Winch Safety Switch Question

[barlowrs]

Hey everyone, I am about to be installing my winch, and I like the idea of having a on-off safety switch under the hood. My question is do I need some sort of special switch for this? I was thinking just a standard battery cut-off switch, however after searching I have found a "Ramsey Safety switch". It looks just like a regular cutoff, but it is $60!!!!!!! is there something special about it that makes it better than a $12 standard cutoff?

Ramsey: http://www.shopjeepparts.com/ramsey-safety-onoff-switch-winches-p-1301.html

Standard: http://www.batterymart.com/p-battery-cut-off-switch.html

Thanks

 

[adrenaline503]

As long as the switch meets or exceeds the amperage demands it will be fine. Blue Sea also makes a battery switch that you can find at West Marine.

 

[seanz0rz]

from the links above:

standard: 300 Amp

for the ramsey, i cannot find anywhere what the rating is, but im assuming its at least 500 continious to handle a winch.

 

[barlowrs]

from the links above:

standard: 300 Amp

for the ramsey, i cannot find anywhere what the rating is, but im assuming its at least 500 continious to handle a winch.

Yeah, I couldnt find any technical things on the ramsey either. You think 300 is not enough?

 

[IggyB]

I'm planning to use these. Blue Sea M-series 6007. Rated 300 amps continuous, 500 amps for 5 minutes, 1500 amps for 10 seconds.

 

[Antichrist]

from the links above:

standard: 300 Amp

300amp for how long? Even their "heavy duty" 1000 amp switch is rated 180amp for only 30 seconds.
Many switches are only rated intermittent duty, like 30 seconds on, 3 min off. You're quite likely to use your winch for more than 30 seconds at a time.
When the rated duty doesn't exceed the winch draw you get volt drop which causes your winch motor to loose power, over heat and have a resultant reduced lifespan.
I currently (no pun intended) use a Cole Hersee 2000amp disconnect.

edit to add:
Here are two other threads that have at least some discussion of switch options.
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35292
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9396

 

[tradman]

What do you think is going to happen that you need a "safety" switch for your winch?

I'm not questioning it's validity, it's just that I don't have one nor does anyone I know so now I'm wondering if maybe I need one or not.

 

[IggyB]

If you put the switch under the hood:
1. Some joker can no longer unspool 50 feet of cable
2. Wrap it around the truck
3. Short out the terminals

 

[Von Petrol]

For about $35.00 you could get a Superwinch QuickConnect and solve your worries.

 

[alexrex20]

If you put the switch under the hood:
1. Some joker can no longer unspool 50 feet of cable
2. Wrap it around the truck
3. Short out the terminals

um, all they have to do is put the winch in neutral.

 

[01tundra]

I bought mine at a local marine store (believe it was West Marine), been working like a champ for years now. I mounted mine right behind my primary battery (you can kind of see the red switch in this pic) I've heard too many horror stories over the years of solenoids sticking and vehicles going up in flames..........

Believe this is the one I'm using - http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...rimary Search/mode matchallpartial/20/0?N=377 710 1641&Ne=712&Ntt=Switches&Ntx=mode matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=5002&subdeptNum=9&classNum=297

 

[Antichrist]

Another advantage of a disconnect, provided it's mounted externally, is that if your winch sticks "On" (which I've seen happen) you can kill power to it quickly.

 

[IggyB]

um, all they have to do is put the winch in neutral.

but they can't turn the winch on and give your truck a waistline :Wow1:

 

[UnfrozenCaveman]

I've got the plug in for the controller under the drivers seat...inside the locked vehicle.

Yeah, I had to make longer cables to locate the solenoids under the hood and run a three conductor into the cabin but I never worry about winch hooligans

 

[R_Lefebvre]

What about the cheapskate route... at least for now... wingnuts on the winch cable battery connection, and just disconnect it. The only problem I can see is potential problems "breaking" the connection under load. Bring your sunglasses!

And a slight side track but doesn't seem to warrant a new thread... anybody know where I can get a new winch socket for my Superwinch EP9? The terminals corroded, and one of them broke off inside so the wire is no longer making contact. I can only use the winch from inside the cab with my remote setup now.