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Winch questions
http://www.mudmotortalk.com/mmt_v2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=57799		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  SirBacon [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Winch questions
Used my winch for the first time today to get across a levee into a compartment. Ran into some issues when pulling it over. The issue being it overheated and tripped the circuit breaker. Luckily we were at the top and no big deal, little over and it slid on down the rollers.

My question is: Why would it overheat so easily? I'm very ignorant when it comes to winch related stuff.

Winch: Smittybilt XRC3.0(3k line pull)
Boat: GTB 16-54 with 35GTR. Only additional weight during the pull was gear for three of us. We were out of the boat.

The winch rating is more than double the weight of the boat bare and the gear didn't come close to bringing it over the rating.

The battery was low, I had it on the charger for a while. When I got home(after winching this morning) it was around 20-25% capacity. Now I know that running the winch will drain as it's standalone with no charging system for it.

The cables themselves are about 4' long give or take. I do have a quick disconnect plug so I can separate the battery from the winch when not in use. The plug is for larger gauge cable, but it was all I could find on short notice.

Levee isn't that drastic of an angle. Probably 25ish degrees.

Another issue to add to the problem is: This afternoon after I got home, I added a longer winch cable as the other was just a little too short. When I was winding up the new cable, it overheated and shut off again.

Any ideas on why this thing would overheat and shut down so easily? I'm wondering if the battery being low was causing the winch to work harder to get the same amount of work done and thus caused the overheating. Also curious as to whether the too larger of QD plug could be robbing power?

I see a lot of you guys are using 2k-2500lb winches on similar boats. So I'm not thinking I'm overloading the winch. Plenty of other folks here use 3500lb winches to get across the same rollers. So I'm thinking it's an electrical issue somewhere.
Author:  butternut [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
Let me help.
Author:  cb5331 [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
Low voltage=high current=high heat=fucked up electronics

You answered you're own question. You need a big well charged battery to run a winch and even then, with no charging it will likely see some voltage drop, this is 10 fold when you use shitty under sized wiring.

Also, the load on the winch is likely a lot more than you think when you add in the friction of dragging the hull. The rating also changes depending on the amount of line on the spool and how much is out.
Author:  Frog [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
^^^ fully charged battery with charging system and some GG :D sorry will fix your problem if you have not smoke the winch already. You most certainly have "cumulative none self healing damage"! That doesn't mean it shot but it probably couldn't handle much more low amperage.
Author:  butternut [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
Author:  Frog [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
:roll: Consider yourself sponsored !!! :lol:
Author:  butternut [ Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
:lol:
Author:  SirBacon [ Wed Nov 05, 2014 8:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
I'm thinking(hoping?) the circuit breaker did it's job. Hell it may have quit turning just because the battery was too damn low to do anything. It's been on the charger for a while and nearly charged up full.

As far as the cables, I used what came with the winch. I assume(d) they are/were the appropriate gauge. I'll step up the gauge a bit and get rid of the QD. See if that helps. If not, bigger winch.

There's nothing really stopping me from wiring into the cranking/running battery. I didn't do as I didn't want to drain it down and not be able to crank the motor for whatever reason.
Author:  cb5331 [ Wed Nov 05, 2014 10:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
Use andersen connectors if you want to use a QD. I use them and they work well.

Heavier wire never hurts. I use at least 4ga for a winch, and not the cheapest stuff you can find that barely has enough copper in it to be considered 10 ga. Cadence marine wire seemed to be ok for a relatively inexpensive wire.

The little charging system on these motors is not going to help much, if any. I don't personally hook anything up to my starting battery other than the starter. A 2500lb winch under full load is capable of drawing a hellacious amount of current. If you are going to be using the winch regularly, I'd get the strongest battery you can afford, and keep it topped off. Big group 34 die hard or something. XS Power if you like AGM's.
Author:  txmudcutter [ Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
Cb do you tie in your starting battery to your other on board batteries so they charge while the motors running? Or do you just use a battery charger at the house between outings?
Author:  cb5331 [ Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
On board charger. Plugged in when i get home. I don't even have a charging system on my motor. 0/20 is pretty much useless. Oh and you gain .000876 hp without the stator dragging the flywheel. :lol:
Author:  txmudcutter [ Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
Author:  cb5331 [ Wed Nov 05, 2014 1:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
It probably had more to do with being lazy than anything else, but I don't need it, so why hook it up? The charging system does use power from the motor to run it, which is one of the reasons for the lighter flywheel on the cdi motors, that system puts a lot of strain on the engine. How much, I don't know, and that ain't really why I did it, but it does rob at least some amount of power. I will say, if I had the 20/50 system, I'd probably use it.

Only place my boat stays for more than a day or two has outlets in the wet stalls, but I've run it for about a week without charging, running a stereo most of the day, lights at night, and the clutch and trim and all that off the secondary battery. The starting batt with nothing else hooked to it will start the motor a bunch before it needs to be topped off.
Author:  SirBacon [ Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Winch questions
Completely charged the battery and went to 4ga. Works like a charm now. Thanks for the input.
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