How to wire a winch

[astroflashjones]

I use a Blue Sea disconnect. There have been some instances of winches continuing to run, its nice to have a quick shutoff located close by. No need to run a dual battery for the winch but upgrading to an AGM might be worth it for longer pulls. I dont know about the 4 Runner but the stock Tacoma battery is pretty weak.

 

[Billiebob]

Read the winch manufacturers instructions. I've only run Warn winches and every one is just wire it direct to the battery. I have no idea, maybe Warn builds in some battery protection but I've never added anything.

 

[Deleted member 59857]

Go directly to batt, but have a cutoff, switch or some mechanical disconnect from the battery.

Though not likely, in a front end collision or some ahole hotwiring your winch through the remote plug can ruin your day.

 

[Matoolie]

I am planning my winch install on my 2014 4runner and I bought a Blue Sea e-series shutoff switch for power lead.

Installed

 

[slomatt]

What size fuse do you run with a 10k lb winch?

It depends on the rated current draw of the winch, many draw ~400A at full load.

 

[Boostpowered]

Read the instructions that come with the winch it will tell you how to properly wire it.

 

[phxdsrtrat]

I believe the safest solution is a mains cutoff switch as has been mentioned previously. It's important to keep this switch in the off position when not actively using the winch. This has already been covered and it has been pointed out that an accident would likely be the reason for this safety measure. In the "old" days there was a wire directly wired from the battery to the starter with no protection. I've seen this used as the reasoning for directly wiring a winch. Auto manufacturers no longer do this and fuse this wire also for obvious safety reasons. A winch is no differnt.

Another option not covered yet is a marine bus fuse. These fuses are slow blow fuses available in sizes up to 300 amps. This is the option I went with and it has worked out well. If you are not familiar with them do a google search and some research. This may turn out to be a good solution for others which is why I'm mentioning it.

-Curtiss

 

[Boostpowered]

I believe the safest solution is a mains cutoff switch as has been mentioned previously. It's important to keep this switch in the off position when not actively using the winch. This has already been covered and it has been pointed out that an accident would likely be the reason for this safety measure. In the "old" days there was a wire directly wired from the battery to the starter with no protection. I've seen this used as the reasoning for directly wiring a winch. Auto manufacturers no longer do this and fuse this wire also for obvious safety reasons. A winch is no differnt.

Another option not covered yet is a marine bus fuse. These fuses are slow blow fuses available in sizes up to 300 amps. This is the option I went with and it has worked out well. If you are not familiar with them do a google search and some research. This may turn out to be a good solution for others which is why I'm mentioning it.

-Curtiss

Which manufacturer includes a fuse? I've never seen a winch come with a fuse of any type and most tell you not to have one much less a cutoff switch, until I joined ob.
So many are worried about something that rarely happens, you know your winch is more likely to fail due to moisture and lack of maintence, your supposed to unspool your line and reel it back in at least once a month to burn up moisture inside the winch

 

[phxdsrtrat]

Which manufacturer includes a fuse? I've never seen a winch come with a fuse of any type and most tell you not to have one much less a cutoff switch, until I joined ob.
So many are worried about something that rarely happens, you know your winch is more likely to fail due to moisture and lack of maintence, your supposed to unspool your line and reel it back in at least once a month to burn up moisture inside the winch

Winch manufacturers do not include a fuse or switch and most advise to wire straight to the battery. This is also not about the winch failing due to poor maintenance. The point being made here is that wiring a winch directly to the battery is inherently unsafe in the case of an accident or a wire being worn/cut through due to a poor installation job. Every electrical connection should be fused as close to the battery as possible. In the case of a winch the current draw is such that a battery cut off switch (or relay) may be a better option, especially for a larger winch. The members in this thread who have wired in a cut off switch or some other mechanism are protecting the wire (not the winch itself). The wire used to provide the power to a winch can easily catch things on fire or cause the battery to explode if shorted.

-Curtiss

 

[64Trvlr]

The only electric winches I've ever run are Warn. I've always wired direct to the battery using 2/0 welding cable and a 450 amp fuse.


Sorry the only pic I could find was a 400 amp instead of the 450 I use.

 

[Stinkbug 867]

So on your 4 runner with the winch it says 650 CCA on the battery. But if I have my truck running and standing out side running the winch it will go into reverse mode and shut the truck off by if I sit inside the truck an let it rev up 2000 rpm no issues. I still have the Panasonic 640 cca, originall. I was reading about the maintenance an it said 650 or more. Has anyone had this same thing happen. It’s a smitty Xrc 9500

 

[Boostpowered]

Winch manufacturers do not include a fuse or switch and most advise to wire straight to the battery. This is also not about the winch failing due to poor maintenance. The point being made here is that wiring a winch directly to the battery is inherently unsafe in the case of an accident or a wire being worn/cut through due to a poor installation job. Every electrical connection should be fused as close to the battery as possible. In the case of a winch the current draw is such that a battery cut off switch (or relay) may be a better option, especially for a larger winch. The members in this thread who have wired in a cut off switch or some other mechanism are protecting the wire (not the winch itself). The wire used to provide the power to a winch can easily catch things on fire or cause the battery to explode if shorted.

-Curtiss

I've never seen unfused or breakered front winch that is wired correctly catch fire when used how it is supposed to be used.
If you are holding the button down winching in hard and not taking breaks every few minutes to let things cool down and or using undersized wires then you might start melting your wires and have issues. Here is the thing though those wires are still gonna get hot with a fuse or breaker and the latter likely will never trip because your battery won't even put out enough amps but wires will still get hot, and the former will likely keep blowing for no reason when you need it the most.

Best thing is to run your wires in as short a path as possible and be careful of the routing to not go over sharp edges or over fuel/oil related lines. Use wire covers if need be.

Now if we're talking a rear winch then absolutely its a smart idea to put some protection as close to your battery as possible, running longer wiring requires a larger diameter wire and its running mostly exposed under your vehicle to the rear where you fuel tank is located. So yeah not a bad idea in the situation.

Then there are those who may be worried about vandalism where some ecowarrior takes your winch cable runs it over the top of your rig to the rear hitch then engages the winch and cuts the cab in half. Easy fix if your rolling around in a city full of those type of folks simply unhook the winch from the battery then re attach when you think you will need your winch .

I see way to much worrying on here and overkill. Follow the manufactures recommendation to wire directy, i think they've been doing it a while and might know a little something about it.
Also if their recommendations ended up catching fire all the time they would have been sued out of that idea by now.