Winch Cutoff Switch

[javelinadave]

What kind of switch are you guys using to stop power to the front winch when it is not in use?
Has anybody wired the winch up to the side terminals of an Optima and leave the D-90 electrical system attached to the posts?
As always thanks, each and every one of you are a great source of information....

[jimmy salmon]

not useing an isolator and the side terminals are not good enough to wire a winch from
use side for light stuff only

[dmarchand]

Not sure what you mean by cutoff switch for the winch. I have my control box/solenoids mounted inside my battery box with the winch control outlet coming out the front by my feet. Keeps the solenoids clean and mostly dry.

[javelinadave]

Let me re-phrase. Is there power going to the winch all the time? Can anybody plug in or short out the controls and screw with your winch???

[Mike Hippert]

On Jimmys truck yes, same with Dave's if he does not throw the kill switch.

[BarryO]

On the Optima website is says not to use the side terminals for high-current loads.

A kill switch is a must. Either that, or you must run the winch power through a relay that is only energized when the key is in the ignition.

The control socket is pretty simple. It doesn't take much more than a couple of paper clips to energize the winch: imagine the vandalism possibilities.

[javelinadave]

Barry,
Thanks for your input. I stopped in at a local offroad shop today. He said that the always mount the winch power cables to the side terminals. He told me that NAPA makes up the cables with the ends for a good price. I would figure that the side terminals would be the same as the top posts. I have owned several cars that used side terminals only.I will have to get hold of Optima and ask what they think.

[Mike Hippert]

Dave, on a normal car it is fine to use the side terminals, as most normal cars will never see a current draw of more then 150 amps (the starter). They don't like you using the side terminals as they are not as good of a contact point as the main post is, the main post goes directly into the battery, while the side post connects to the main post so there is a contact point that has a small amount of resistance, with the amount of current that a winch can draw that small resistance will = heat also the winch will be less effective as the resistance between it and the battery increases. You may be fine using the side posts, but then you are not hooking it up the best that you can be, so you wouldn’t leave one of the bolts that hold the winch on loose just because it was easier then tightening it now would you?

[Roadsiderob]

Dave,
I use a cut off switch supplied by Jacobs Electronics....it's been on the truck for over 10 years now, so I don't know what the exact specs are, but I think it's rated for 1000 amps intermittent load. At the time it was the only thing I could find that would handle the amperage load.
Rob

[javelinadave]

Well, that being the case, are people cutting off the battery connector from the main cables and attaching the winch wiring and the vehicle wiring onto a new battery connector? I don't want to sound supid, I just want to do this only once and not loose sleep over the job quality. I found this picture on a some jeep site. Is this about what you guys did? Once again, thanks to all......

[dameek]

I mounted my control box/solenoids in the engine bay. Then I wired in 2 marine grade switches next to the dash lights dimmer switch since there are two additional cutouts already provided. One switch turns power on/off to the control box and the second switch is the rocker style that controls the winch for either in or out of the cable. It works identical to the winch control. When I am by myself (which is seldom) and need to winch I just plug the winch control into the box under the hood.


Dennis

[artm]

I'll be ordering this Hella switch, model 720 for $79.22.

Specs;

Continuous rating 550 Amps
Intermittent rating 700 Amps
Cranking rating 2500 Amps for 10 seconds
Voltage rating 48 Volts DC
Operation On/Off
Termination stud size 2 x 12mm
Dimensions 102mm x 102mm x 92mm high

[javelinadave]

Thanks Arthur, I like that switch, I wish I would have known about it before I did what I did. I went with a plug under the bonnet. It is the Warn plug that people use for their winch if the hitch mount it. So far, so good.

[BarryO]

See http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/americas0/en/config/product_info/technology/tips.html

Connect high amperage accessories such as a winch to the top terminals only. Do NOT use the side terminals.

The reason for this is that the top terminals are the "main" terminals that are directly connected to the battery cells. The side terminals are connected to the tops through some less-than-robust straps. 'not a good idea to draw a winch load through those straps. The sides are probably OK for everything else, including engine starting. But a winch yanking you out of sucky mud might pull 400A for a while.

[Buckon37s]

Barry,

Are you sure it can handle everything else. I just hooked up the winch today and I switched the normal truck stuff over to the side terminals and hooked the winch up to the top portion. I just wanted to make sure this is okay.

[Mike Hippert]

Should be good, everything else should not amount to more then 100 amps, and even at that the alt will be running and handling most of the load anyway.

[BarryO]

Agreed.

[Treuwer]

All this is new to me, I've been using the side posts on my optima yellow top to run my warn m8000 and so far its been perfect, but after reading this post I have one question, should I switch it up so that my winch runs off the tops and everything else on the truck off the sides? Needless to say this wouldnt be a hard switch, I just want to do it right....

[Mike Hippert]

Do it, if it is easy then do it.

[TDI Guy]

What do you guys think of this? www.roadlessgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?page=RGJ/PROD/R/RG631

[Mike Hippert]

I don't know, seems to easy to bump into it and start the winch, or someone go hey whats this and play with it. That and every time I use a winch when you go to spool the extra in you have to stand in front of the winch to see what you are doing. I like the idea of mounting the plug for the winch in the truck, then plug it in from inside and only bring it out to re-spool. Warn does sell extensions, they have them for some of there hidden mount winch systems.

[artm]

Well, it's best to be outside when you're winching but I agree with Mike. Run a remote extension to the battery box and cut a hole in front of the seat box. Easy to reach and out of the way! The extension is simply a plugin type so you can also plug in the remote at the front.

You don't want an open faced switch like the one pictured as it's too easy to engage. You want to still use the safer switch on the remote.

[dameek]

Here is a picture of the switches I installed in the dash. Since the dash light switch was either on dim or dimmer I just left it hanging in the dash. The switch on the right activates the winch control box, the middle rocker switch is the "in" and "out" for the winch. The left hand switch energizes the pressure switch for my on-board compressor.
I also wired the switch that activates the winch control box into the light on the dash that when illuminated looks like a gear. It's on the lower left side of the dash and it is bright enough to let you know that it is activated so you won't forget to turn it off.

Follow-up Post:

It appears that I can't figure out how to attach a picture.

[Buckon37s]

Here is a pick of what I did for the cutoff switch. It is not high tech, but east to get to, bullet proof, and cost $30 total and solved how I was going to extend the wires to get back to the battery box.

[javelinadave]

That is exactly what I did & in the same place.