Winch wiring?

BarryO

Well-known member
I have this. Has been solid for 2 years, for fairly frequent and long winching jobs. A Swiss builder I know has these on at least 50 vehicles (before anyone goes "iTs nOt rAtEd fOr tHoSe vOLtAgEs"...)

Sure they are; they're rated for 24V, double the 12 volts we use. :)

'gets a little more complicated with current rating. Hella rates this switch at 100 amps continuously (100 amps long term without melting). But you don't run winches continuously; they're all intermittent duty devices. Hella rates the switch at 1000 amps for 10 seconds or less. Usually winches are used most of the time at far below their rated pull, so draw far less than their rated maximum current load. If you're recovering a 6000 lb. truck, say, you're rarely using that much force (unless you're pulling it up vertically or it's really stuck in the mud). So they'll probably work most of the time. :)
 

DiscoDavis

Well-known member
Sure they are; they're rated for 24V, double the 12 volts we use. :)

'gets a little more complicated with current rating. Hella rates this switch at 100 amps continuously (100 amps long term without melting). But you don't run winches continuously; they're all intermittent duty devices. Hella rates the switch at 1000 amps for 10 seconds or less. Usually winches are used most of the time at far below their rated pull, so draw far less than their rated maximum current load. If you're recovering a 6000 lb. truck, say, you're rarely using that much force (unless you're pulling it up vertically or it's really stuck in the mud). So they'll probably work most of the time. :)

Not really complicated. The rating is 100A continuous at 24v. It was fine when pulling to stall speed on a husky multiple times.
 

WreckITFrank

Technical Excellence Contributor
does anyone inset their switch so that it is countersunk from the outside face of the battery box. I see most have an interior mounting option, but I wonder if anyone knocks it with their legs. If using 2, 1 for winch and 1 for battery, maybe one on left side of seatbox, and one on front? Just curious as I plan out a future winch install.

I like the option Tomaco attached in post 78. Or maybe a combo to kill both at the same time.


 

WreckITFrank

Technical Excellence Contributor
I forgot that the Blue Sea switch I have is actually for dual batteries. But I'm not going to go dual. I could use it for the winch/battery, but I'm going to change to using these. One for the battery cut-off, one for the winch.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00445KFZ2/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I like the looks, and Blue Sea makes good stuff.

that's where I think im at. Where do you plan on mounting them? I may consider a fabricated bracket/box that sinks two switches back into the box, depending on how much space is lost. Thanks.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
The one for the winch is simple, it will go under the passenger seat. I'll use the provided cable to go to the switch, then another that I already have to go to the battery.

The switch for the battery depends on where I have room. I need to take the time to open up my battery box and figure it out. I have a 60amp fuse going to my aux panel in the box, and the solenoid for my home made glow plug harness, so I don't have a lot more room in there. Knowing the way things are with off roading, with building my own truck, and just the fact that I almost had a fire in Series, and I know a guy who had a fire in his Defender 90, I want a cut off switch that I can get at.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Why not just put it directly next to the winch wiring one in the front of the box?

Or since it's flush-mount even better yet put it on the side of the box all you have to do is open the door
 

Tomaco1

Well-known member
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/blue...-battery-switch-with-removable-knob--14122170

Switch Positions: 2
Battery Combine: No
Alternator Field Disconnect: no
Maximum Voltage: 48V
Continuous Rating: 300A
Intermittent Rating (duration): 500A (5 min)
Cranking Rating (30Sec): 900A
Battery Inputs: 1
Cable Size to meet ratings: 4/0AWG
Mounting Holes: # 10 Screws
Terminal Stud size: 3/8”
Dimensions: 2 13/16”L x 2 13/16”W x 3 1/16”H
Weight: .65 Lb.
Approvals: ABYC, UL 1107, UL 1500 and SAE J1171


This one looks good?
 

DiscoDavis

Well-known member
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/blue...-battery-switch-with-removable-knob--14122170

Switch Positions: 2
Battery Combine: No
Alternator Field Disconnect: no
Maximum Voltage: 48V
Continuous Rating: 300A
Intermittent Rating (duration): 500A (5 min)
Cranking Rating (30Sec): 900A
Battery Inputs: 1
Cable Size to meet ratings: 4/0AWG
Mounting Holes: # 10 Screws
Terminal Stud size: 3/8?
Dimensions: 2 13/16?L x 2 13/16?W x 3 1/16?H
Weight: .65 Lb.
Approvals: ABYC, UL 1107, UL 1500 and SAE J1171


This one looks good?

yup looks fine
 

DiscoDavis

Well-known member
does anyone inset their switch so that it is countersunk from the outside face of the battery box. I see most have an interior mounting option, but I wonder if anyone knocks it with their legs. If using 2, 1 for winch and 1 for battery, maybe one on left side of seatbox, and one on front? Just curious as I plan out a future winch install.

I like the option Tomaco attached in post 78. Or maybe a combo to kill both at the same time.

The ones I have seen in the seat box have been countersunk so the neck of the switch and the key itself just stick out of the surface. Have not seen one kicked, some can and do put a sort of u bolt over it to prevent your leg from touching or kicking it inadvertently.

You can use one switch for both winch AND battery/starter/control circuit for dual battery link etc, but keep in mind that if you have to cut that switch for a winch safety reason it will also cut power to those items, and if the fuel stop wiring doesn't bypass this part it will also shut off the car.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
I think this might be my last question: Since I'm going to 00 cable for the ground and power, should I also be pulling the 0 cable that the control box uses, and switching that over to 00? And if that's the case, it seems like a good excuse to do an alternative location with the control box -- ideas that have worked for you?
 

Red90

Well-known member
No. They are short, so it does not matter. The large cables are needed due to the long runs to the battery.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
Right, I had thought of moving the whole thing several more feet, but I opened up the control box and can see that I won't need to use anything but the stock cables since installing the solenoid behind the bumper or wherever, is really going to be easy. It will take up only 1/3 of the space that the actual box cover was taking. I'll just need to weatherproof it a bit.
 

sherpamike

Active member
Thinking about re-wiring my winch and other ancillary electronics (lights, ham radio, etc). Currently have a rats nest of direct battery connections in the seat compartment and worry about fires and want to reduce the number of direct connections on the battery for simplicity. The winch currently has dedicated pos and neg wires to and from battery side terminals and pulls fine.

I was thinking of installing the blue sea 1+2, four position switch on the positive side of battery (#1) with the winch on #2 and the starter and everything else (envision using a small fuse block to consolidate connections to other electronics) coming off the "output". This way I won't have the winch powered until I need it --> think running #1 the majority of the time and switching to 1+2 on the trail.

I was thinking of connecting the negative lead from the winch to a bus bar along with the starter, and fuse block to the battery. This way I only have one positive (to switch) and one negative (to bus bar) terminal on the battery. My question: how much amperage should I account for on the negative side. I assume that bigger is better but don't know if this 600A is overkill: https://www.bluesea.com/products/2104/PowerBar_600A_BusBar_-_Four_3_8in-16_Studs ... it's not inexpensive.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
So what I did was to use the Blue Sea switch as a cut-off for the battery and winch by attaching the battery to #1, and the winch to #2. That way, during normal running, I do not have any power to the winch, but I can simply switch it over to the 1+2 setting, and have normal winch power. I can also turn them all off by selecting the OFF position.

The battery itself is grounded to the frame, and to the engine block. But there is only one 2/0 positive cable running to the switch, which then runs to the starter stud. The auxilliary fuses (Blue Sea box) is also attached to the battery through the switch, so when I turn it to the OFF position, all my ancillaries are also off.

In this way, the battery itself is isolated, and there are no extra wires going to it.

One thing I also did was I installed some small charge ports so that I can hook up my solar panel or my smart charger without having to remove the seat bottom and cover panel.
 

sherpamike

Active member
That's a great point about the charger too. I forgot about that but I do leave mine on the battery tender most of the time... (it sits in the garage more than i would like).
 

Steve 110

Member
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