Winch and Battery Issues

[Green Boot Adventures]

All,

I installed a Smittybilt 10k winch on my '14 Wrangler Unlimited in July of 2017 and am running into some issues with my battery. I replaced the battery back in November because it died completely and didn't hook up the winch connections until 3 days ago. Due to the snow in my area, I connected it back so that I could help some folks out in recovery. Today, my battery light came on in my dash and was giving me some slight issues.

I'm not too electrically inclined and am having a hard time understanding what the issue is. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I've attached a picture of my battery connection set-up right before I disconnected.

 

[Firemedic15]

Did you have your alternator checked? A bad alternator will kill batteries.

 

[Phil Preston]

Did you have your alternator checked? A bad alternator will kill batteries.

I agree, check alternator.


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[Green Boot Adventures]

Did you have your alternator checked? A bad alternator will kill batteries.

I feel like an idiot for not thinking about that...haven't had it checked since the new battery. I'll check the alternator tomorrow. I know it's good to run the lights and radio while testing the voltage, but would you advise having the winch hooked up and engaged as well to diagnose? Thanks for the advice thus far.

 

[Green Boot Adventures]

Did you have your alternator checked? A bad alternator will kill batteries.

Went out and checked the alternator. Says it’s pushing out 14.4 with lights and radio on, winch not hooked up though


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[overlandford]

I don't understand the picture? looks like a wire with a negative tag is hooked to your battery positive? Every winch Ive used the ground wire is black and the positive wire is red, appears to be a cover on the positive wire? I may be wrong but I don't think there's anything on a winch that could draw with out it being in use, at least not a basic winch. Maybe wire chaffing issue or some type of short in the control box. Does the winch work properly, spool the right way on the controller?

Got a DVOM? You can get one cheap and they can go a long way with wiring problems.

 

[HKLover]

Looks like you have positive and negative cables hooked up to the incorrect terminals on your battery. I have a X20 10K winch also and IIRC the cable with the jacketing on it should be hooked up to the positive terminal. Unfortunately, I am in Colorado at the moment and my Jeep is in Ohio so I can't go and look.

 

[overlandford]

Looks like you have positive and negative cables hooked up to the incorrect terminals on your battery. I have a X20 10K winch also and IIRC the cable with the jacketing on it should be hooked up to the positive terminal. Unfortunately, I am in Colorado at the moment and my Jeep is in Ohio so I can't go and look.

That's what I thought, looking at the pic but hard to tell since the positive has that jacket on it. Looked like that tag was negative. Would be interesting to know if that's the case, wouldn't think that would cause a draw on the battery.

 

[HKLover]

That's what I thought, looking at the pic but hard to tell since the positive has that jacket on it. Looked like that tag was negative. Would be interesting to know if that's the case, wouldn't think that would cause a draw on the battery.

I'm 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999% sure that tag we see is a negative symbol and that the cables are installed backwards.

That jacketing over the one cable is to prevent chaffing from every day vibrations and to prevent the accidental grounding of a hot lead to the chassis.

I don't know if that would in fact be ruining the battery or not, but, it would be best to check connection polarity, charge the battery properly, and then maybe try again and see if the problem persists.

 

[4xFar Adventures]

I try to use red and black split loom to make + & - identification easy. Sometimes I only have black loom, so I wrap each end with red electrical tape for a positive wire. Not only will a system like that help you for future reference, but it's really helpful for someone working on your rig who knows nothing about your setup.

 

[Phil Preston]

I'm 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999% sure that tag we see is a negative symbol and that the cables are installed backwards.

That jacketing over the one cable is to prevent chaffing from every day vibrations and to prevent the accidental grounding of a hot lead to the chassis.

I don't know if that would in fact be ruining the battery or not, but, it would be best to check connection polarity, charge the battery properly, and then maybe try again and see if the problem persists.

After looking at the picture closely, I agree with HKLover. Great catch on the tag. Also I would run the wires for the winch directly to the center post terminals in the pic, and maybe not on the smaller terminals where your other wires are. Thought behind that is they draw huge amount of amps when in use under load and you may be causing some sort of issue with the sensor for the light on your dash. Just a thought...


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[Green Boot Adventures]

I don't understand the picture? looks like a wire with a negative tag is hooked to your battery positive? Every winch Ive used the ground wire is black and the positive wire is red, appears to be a cover on the positive wire? I may be wrong but I don't think there's anything on a winch that could draw with out it being in use, at least not a basic winch. Maybe wire chaffing issue or some type of short in the control box. Does the winch work properly, spool the right way on the controller?

Got a DVOM? You can get one cheap and they can go a long way with wiring problems.

Winch worked flawlessly for at least 10 winch recoveries. Negative on the DVOM, the few places I checked were sold out or didn't have any.

 

[Green Boot Adventures]

All,

I appreciate the comments and identification of potential issues. Unfortunately, the Jeep is in the shop for a few weeks due to someone sliding into me during our snow storm. @HKLover I will check on the wire configuration... I'd assume that if the wires were connected backwards, it wouldn't work but as mentioned. But I'm humbling myself to say I have pretty much zero electrical/wiring knowledge so I really appreciate your input

@Disco2Guy Great point, I will implement that for any future wiring!