Winch power disconnect switch ideas.

It takes a big man to admit he was wrong, good on you. Glad it didn't inconvenience you too badly and make an issue bigger, like you said.

 

Blue Seas 4-position switch coming off my Aux Deep cycle into a portable 12k lb winch cradle setup. Position 1 powers up front cable with Anderson Quick connects, Position 2 for rear Quick connects. Position 1+2 for both front and rear. Front and rear cables can can support Jumper Cables and a portable ARB CKMT12 air compressor modified with Anderson quick connects.

 

This is a nice setup, I'm considering similar. How'd you attach the 2/0 to the Anderson connectors? Crimp? Solder?

 

Just leaving this here for anyone else searching.

My in cab switch setup:

500 amp selanoid between battery and winch controlled by a Carling rocker in my Iggy panel:

 

You'd put the wire in the terminals and press the snot out of them using this.

TMS Crimper-WL-YQK-300 16 Ton Hydraulic Wire Battery Cable Lug Terminal Crimper Crimping Tool 11 Dies

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GXQ2E5E/

Then you put the connectors in the Anderson housing.

 

Nice - I'd only seen those crimpers for ~$250, which was out of my range but $50 is much more reasonable.

How'd you decide on the 2/0? I'm wondering about the #2 that came with the winch and whether I should upgrade that - over here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/warn-m8000-s-wiring-is-it-undersized-out-of-the-box.445797/

 

A fuse doesn't blow instantly, so a 150A may be fine. @Ostrichsak's breaker may have had different specs or just didn't meet them. I used a Bussman AMG-225 fuse inline on my winch (XD9000) in the old truck. The AMG type will hold rated current for a minimum of 100 hours, 200% for 1 second and 350% for 0.1 seconds. The rated maximums are 200% for 30 seconds and 350% for 5 seconds. I didn't ever work my winch hard enough for this to blow so I didn't have an opportunity to test the fuse curve. But Bussman offers fuses up to 500A in this type, so I could have bumped to a 250A if it ever had. The AMG-250 will hold 450A for about 20 seconds on the curves.

I figured that for a fuse to provide any protection it needed to act quick enough to prevent damage to the battery or cables and a sustained dump of 800A (350% of 225A) under 5 second probably would melt down the battery. That wouldn't be much different than dropping a wrench across the terminals, for example. I don't know the characteristics of the motor in my Warn (which has similar current draw specs to your M8000) but 435 amps is going to be right before stall so it's unlikely it would actually draw that much current over an extended period. That's a transition, just going to happen for a short time, such that the fuse probably would hold it. If you're stuck to the point that you need 8000 lbs continuously you really need another truck instead of a winch. Not to mention that a real 8000 lbs is probably going to pull the bumper off your truck or at least distort the frame.

There is a theory that you do not want to fuse the winch or have anything that might act like a fuse (such as an undersized switch or solenoid) because to have it open during a pull could be dangerous. I don't necessarily subscribe to this line of thinking because /everything/ has a fail point and you change one type of risk (a winch stall) for another (a vehicle fire) by not putting in a circuit protection or shut off. So your point about the starter supply not being fused is good, too.

 

BTW, in the control boxes, Warn uses a Prestolite SAZ-4201EY solenoid (alternates are 15-487, 440262, 546-033, 1231A, WS487). This is a 100A continuous rated solenoid, 600A inrush and 200A break. It's considered a heavy duty, intermittent use solenoid. Expected duty cycle of 25% with max on time of 10 minutes. So Warn doesn't expect their smaller winches to be used continuously at near max current draw either.

 

The winch can pull a lot of power, so my friend suggested the 2/0. The Anderson connectors are rated for 350A. At 0lbs, it uses ~80A. At a 9500lb pull, it would draw ~340A. So it's better piece of mind to have bigger cable for all that potential power. Plus, with an Anderson connector, you can make jumper cables that plug into the connector. No more lifting the hood!

I know people that connect it with the 2 gauge and don't have issues. But if you decide to upgrade, it doesn't take too long to make the connections.

 

I hate to confirm your fear but my winch caught fire sitting in the school parking lot. So I would highly recommended a disconnect of some sort. Smittybuilt sent me new parts but they blamed it on my installation cause it was not level mounted like the instructions said. Since it was in a high school parking lot i have pictures of it on fire.

 

For the guys who have a switch in the cab........ Can you explain or show how it's wired? I currently have my winch wired to the battery directly and spliced into the solenoid wiring to extend my remote hook up to the cab.

 

I have the switch in (series) between the battery (hot, red, +) and the winch.

 

You run that heavy wire into the cab on a switch??? I get the spliced, under the hood switch. I'm trying to figure out the small toggle switch in the cab.

 

NO...Cutoff switch stays under the hood. Sounds like you are trying to hook up a switch to a solenoid. My guess you need to tap a low amp source to the switch to the coils of the solenoid. The solenoid controls or is the main (high amp) "switch".

 

This is what I'm trying to figure out.

 

The solenoid is between the battery and the winch. The switch activates the solenoid to open and close the circuit. There is also an inline fuse. It might cost a little more, but I really like the Warn kit. It makes the install simple.