch of spares with you?
 

bfdiesel

Explorer
250 amp plug and just unplug it when not in use. I have one on the winch, the truck, on my inverter and a pig tail with a plug for my trolling battery. This allows me to use the trolling battery to run the inverter or I can run it from the truck. Also allows me to charge the trolling battery from the truck. I can also pull the winch out of the front and put it in the rear and use the trolling battery to power it for reverse, or use the winch on my trailer or the back of some one else's rig. The options seem endless especially when you remember you can tether the winch any where and haul the battery over there to run it.
 

1911

Expedition Leader
No fuse or breaker for me; my winch can draw up to 660 amps on start-up, though it only draws about 165 amps on average during a pull.
 

grntrdtaco

Adventurer
its really incredible how nobody really fuses a winch and nobody has an in cab electrical cut off. including myself.

my fluke accident this past weekend really has me rethinking my entire electrical and fire suppression system.

the winch is hanging out there in the front easily damaged in an accident. if its damaged the possibility of a positive wire getting damaged is pretty high, the battery could short out and cause a fire in less than a min or two. like i experienced. luckly i was not in an accident and there was no fuel or oil to ignite, only the wire loom and plastic insulation on the wires. if my hood had been smashed in or i was not able to open it and disconnect the battery (i wore my leatherman on my belt that day for the first time in at least 15 years.. i would have had to let the fire reignite while digging around in my toolbox in back for a wrench to get the neg terminal disconnected, by the time i got back to the front would my fire ext. still have worked? after one blast with an ABC or BC fire extinguisher you have a few min before that extinguisher no longer works even if you have not emptied it.

all i can say is the day you see flames coming from the front of the vehicle is the day your confidence in electrical items added to the truck is absolutely destroyed no matter how well its installed.

i followed the instructions absolutely by the book when installing the winch and could not understand why there was no fuse between the winch and the battery. at the time it seemed crazy.. since i couldn't find one in a few manufacturers install instructions i figured it was ok.
 

lowenbrau

Explorer
You'd want a pretty big fuse. It really sucks to be stuck in mud with a blown fuse and no spare (BTDT)

Some protection is a great idea though. Toyota has a big solenoid on its factory winches that only powers them up when the key is on and the winch controller is plugged in. That system seems to work pretty well and ensures that a small fender bender at the mall won't burn your rig to the ground.

A few years ago when the green movement was getting a bit rabid in Vancouver there were a few cases of vandals targeting trucks with winches and connecting the cable to the back bumper, over the cab, and then sticking a paper clip in the contacts where the winch controller went. If you were lucky you only came back to a crushed cab.
 

I Leak Oil

Expedition Leader
I voted no. If there was a choice of a cutoff switch or QD plug then I'd vote for one of them. A fuse or breaker? No...
 

grntrdtaco

Adventurer
You'd want a pretty big fuse. It really sucks to be stuck in mud with a blown fuse and no spare (BTDT)

i thought about that but worst case scenario you just rewire, bypass the fuse and connect it straight to the battery like the winch instructions say to do and fix it when you get home.
 

LR Max

Local Oaf
I simply disconnect my winch from my battery when not needed...which is 98% of the time. Just driving around or sitting in the parking deck, it is disconnected. Usually when I'm locking hubs/airing down/etc is when I re-attach it.

Even if I need it and it isn't hooked up, its easy to get juice to it.
 

Nonimouse

Cynical old bastard
Fit a second Albright solenoid and run the feed to the winch through one 'side' of the solenoid, then wire in a realy to the correct switched live, run the switch for the relay back to your dash. It will act as a kill switch then for emergencies as well as a cut our switch

I also use 2500amp/36 volt HD kill switches as a manual emergency kill/cut off - cheap as chips on e-bay
 

Antichrist

Expedition Leader
Yeah, a switch. And like Nonimouse, make sure it's up to the task. Too many of the cutoff switches aren't up to the loads of a winch and will either fail, or introduce too much volt drop which will reduce the capacity and life of your winch motor. I use a 2000amp Cole Hersee switch that's rated about 500amp continuous.
 

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