Lee's '04 Chevy Silverado 2500HD and Radica MoonLander camping shell

[Andrew_S]

Nice work on the awning install, that turned out really clean.
Regarding winch wiring, considering a switch/power disconnect? Also, thoughts on soldering vs crimps?

 

[Lee]

Nice work on the awning install, that turned out really clean.
Regarding winch wiring, considering a switch/power disconnect? Also, thoughts on soldering vs crimps?

Thanks!
It turned out better than I originally thought it would, having extra time to think about it helped simplify the final product.

I have considered a mechanical switch under the hood to disconnect the winch.
There are a lot of examples out there using a solenoid to switch the main power off but I think a mechanical system would be more reliable (trading off a little convenience).
The final word in reliability is to re-wire around the switch if it fails.
I haven't looked in to it too much but Blue Sea makes a switch that looks about the right capacity.
I'm not sure if it is appropriate for under hood application (I'm guessing if it is marine rated it will probably be ok)

A switch would allow cutting off the power if something happens to the winch controller and it is stuck 'on'.
I have not seen this personally but I have seen two YouTube videos where this happened, and one of the guys at work had his winch suddenly turn on.
He was using the winch to hold a small boat on the roof - kind of a back up hooked to the front.
Apparently unbolting the battery post power in a hurry on the side of the road isn't fun.

As for soldering cables I'm not a fan.
Wires and cables on a vehicle are subject to a lot of vibration over the life of the vehicle.
A soldered joint is more likely to have a fatigue failure at the end of the solder.
Basically, how far the solder penetrates is not easily controlled, where a crimp with a boot or heat shrink tube has a more controlled strain relief on the wire / cable.
Also it's difficult to control the heat application when soldering a large cable.

I've tried to solder the battery leads on an older GM diesel before, the results where not good (obviously my lack of skill is a factor).
In the end I bought a OEM cable from the dealer.
My 'fix' had corrosion in the copper both sides of the solder, the combination of the stiff splice area and the copper strands disintegrating with green corrosion lead to a quick failure.