How does a winch under load perform on the 4xe?

[frankiverse]

I’m looking at getting my first winch for my 4xe. But before I do, I was wondering how it works with the 12v and HV batteries since there is no alternator.

From what I understand you would normally run the engine to keep the battery charged and feeding power to the winch. But since the 4xe doesn’t do this, what happens?

My understanding is that the 12v is not charged while running. Am I misunderstanding how the dc-dc charging works?

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[Steemax]

As long as the hood is closed and the vehicle is on RUN position the 12v will be maintained and charged by the IDCM/HV battery so nothing to worry about.

 

[frankiverse]

As long as the hood is closed and the vehicle is on RUN position the 12v will be maintained and charged by the IDCM/HV battery so nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the reply. What happens if I’m out of charge on the HV?

I’ve often thought that when overlanding I should run in e-save just to keep battery for emergency usage. But haven’t put it to the test.

 

[Steemax]

Thanks for the reply. What happens if I’m out of charge on the HV?

I’ve often thought that when overlanding I should run in e-save just to keep battery for emergency usage. But haven’t put it to the test.

The system will always maintain some level of charge even if the instrument panel shows 0% in order to maintain the 12v and full power while driving so nothing to worry.

 

[frankiverse]

Thanks for the info

 

[LAM]

I wonder why having the hood open would disable charging for both(?) 12V and HV batteries. I guess it is easy enough to keep the hood closed when using a winch, but a bit harder for using an air compressor or trying to jump another car.

It certainly seems safer to have the engine/systems running in either case - hood up or down.

 

[Steemax]

I wonder why having the hood open would disable charging for both(?) 12V and HV batteries. I guess it is easy enough to keep the hood closed when using a winch, but a bit harder for using an air compressor or trying to jump another car.

It certainly seems safer to have the engine/systems running in either case - hood up or down.

It’s likely a safety concern. You’re right about compressors which is why I’ve resorted to using a 12v cigarette lighter type and retired the one that hooks to my 12v. Don’t want to end up with a dead 12v on the trail

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

With a 12k winch I was able to pull the vehicle out of a pickle in icy uphill section with the jeep in hybrid mode. If you are expecting an excessively high load or have a 8k winch, you might want to put it on e-save charging mode to keep the engine rpms slightly high on idle - would be the same as putting the jeep in winch mode with Tazer mini.

 

[alphawolff]

As long as the hood is closed and the vehicle is on RUN position the 12v will be maintained and charged by the IDCM/HV battery so nothing to worry about.

I'd like to mention here that the HV battery does a horrendous job of "Recharging" the 12v battery. It works great for topping it off, but once it becomes discharged it takes an obscene amount of time before the battery gets to a reasonable charge level again. In normal vehicle operation the 12V stays nearly fully charged since its only job is to close the HV contactors before the IDCM puts out voltage to power everything. In extended accessory use it can become discharged pretty easily

Just something to be aware of if you plan on doing a lot of winching. In a normal ICE you can usually just drive for like 30-45 minutes and a good battery will recharge itself enough for it to no longer be an issue. This isn't the case for the 4XE

 

[Steemax]

I'd like to mention here that the HV battery does a horrendous job of "Recharging" the 12v battery. It works great for topping it off, but once it becomes discharged it takes an obscene amount of time before the battery gets to a reasonable charge level again.

Just something to be aware of if you plan on doing extended winching

I believe it. So many premature 12v failures.

 

[Andy@AAV]

No issues running my Warn 10k winch, all though I have only done short pulls with it. The DC-DC charger runs at 100 amps so not sure why it wouldn’t charge the 12v battery quickly. The winch pulls somewhere around 250 amps so it will need at least a 3-1 charge to pull ratio. Use a snatch block to reduce the load, always use as much cable (or rope) as possible to get best performance when winching.

 

[GATORB8]

I've done a handfull of back to back full line uphill pulls without issue.

You should be in 4low manual anyway, so the Jeep should automatically have your ICE on.

 

[BringTheLightnin]

I've used my winch with no problems so far. As one of you mentioned about the air compressor, on my 24 Rubicon, when I lift the hood, the engine auto kicks on while I'm running the compressor. Also, the 24 does have off road+ so when you press that in 4H or 4A, the engine stays on and at a higher rev to help charge the HV battery.

 

[AcesandEights]

It's like a big reel, like a fishing reel. When power is supplied and the switch is on, it "reels" in the line, attached to a fix object, pulls your vehicle toward it. Think of you as the fixed object and the fish on the end of the line as your vehicle. You "reel" in the fish. The winch reels in your vehicle, to which it is attached.

It performs like a winch under load, on a 4xe (or other vehicle). Hope that helps indeedy.

 

[LAM]

I've used my winch with no problems so far. As one of you mentioned about the air compressor, on my 24 Rubicon, when I lift the hood, the engine auto kicks on while I'm running the compressor. Also, the 24 does have off road+ so when you press that in 4H or 4A, the engine stays on and at a higher rev to help charge the HV battery.

It’s a little confusing; normal operation, with the hood up the ICE is running but the dashboard message says the battery is not charging. I am not sure the engine is charging the 12V battery when using the air compressor. It would be nice if it did.

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