Ken the electrical guy Q n A

I remember that thread and was just going down the path of planning my power supply needs when it was posted. It seems to support my thoughts about having a fuse AND switch to isolate the circuit but hopefully I can find out why it's not recommended by the manufacturer.

 

Thread is definitely a good read. I'm sure Ken will chime in on your specifics when he sees it. Came across it and figured I'd post it in case you hadn't seen it.

 

I don't think an accidental short in a winch cable will appear any different electrically than a winch itself. It's best to just disconnect power when not in use.

 

Has anyone actually figured out ch4x4 cab switches for electrical dummies? I feel like every one of mine work different haha. I basically do trial and error until they work. There’s a diagram in the box that labels the green, red, red, black.

@Kens04Taco
I’ve got a cab switch for:
bed light strips,
ditch lights,
puddle pods,
grille lights,
scoop light bar, and
rock lights on my roof rack.

They all work but I can’t explain how. It’s all such a mess. I just need someone to explain like I’m a 5 year old.
For example, you need 1 wire from accessory to battery to ground ; 1 wire from accessory to relay to cab switch ; 1 wire to fuse, cab switch etc… I feel like that would let me clean everything up. Just bought a blue sea 12 block auxiliary fuse panel & circuit breaker to help clean it all up as well. Good thing about detailed lighting instructions is it allows people like me that have zero electrical knowledge to wire it up. The bad thing is we have no idea what we’ve done and it ends up a massive mess haha. Thanks for all the info in this thread! Very cool!

 

the same can be said for the battery wire to starter, which is also unfused. I would not recommend a fuse or overload device, but a disconnect switch should be the best solution. The current draw is quite large on a winch and it will be difficult to coordinate fuse/overloads to prevent false trips yet ensure it isolates on a short circuit. That is unless you are willing to invest big money in a real overcurrent monitoring device with an in line shunt and breaker trip coil.

 

dome lights can be trick because of the way that some of them are wired. Back in the day it was just a simple ground switch, headlight switch ground switch, and the switch at the dome. Now they have components to allow of dimming and other features so it’s a case to case basis.

 

Sure I can go into some detail when I get home from work today about switches and basic switch wiring. Shoot me a dm on IG to remind me if you don’t mind

 

Let me review red arcs manual after work and I’ll get back to you. I have an answer for you but want to double check before I lead you down the wrong path.

 

Well…this is probably a very easily
Debatable subject. Different people will have different opinions or similar opinions with different hierarchy.

IMO: They don’t protect the cable from a short circuit fault because they don’t have to. There’s probably
some loop hole or legal precedence that allows them to sell it without some type of short circuit protection. It may have to do that they incorporate some type of overload protection that they feel it’s safe. I mean starter cables are unfused so I guess it’s similar?

The other part is most people really don’t understand or have the skills
developed to build a high quality cable like the manufactures do. There is a lot of room for error from variables that the manufacture can’t control. Not to mention issues with other companies tolerances and or
low quality products. So if their customer buys their winch and has issues caused by a faulty
circuit breaker (the average customer won’t know it’s the breaker, fuse , or cable) will likely
Call the winch manufacture causing higher traffic over phone lines. There’s a slippery slope with this stuff.
If you feel like you’d like to improve on the design, install a circuit breaker or fuse and just insure it’s a quality install with quality parts

 

Thanks for the reply. I installed a switch that should be rated well above what the winch can pull as far as sustained current. For now I have no fuse or automatic isolating device and plan to practice common sense winching but also to have easy access to the winch switch without having to cross the winch rope. Worst case I should be able to disconnect main power to the winch if anything happens while under load and that will also allow isolation of the winch at all times when it's not needed.

 

I debated what to do on mine and ended up installing a manual disconnect switch since I’m not using a winch 99.9% of the time. Used a blue sea 6006, installed about 1’ downstream of the connection to the battery. What’s confusing to me is that for my winch (warn 9.5 XPS), the website lists max amp draw at 482 amperes. The contactor supplied only came with 2AWG which does not meet those specs. I upped the wire size from the contactor to the winch since I relocated my control pac in the engine bay. I’m assuming that wire ampacity charts are for continuous use then, I’m not a design engineer or that familiar with the cable standards.

regardless, here’s my setup I made with a simple aluminum plate. I used a hydraulic crimper and also tinned and heat shrunk all the connections.

 

I have what is likely a very simple question. I installed a 7 pin trailer plug and have a 12v hot wire from the batter to the plug. The wire has a 40amp breaker installed. I would like to have that wire only supplying power when the ignition is on.
Would this type of relay work and if so where would be the best place in a 2015 2.7L fuse box to tap the relay for “ignition on” only power?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Image shows wiring for the relay I was planning on using.

 

Most of the time the charts you find online are general guidelines that your average person can use. Depending on the run you may find that a 2 AWG copper cable may be able to handle those high loads for short durations in extreme situations like 60 seconds for example. Especially when it’s a very short run. Now this would be in a very extreme situation like your winch is fully
Loaded and not moving at all. This would be your peak output situation. Static and full throttle.
In this event the 2 AWG cable may be able to flow this for 60 seconds before failing. The winch probably has a protection circuit internally to prevent this situation from happening for long enough.

It’s important to remember that most companies supply the minimum conductor required to operate their device because of price. This does not mean it’s operating at its full capability.

depending on what we’re talking about you may or may not really want that extra 10% of power. A winch id want working at 100% capacity with regards to input voltage from a battery source. So for me I’d say upgrading your cable
Size isn’t a bad idea. Now if we’re looking at a Light let’s say. Most of these lights now a days are so fuckn bright out of the box with the provided harness it really isn’t worth upgrading the wires. Remember I’m speaking in generalities and there’s always exceptions.

 

a standard Bosch 4-5 pin 30/40
Amp relay can work for what you want. If you don’t have a multimeter this may be a good opportunity to learn. If you go buy one I’ll teach you how to test fuses and determine how to install a add a fuse in a fuse box for the purpose as you described above.

 

I like the addition to your existing panel, neat idea

 

Thanks, I figured it was the best spot for it, granted it's a little busy over there now. I do want to build a small support leg and bolt it from the panel to the fender well because now with the additional switch there's a little more leverage on the existing mount which is bolted to the side of the fender where the clutch reservoir is. It seems to be working well so far and nice having the peace of mind of it disconnected when it is not needed.

 

do you have a multimeter or test light?

 

Yes, I picked up a test light and figured I’d test the fuses in the panel there this weekend. Based on a few other resources I found it sounded like there were no others outside of Batt and INV. If that is true I was not sure how to tap into the Denso fuse/relay. If i find any others, then a simple add a fuse would do the trick. I did hear someone had used something else that would kick on every 4 ours or so then kick off again. I could not find that note again but I don’t want anything like that because I don’t want that source without ignition on so the connection resets properly between the batteries across the relays.

 

Thanks, I will be back as soon as I get to work on this.

Thanks. I guess this is what I will need to tap into a “ignition on” fuse.
I will be back when I am ready to put this together.

 

Can you help with other Toyota’s? I am having an electrical issue with my 2009 CamryLE, 4 cyl auto…

dash gauges (temp, tach and Speedo) will drop to “ zero”, outside temp Reads “E”, “PRND…” lights don’t light, and A/C reduces flow and is hot. At the same time the parking “BRAKE” and “ ABS” lamps illuminate.

Everything else appears to work fine, engine runs fine ( no stumbles or rough idle, etc).

brake lights, headlights, hazards, even dash lights still work fine. Radio works…

but it’s intermittant. One moment everything is off, and then it’s all back working. And completely ( seemingly) random, so it’s not like cyclical.

I was thinking a short, but I can’t find any damaged, corroded, melted or chewed wiring or connectors…. Fuse? I figured no because it’s on-off-on etc…

maybe a relay failing? But Not sure which (none look melted or burned).

mused a small scan tool ( basic), no DTC stored ( and it runs fine). No recent work so not like a connector loose after someone was in there…

trying to troubleshoot before I throw in the towel and bring it to a shop to diagnose.

many suggestions?