Winch Question

[Maximus Ram]

OK, so in a battery thread it was mentioned that the winch cables should not be attached to the side post mounts on a battery that has them. So I went to see how to properly wire a winch. Apparentely , you should either attach the cables to both the top post + and - of your battery or top post + and a good ground somewhere else.
Which method do those that have or had a winch use. Since it looks like I have mone connected incorrectly at this time. I am wondering which is the "best" (I know,subjective) method ...

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Corey]

My Warn XD9000 has both wires going to the stock battery.
I run a dual battery setup, but Painless Wiring the maker of my dual setup says to not connect anything at all to the second battery, it is to be used for an emergency start only.

Have never had a problem with my winch on just the stock battery.

 

[Antichrist]

I've wired them both directly to the battery and also the winch ground going to the same spot on the chassis as the battery ground.

Did you see my post in your other thread that if you're using a DieHard Platinum (or Odyssey) with side posts, it's ok to connect the winch to them as they are rated the same as the top posts?

 

[greentruck]

If you feed the winch with a big fat cable, then it needs a big fat cable to return to ground at the battery. Counting on a stock ground point might be OK if you check it for corrosion, etc, but how it gets back to the battery from there should be as short as possible.

I went with big fat cable to everything -- twice. So I have dual positive feeds, switched thru a Blue Sea switch. Then there are dual grounds coming off the winch ground directly back to each battery.

Corey,
I've got a Hellroaring system and they advise the same thing. Works great, as I have a CPAP machine and have sometimes needed to use my backup to start in the morning when I used it on 110V thru the inverter. Now that I have the correct 12V plug for it, I'm hoping that doesn't draw as much and won't need the backup.

That said, I also have my backup battery wired to feed the winch thru the Blue Sea switch. True, it does compromise the backup nature of the system -- IF you happen to throw the switch and use the winch. Until then, your backup is totally safe against any draw.

And most of the time when you might need both batteries, it's usually not an issue with starting, but with getting enough juice to the winch. Unless you blow up both at once, you should have enough left in one to start a warm engine unless you're going for total meltdown:Wow1:

This is the first dual battery setup I've run and I've not had a need for the winch yet. But the last time I had a Land Cruiser with a winch, there was a time or two when a second winch battery would have been nice.

YMMV

 

[Maximus Ram]

I've wired them both directly to the battery and also the winch ground going to the same spot on the chassis as the battery ground.

Did you see my post in your other thread that if you're using a DieHard Platinum (or Odyssey) with side posts, it's ok to connect the winch to them as they are rated the same as the top posts?

Yes. Thanks. I still have an Optima Yellow in the XJ, so I am trying to get an idea on which way to re-wire it.

 

[Stumpalump]

I wired mine to the side but on some batterys they say that the side terminals cannot handle as many amps as the top. The can overheat the conection in the battery. Use sense and let it cool on long hard pulls too be safe.

 

[Antichrist]

Yes. Thanks. I still have an Optima Yellow in the XJ, so I am trying to get an idea on which way to re-wire it.

Well, if you're rewiring then I'd go to the top posts using the mil-spec battery terminals and heavy duty cable lugs, something like these I just made.

Just have the cables long enough that you have flexibility of post location for your next battery.

I think the particular heat shrink I used is overkill, but it's what I had on hand. I use moisture seal which has a sealant inside that melts and provides a waterproof seal, so aside from the strain relief there it also seals well to prevent any corrosion.

The two main things you need to know are the max draw of the winch, and the length of run from it to the battery. Once you have those you can calculate what size cable you need. You want to keep the volt drop below .5v
I usually calculate the drop using 12v as the system voltage on the assumption if I drown the engine I might be using the winch without the 14v charging voltage.

 

[AxeAngel]

With certain isolator you can bridge both batteries(for jumpstarting), when used while winching this prevents the ncessity to wire the winch to both batteries.

-Sam

 

[K2ZJ]

I wired mine to the side but on some batterys they say that the side terminals cannot handle as many amps as the top. The can overheat the conection in the battery. Use sense and let it cool on long hard pulls too be safe.

Then why would they put terminals on the side? GM uses the side terminals the same as top terminals. Some batteries dont have top terminals. I am not saying this isn't true, it makes some sense to me, but I still question it.

 

[Maximus Ram]

Then why would they put terminals on the side? GM uses the side terminals the same as top terminals. Some batteries dont have top terminals. I am not saying this isn't true, it makes some sense to me, but I still question it.

From what I have been reading, the side connections on some batteries are only rated for starting volts and not a continuous hogh volt draw through them. But batteries are made different and some mfg say that you should have no problems attaching high volt accessories to them....

 

[Antichrist]

Then why would they put terminals on the side? GM uses the side terminals the same as top terminals. Some batteries dont have top terminals. I am not saying this isn't true, it makes some sense to me, but I still question it.

I've never seen an automotive battery designed for continuous high current loads that only had side terminals. Not to say they don't exist.
There's a huge difference between 100-200 amps for 15-30 seconds (starter) and 400amps for 5 minutes (heavily loaded winch)

 

[K2ZJ]

From what I have been reading, the side connections on some batteries are only rated for starting volts and not a continuous hogh volt draw through them. But batteries are made different and some mfg say that you should have no problems attaching high volt accessories to them....

I've never seen an automotive battery designed for continuous high current loads that only had side terminals. Not to say they don't exist.
There's a huge difference between 100-200 amps for 15-30 seconds (starter) and 400amps for 5 minutes (heavily loaded winch)

That makes more sense. Thank you.

 

[greentruck]

With certain isolator you can bridge both batteries(for jumpstarting), when used while winching this prevents the ncessity to wire the winch to both batteries.

Sam,
Well, maybe. Check the discussion on whether battery side posts will handle a winch load. Some do, some don't.

I'm not sure which isolator you're talking about, but here's what I did and what I need to do. I installed our Hellroaring using the option of just the small bridge wire between it and the alternator (IIRC). This worked fine when I threw the isolator control switch to get extra starting juice to turn over when the main battery was drawn down too much overnight.

One morning this didn't work, so I got out the jumper cables and used them to deliver a better connection to the main battery. Hellroaring also provides an option to run a larger cable directly to the starter from the backup battery. I'll probably do this mod, as it will obviate the need for the jumper cables.

So consider if your isolator will actually provide enough capacity the way you have it wired to drive the winch, which is an even bigger hog than a starter is.