Winch Interrupter

[chorky]

I have seen winches directly to the battery. Should they be using an interupter? Why?

Every circuit, even just a switching circuit, should have some sort of protection. Be it a fuse, breaker, solenoid....something. A constant hot wire with no protection is a pretty big safety risk. Even alternators have a master fuse or feeble link in the event the alternator shorts out or something bad happens.

Power Wagon's are wired direct to the battery from the factory. No switch.


If I'm winching someone. I have my hood open. I like my windshield in one piece. If I'm winching myself out. My hood is close so that I can see. I like using the wireless remotes too.

I am willing to bet the wiring has a fusible link somewhere. That would be a pretty poor choice and liability for the manufacturer to not have any type of protection built in.

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[Rusty PW]

That’s fair. Definitely sounds like a different install. My winch is sunk down a fair bit, and the wires are behind it, but they then are bundled and covered and follow the passenger frame rail befor it goes up behind the fender towards the battery. A decent crush accident impact to that passenger front wheel could hit that wire.

Hit anything hard enough. Something bad will happened. The winch on a PW is some what buried. You have to open the hood to get to it. It's the reason why you can't get a diesel with the PW. The winch and the intercooler would be in the same location.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Every circuit, even just a switching circuit, should have some sort of protection. Be it a fuse, breaker, solenoid....something. A constant hot wire with no protection is a pretty big safety risk. Even alternators have a master fuse or feeble link in the event the alternator shorts out or something bad happens.


I am willing to bet the wiring has a fusible link somewhere. That would be a pretty poor choice and liability for the manufacturer to not have any type of protection built in.

I'd hate to see the physical size of that fusible link. I carry various sizes on hand since I do auto electric restoration on AMCs - there's one for the alternator output, horn, main feed to fuse panel and more.
Alternators these days use fuses since the size of such a wire would be - large, and tough to replace. The Jeep system I put into my car (including complete PDC) has 2 60 amp fuses, thank goodness, no fusible links. I can't imagine dealing with those in the bundles of wiring in my car.

 

[Rusty PW]

Every circuit, even just a switching circuit, should have some sort of protection. Be it a fuse, breaker, solenoid....something. A constant hot wire with no protection is a pretty big safety risk. Even alternators have a master fuse or feeble link in the event the alternator shorts out or something bad happens.




I am willing to bet the wiring has a fusible link somewhere. That would be a pretty poor choice and liability for the manufacturer to not have any type of protection built in.

The winch has built in protection. A low voltage cut off, and a over temp cut off. There is no fusible link.

 

[chorky]

physical size of that fusible link. I carry various sizes on hand since I do auto electric restoration on AMCs - there's one for the alternator output, horn, main feed to fuse panel and more.
Alternators these days use fuses since the size of such a wire would be - large, and tough to replace. The Jeep system I put into my car (including complete PDC) has 2 60 amp fuses, thank goodness, no fusible links. I can't imagine dealing with those in the bundles

Yeah but its not unfeasible. My 300a alternator on my TJ has a fusible link and its not that cumbersome. If anything its easier to manipulate than the main wiring - after all its usually just a smaller wire, or 2 small wires. If it was integrated with the rest of the wiring harness then yeah that would be a problem but I dont know hardly any vehicles that have a fusible link integrated with a circuit that is part of a larger harness. usually that route will lead to just a breaker or fuse.

The winch has built in protection. A low voltage cut off, and a over temp cut off. There is no fusible link.

well thats a pretty poor design and a pretty large liability then if they have zero protection from shorting out. I have an awful hard time believing that there is zero short protection.

 

[Rusty PW]

I'd hate to see the physical size of that fusible link. I carry various sizes on hand since I do auto electric restoration on AMCs - there's one for the alternator output, horn, main feed to fuse panel and more.
Alternators these days use fuses since the size of such a wire would be - large, and tough to replace. The Jeep system I put into my car (including complete PDC) has 2 60 amp fuses, thank goodness, no fusible links. I can't imagine dealing with those in the bundles of wiring in my car.

The black box that the red wiring goes to is a 300 amp fusible link. The wiring goes from the alternator to link, to post on the fuse box, to + side of the battery.

 

[Rusty PW]

Yeah but its not unfeasible. My 300a alternator on my TJ has a fusible link and its not that cumbersome. If anything its easier to manipulate than the main wiring - after all its usually just a smaller wire, or 2 small wires. If it was integrated with the rest of the wiring harness then yeah that would be a problem but I dont know hardly any vehicles that have a fusible link integrated with a circuit that is part of a larger harness. usually that route will lead to just a breaker or fuse.




well thats a pretty poor design and a pretty large liability then if they have zero protection from shorting out. I have an awful hard time believing that there is zero short protection.

None from the battery to winch. When I replaced the wiring with 1/0 gauge wiring. There was nothing there.

 

[chorky]

None from the battery to winch. When I replaced the wiring with 1/0 gauge wiring. There was nothing there.

thats nuts. what size cable was it? I would have figure it would have already been 1/0

 

[Rusty PW]

thats nuts. what size cable was it? I would have figure it would have already been 1/0

It was a tad smaller. Some metric size. Another thing about the PW winch. It spools backwards. It spools over the top, not from from the bottom. Plus Ram rates it at 12,000 lbs. To buy replacement parts. You have to use the parts from a Warn M15000 winch.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The black box that the red wiring goes to is a 300 amp fusible link. The wiring goes from the alternator to link, to post on the fuse box, to + side of the battery.

That's a distinct feed not even close to any other wiring. It would be a nightmare in a smaller vehicle like mine.
What size is the alternator on that? Well over 200 I'd suspect.
Thinking about it, it makes me wonder if that wire on the 4.0 alternator that is red with a black stripe, covered in plastic loom, and with a heavy plug connector before it hits the PDC area is their version of a fusible link. It's stiff, and the exact same gauge as the other wires, but then maybe that connector is so you can unplug the lead to the alternator and not burn your wrench or socket disconnecting the output wire from the back of the alternator, it's seriously crowded down in there.
I recall blowing one of the 2 60 amp fuses a few hours after first getting it on the road and the MIL came on and I checked the code as low voltage. (I was not paying attention to the volt meter, obviously!)

 

[Rusty PW]

That's a distinct feed not even close to any other wiring. It would be a nightmare in a smaller vehicle like mine.
What size is the alternator on that? Well over 200 I'd suspect.
Thinking about it, it makes me wonder if that wire on the 4.0 alternator that is red with a black stripe, covered in plastic loom, and with a heavy plug connector before it hits the PDC area is their version of a fusible link. It's stiff, and the exact same gauge as the other wires, but then maybe that connector is so you can unplug the lead to the alternator and not burn your wrench or socket disconnecting the output wire from the back of the alternator, it's seriously crowded down in there.
I recall blowing one of the 2 60 amp fuses a few hours after first getting it on the road and the MIL came on and I checked the code as low voltage. (I was not paying attention to the volt meter, obviously!)

The alternator is 270 amp. The newer PW's have 2 alternators as an option. 380 amps total.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The alternator is 270 amp. The newer PW's have 2 alternators as an option. 380 amps total.

Beefing up the meaning of the term POWER Wagon...... LOL
Well, look at what they are and can do. Makes sense.
Next time we have a power outage, bring that beast up here, I'll try to find a BIG inverter and maybe we can at least have heat or AC with your truck here.

 

[Rusty PW]

Beefing up the meaning of the term POWER Wagon...... LOL
Well, look at what they are and can do. Makes sense.
Next time we have a power outage, bring that beast up here, I'll try to find a BIG inverter and maybe we can at least have heat or AC with your truck here.

Well.... the PW got traded for the JTRD. I miss that PW. If I ever want a full size truck again. It would be another PW.

 

[PyrPatriot]

Some idiot blows a red light and you smack them broadside, or someone falls asleep and crosses over and hits you head to head - bam, full battery power to the front and that winch cable gets crunched in the steel and aluminum - instant spark and melting wires.
I have seen enough in my life to know I would never ever have full battery power, especially through such a large cable, going up to that bumper area. Too many things happen. I've rewired trucks and cars due to electrical fires just with 14 gauge wire doing the damage - imagine all those amps going through that big winch power cable.
Even a side hit can twist the frame and bumper enough to pinch that big cable and ground it, causing things to melt and burn.
It's just not worth it. I don't want to be in my truck if it catches fire from something like that. And I don't want my wife driving it with a fuse just waiting to be lit by some idiot.

Hmm I would think winch companies would include such an item with their products

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hmm I would think winch companies would include such an item with their products

Some do.
But then some people prefer other devices like a solenoid/relay.
And of course adding such things increases initial cost - people look at the winch price, not the total price of install start to finish. If they can cut 50-100 off, it sells more winches.

The idea of such things is always to protect the wiring, not the device. So it would have to be installed as close to the source of power as possible or practical.
The switch below you can buy all over the place, HF includes it with the Badlands Apex winch.

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