Winch Interrupter

[Rusty PW]

The oem winch on a Power Wagon is wired straight to battery. Both leads. No solenoid.

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[ShadowsPapa]

The oem winch on a Power Wagon is wired straight to battery. Both leads. No solenoid.

I'll take a switch any time.......... I do not want that power sitting at the front bumper at all times, not the way crazies drive around here.

 

[Cruizer8]

Depending on the size of your winch. 300 amps may not be enough. A 10,000 lb winch will pull over 400 amps.

For my winch, a Badlands ZXR 12000, it is definitely not enough as the winch can pull up to 450 amps at full tilt. However, for some reason they included a 150A circuit breaker with the winch. Doesn’t make sense to me but whatever.

Even if your winch pulls a max of 300 amps.......
That 300 on a solenoid is MAX transient current - surge, not working. Working current is likely to be 150. Be very wary of the solenoids advertised as "xxx amp" as that's max for a second or two, not working current.

In short, if you run a solenoid advertised as 300 amps at that for 15 seconds it may not hold up.

Here's the kicker on that Amazon cheapie - not for winch use, IMO ->

Note: Normally Make 80A as Working Current, Need Break 5 sec on, 50 min off

I should have mentioned this in my post. I did quite a bit of research to find the same exact solenoid as the Warn kit and from what I could find, the Warn kit only has a 150A continuous/300A surge solenoid. I am guessing it is of higher quality than the cheap one I listed on Amazon but you never know. Plus if I need to use the winch at max, I can always bypass the solenoid.

I actually spent quite a bit of time trying to find a 450A continuous solenoid but all I could find were actually contactors. I know relays/solenoids/contactors all do the same job but really they are quite different and not necessarily interchangeable. In addition, the contactors I found were quite a bit larger than a solenoid. If anyone finds anything tho, let me know.

 

[Cruizer8]

The oem winch on a Power Wagon is wired straight to battery. Both leads. No solenoid.

You definitely don’t need a solenoid, but I would prefer one to prevent someone tinkering with it mostly. Also, theoretically it could be an issue in an accident as well.

 

[Rusty PW]

I'll take a switch any time.......... I do not want that power sitting at the front bumper at all times, not the way crazies drive around here.

There is only 2 safety items on the Power Wagon oem winch.

A Low Voltage Cut-off. If the voltage drops to low. It will stop the winch.

A Thermal Cutoff. If the sensor gets too hot. It will stop the winch until it cools.

Of course the PW guys have by-passes for both of these. LOL

The winch on a PW is tucked behind the bumper, behind the frame rails, under the radiator. It's well protected. That's why you can't get a diesel in a PW. The winch and intercooler would be in the same spot.

 

[ArmyMP]

I just figured with all the winch companies, someone would have made a cheaper kit just to be competitive and give Warn the bird. Hell a snow plow/Big diesel solenoid is cheaper.

 

[Rusty PW]

You definitely don’t need a solenoid, but I would prefer one to prevent someone tinkering with it mostly. Also, theoretically it could be an issue in an accident as well.

Was out in Moab a bout 10 years ago. A couple of drunk people decided one night in a motel parking lot. To unwind a winch on a old FJ, throw the cable over the top of the FJ, and hook it to the receiver on the back of the FJ. Then to energize the winch. The winch tried to fold the FJ in half. The steel cable cut right through the roof. I seen the results the next morning as the police was there. Wasn't pretty.

 

[Cruizer8]

Was out in Moab a bout 10 years ago. A couple of drunk people decided one night in a motel parking lot. To unwind a winch on a old FJ, throw the cable over the top of the FJ, and hook it to the receiver on the back of the FJ. Then to energize the winch. The winch tried to fold the FJ in half. The steel cable cut right through the roof. I seen the results the next morning as the police was there. Wasn't pretty.

That's exactly the kind of horror story that makes me want a solenoid. Most likely won't happen, but better safe than sorry.

 

[WILDHOBO]

The oem winch on a Power Wagon is wired straight to battery. Both leads. No solenoid.

There are lots of things done in stock vehicles that could be done better, and safer.

People rag on Warn for being expensive. Weird how no one rags in them for not being high quality. You get what you pay for. $80 for safety and a product designed for a task like winching is a no brainer.

 

[Rusty PW]

That's exactly the kind of horror story that makes me want a solenoid. Most likely won't happen, but better safe than sorry.

I be more worried about having a synthetic winch rope stolen then someone screwing with the winch it's self. That was a big thing when it first came out.

 

[Coldtoes]

Have any of you found posts about where and how to mount this warn interrupt solenoid? I’m intending to use one of my aux switches for it instead of the included switch but that’s fairly straight forward. I’m mostly concerned with where to put the solenoid and how to attach it (bracket?)

 

[Lost1wing]

 

[Lost1wing]

Now that I installed it this way, I screwed myself for the ability to install a hood bungee. I guess for me the prop stick is fine.

 

[chorky]

I think a breaker would be better than a solenoid. I too in the past have tried to find a quality one that can handle 450 amps just for surge. None found that suited what I looked for. But breakers on the other hand. There are cheap ones on amazon. other companies have higher quality ones as well. Just getting ready to install 2 80 amp ones, one for the compressor, one for the dc/dc charger. the are also smaller than a solenoid.

 

[Dlish]

I have seen a few of these on the trail. Cheap if you want to keep it disconnected most of the time and then connect when might need the winch.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KHQR0K4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

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