Proper way to hook winch to battery

[MandKM]

I agree with @jeepdriver99 that it is safest to have a physical disconnect between the winch and battery. Though I haven’t installed my winch yet, I’m looking at a manual switch such as this since I have more applications than I have AUX switches.

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[TylerU]

So I went to my local off road shop today to buy a solenoid relay and not only did they not carry one, they recommended against connecting the winch with one. Said they had seen more failures with the setup than instances where having one was worth it.....

I’m still on the fence.

 

[jeepdriver99]

So I went to my local off road shop today to buy a solenoid relay and not only did they not carry one, they recommended against connecting the winch with one. Said they had seen more failures with the setup than instances where having one was worth it.....

I’m still on the fence.

I'm 66 years old and started off-roading in my early 20s. I've also had a winch on my Jeep since the early 80s and I've never seen one fail from an isolation solenoid. I have had a solenoid failure in the winch but not the isolation one.

 

[vap]

Just design the solenoid location, wire length and terminal choice in a way, so even if the isolation solenoid fails, you can simply unscrew the positive end from the solenoid and attach it directly to the battery.

 

[LostWoods]

So I went to my local off road shop today to buy a solenoid relay and not only did they not carry one, they recommended against connecting the winch with one. Said they had seen more failures with the setup than instances where having one was worth it.....

I’m still on the fence.

In the worst case, you can disconnect the solenoid and hard-wire the winch if the solenoid or switch fails.

If somehow the winch power cable shorts itself to chassis, that's enough current to burn your Jeep to the ground.

Personally, peace of mind is worth it and the resistance through the switch isn't going to be so much that I'm going to worry about it.

 

[LS7]

This is my “manual” disconnect. On the rare occasions when I need the winch, I simply slip the protective sleeve off the winch cable and attach the cable to the right terminal via the wing-nut I added. Not very elegant, but it works.

 

[PSI]

This is my “manual” disconnect. On the rare occasions when I need the winch, I simply slip the protective sleeve off the winch cable and attach the cable to the right terminal via the wing-nut I added. Not very elegant, but it works.

The beauty of a simple solution. I love the wingnut.

 

[McGilli]

I know this is old but since I don't want to start a new thread and can't search for the info becasue I suck at using search:

What is the nut size I need to attack the winch leads to those bolts?

 

[HoboJeep]

I used the terminal on the right also triggered it with AUX4 and it hasn't caused me any problems.

I am looking at doing this too. Which isolator did you use and what amps is it?

 

[jeepdriver99]

I am looking at doing this too. Which isolator did you use and what amps is it?

 

[HoboJeep]

Thanks!

 

[Levin_tom]

This is my “manual” disconnect. On the rare occasions when I need the winch, I simply slip the protective sleeve off the winch cable and attach the cable to the right terminal via the wing-nut I added. Not very elegant, but it works.

Love the manual disconnect. Where did you buy the protective sleeve?

 

[LS7]

Love the manual disconnect. Where did you buy the protective sleeve?

Cut off a piece of 1/2 inch vinyl tubing that I had kicking around.

 

[Jeep4Win]

This is my “manual” disconnect. On the rare occasions when I need the winch, I simply slip the protective sleeve off the winch cable and attach the cable to the right terminal via the wing-nut I added. Not very elegant, but it works.

Great minds think alike! My JL has yet to be delivered but on my JK I do the same thing! Why have it even connected until you need it. No need to worry about draw while not in use. Especially with all the JL dead battery posts.

 

[JLRyder]

I followed the book and I wired positive to positive and negative to negative, closed the hood and walked away. No issues.

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