Botched winch install

[roaniecowpony]

If you're going to wire your winch incorrectly...use a fuse.

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[Zandcwhite]

This times eleventy billion. I'm going to save this thread for the next time someone tries to argue that you don't need to fuse the winch power cable.

Even an obvious bolted fault did nothing but melt the insulation on the cable, almost like those winch manufacturers know what they are doing?

 

[Windshieldfarmer]

That’s ugly…as others have said that winch was not fused and probably not separately switched. Question - are bundle of burnt wires in the first picture the main wiring harness for the Jeep? If so, there is likely plenty of damage elsewhere…or at least many blown fuses.

 

[CO2Wrangler]

Even an obvious bolted fault did nothing but melt the insulation on the cable, almost like those winch manufacturers know what they are doing?

Sure. This time...

You're one wire routed too close to an ignition source away from losing your whole damn vehicle. Why risk it?

 

[TheRaven]

Even an obvious bolted fault did nothing but melt the insulation on the cable, almost like those winch manufacturers know what they are doing?

"Nothing but melt the cable"?!

Really?!

You are a very brave man.

 

[Zandcwhite]

That’s ugly…as others have said that winch was not fused and probably not separately switched. Question - are bundle of burnt wires in the first picture the main wiring harness for the Jeep? If so, there is likely plenty of damage elsewhere…or at least many blown fuses.

It looks like just the winch power wire looped around and melted. Separately switched would have done nothing but also melt the switch. Being the positive and negative look melted and the other wires aren't even connected I'm guessing this was a during install mis-wiring but maybe they disconnected the other wires for no reason after the power wires melted?

 

[Zandcwhite]

Sure. This time...

You're one wire routed too close to an ignition source away from losing your whole damn vehicle. Why risk it?

Ignition source? The battery is on the same side of the vehicle as the winch solenoid. Is my frame going to catch fire? At least a dozen winch installs personally, hundreds of thousands of miles driven with winches, hundreds of pulls, 0 fuses, 0 switches, 0 melted wires, and 0 fires. Just like every winch manufacturer recommends. Just like hundreds of thousands of winches all over the world. If extra complexity, cost, and potential failure points during heavy pulls are your thing, go for it.

 

[KCSgtMaj]

 

[andy29847]

I say that since both the positive and negative wires burned between the winch and the power source, there is a short circuit - probably at the winch.

 

[GATORB8]

Alright, let's see if we can figure this out.

B+ to Control box - Burnt
Control Box Red to Winch - Fine
Control Box Yellow to Winch - Fine
Control Box Black to Winch - Burnt
Winch Black to B- - Burnt

This appears to be a Stegodon.

The control box Black to Winch is NOT a ground, it's one of the control circuits. Looks like the control circuit is wired direct through to ground.

 

[LAM]

Was this a brand new install? A little history would help.

 

[Zandcwhite]

If it wasn't a new install, this happened the 1st time they hit the controller. As gator pointed out, they have the ground black hard wired to the controlled black, creating a dead short. They didn't need a dust, they needed to write it correctly.

 

[21JLURDG]

Using a professional is not a guarantee that everything will be fine. Years ago I had a professional auto electrical shop install a winch and dual battery system. A couple of months later the vehicle died in the middle of the desert. It turned out that rock crawling had allowed the body to flex enough to pinch the winch cables between the body and frame, causing the car alarm to short and activate the ignition kill. I think the electrician was very competent, but he didn't have my experience with four wheeling and what stresses it causes on the vehicle.

My recommendation is to read the installation manual (omg!), think about the routing and connections (common sense), do the install, then review the installation with an eye of what could go wrong. It should take much longer to do this yourself than a paid professional whose primary concern is time efficiency.

 

[GATORB8]

Although this appears to be installer error, may as well touch on safety.

Three basic ways here (can be combined):
1. Fuse - Blue Sea 5190/91 or similar
2. Switch - Marine battery switch or similar
3. Solenoid - Warn PIK or similar

Realistically, the fuse is the only full time protection, but either the switch or the solenoid offer both shutoff and protection during shutoff.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Although this appears to be installer error, may as well touch on safety.

Three basic ways here (can be combined):
1. Fuse - Blue Sea 5190/91 or similar
2. Switch - Marine battery switch or similar
3. Solenoid - Warn PIK or similar

Realistically, the fuse is the only full time protection, but either the switch or the solenoid offer both shutoff and protection during shutoff.

When looking for the running peak load of my Warn Zeon 10s, I found that it can run 465 amps. I don't think that was stalled. Fuse sizing guidelines suggest 125% of peak load. So a 600 amp fuse would be around the minimum.

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