Fuse b+ on a winch?

Well FWIW as a career electrician here's my 2 cents. Yes automotive wiring is not exactly the same and I don't claim to be an expert on it but much still applies and current is still current, theory is still theory. If the winch can be fixed so it is only connected to the battery when needed then I don't feel short circuit protection is absolutely needed, as when using it you will be right there "attending' to it, much like the electrical code that allows for certain installations when they are carried out, operated and maintained by qualified persons where those same installations would not be approved for the general public.

Now a permanent installation, either for yourself or especially for someone else, I don't feel comfortable without short circuit protection. Things can go wrong which will be out of your control, and can leave a liability if you did it for someone else. I try and follow ABYC standards when I do automotive wiring which I often have to look up but I have found much of ABYC follows the same basics as the NEC.

There are a number of reasonably priced options, you could install an inline MEGA fuse and MEGA fuseholder, you could go with ANL, or you could go with a marine type circuit breaker. You could even go with a MRBF if you have a way to mount it on your battery terminal.

Marine Rated Battery Fuse (MRBF)
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All are available up to 400 amps. I like the circuit breaker as it can also be used as a disconnect. There isn't a lot of mounting options under the hood of a TJ but it is possible to fit a marine circuit breaker, mine is on a home made bracket that I bent up on my Grizzly 6" Bench Vise Brake and it screws on right next to my ECM. (Everyone needs one of these brakes, I have bent up lots of handy stuff with mine, they make them in 4" & 6"). My breaker is for my air compressor but I have come off of it with other things using the convenience of the studs and fused those loads accordingly, you can come off the battery side for this.

You can also go the MEGA or ANL route and get bolt down holders or floating inline holders. I like to go with name brands like Blue Sea or Littelfuse when possible even if it means not going to Amazon, it doesn't cost that much more to get name brand stuff that you can trust. I buy some stuff from Mouser.

In addition, absolutely route the wire out of harms way and cover it with flexible wire conduit. That's my .02 anyway from an electrician's viewpoint, it's easy enough to add protection that I don't see a reason not to. And yes I have seen a conversion van burn from an unfused audio install, it started in the dash when they were driving and by the time they got pulled to the side of the road it was full of smoke and they bailed out and couldn't save the van.

MEGA Fuse

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Marine Style circuit breaker mounted to home made custom mount
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Grizzly 6" Bench Vise Brake
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I also wanted to share this site, they make nice custom cables and ship them out quick for reasonable prices. If you don't do a lot of this it doesn't make sense to buy an expensive crimper and all the dies needed to get a professional job like these guys do: https://www.batterycablesusa.com/
 
mrblaine said:
Yes, but is it okay to ride in the back of a pick-up leaning over the cab with a rifle at night, shitty headlights blazing away while bombing across the NM prairie chasing jackrabbits and trying to shoot them using iron sights? My dad used to get together with his drinking buddies, get liquored up, and away we'd go. Not sure if it was okay, but we had a blast doing it. I'm surprised we all didn't die looking back on it.
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We did the same shooting rattlesnakes at night in the cotton fields sitting on top of the headrests in an open convertible in drive at idle steering with my feet.
 
B1Toad said:
I also wanted to share this site, they make nice custom cables and ship them out quick for reasonable prices. If you don't do a lot of this it doesn't make sense to buy an expensive crimper and all the dies needed to get a professional job like these guys do: https://www.batterycablesusa.com/
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This is who I used for my winch cables - fast service, good prices.
 
Zorba said:
AMEN Brother! I'm not forcing - just pointing out the possibilities, however remote. I wouldn't wanna legislate it for sure! I also think its perfectly OK to ride in the back of a pickup truck!
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Zorba said:
A certain GMC pickup didn't have a tailgate. We went to the dump, about 6 miles away over mostly high speed roads. I was the tailgate, sitting crossways at the very end of the 9 foot bed, holding onto the bed rail with my left hand.
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If you were holding on it seems reasonable ! :p
 
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TonyArms said:
I try to build all my own cables. I usually solder connectors on. I do apricate the link seems they have some nice supplies.
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Any wire large enough to be called a cable should not have the lugs soldered on. If you get the solder hot enough to flow and bond correctly to the inside of the lug, it will also be hot enough to wick down into the wire strands and create a hard stress riser where it stops which is very bad for something subjected to the vibration a vehicle creates.

A good crimp and some dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink is always better.
 
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mrblaine said:
Any wire large enough to be called a cable should not have the lugs soldered on. If you get the solder hot enough to flow and bond correctly to the inside of the lug, it will also be hot enough to wick down into the wire strands and create a hard stress riser where it stops which is very bad for something subjected to the vibration a vehicle creates.

A good crimp and some dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink is always better.
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Was always taught the same thing, even with small wires in electronics/instrumentation.

TonyArms said:
Hi, First time installing a winch on my TJ. safe to install the B+ right to the winch without any type of disconnect or circuit breaker ?
I understand the same question could be used for the starter but at least the starter in under the hood.
Thanks
Tony
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Working through the same thought process and am skipping the fuse, adding a disconnect switch under the hood as part of an effort to clean up some wiring from the PO and find whatever is draining the battery. Ultimately, I will move to a relay to switch power to the winch once I sort out some other issues. That said, I'm not overly concerned from the safety side as Blane says, most are connected straight to the battery and we don't have an epidemic of burning jeeps. Address the known failure points and beyond that, whatever makes you sleep better at night.
 
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mrblaine said:
Any wire large enough to be called a cable should not have the lugs soldered on. If you get the solder hot enough to flow and bond correctly to the inside of the lug, it will also be hot enough to wick down into the wire strands and create a hard stress riser where it stops which is very bad for something subjected to the vibration a vehicle creates.
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YJBrian said:
Was always taught the same thing, even with small wires in electronics/instrumentation.
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100%! Unfortunately, the School of Hard Knocks taught me that in a very embarrassing way early in my racing career. I had dabbled in electronics at a young age (anyone remember the Radio Shack "X-in-1 Electronic Project Kits"? - I had several of them), and soldered everything. When I started my career in racing, I was on a new team that was small, meaning everyone wore multiple hats. Since no one else had much electrical experience, I was the default electrical engineer and technician for the team. Of course, I soldered many connections. That is, until we DNF'd at a big event, and the investigation as to why the vehicle quit lead right to a broken solder joint. I looked at it, and the wire broke right where the solder wicking stopped, and I knew it was exactly how Mr. Blaine described it above. That was the last time I used a solder gun on a vehicle wiring harness. I don't normally like the spotlight, and when the spotlight is pointing to the dumb-ass, it's most uncomfortable!
 
sab said:
100%! Unfortunately, the School of Hard Knocks taught me that in a very embarrassing way early in my racing career. I had dabbled in electronics at a young age (anyone remember the Radio Shack "X-in-1 Electronic Project Kits"? - I had several of them), and soldered everything. When I started my career in racing, I was on a new team that was small, meaning everyone wore multiple hats. Since no one else had much electrical experience, I was the default electrical engineer and technician for the team. Of course, I soldered many connections. That is, until we DNF'd at a big event, and the investigation as to why the vehicle quit lead right to a broken solder joint. I looked at it, and the wire broke right where the solder wicking stopped, and I knew it was exactly how Mr. Blaine described it above. That was the last time I used a solder gun on a vehicle wiring harness. I don't normally like the spotlight, and when the spotlight is pointing to the dumb-ass, it's most uncomfortable!
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I was given the task of building a large batch of battery cables. Once I saw how much damage the heat did to the insulation and how much solder got sucked into the wire, I went looking for what the hell was going on. That led to some enlightenment and never another soldered battery cable. If you have to use dual or triple wall heat shrink to fix the insulation, something is wrong. If you aren't having to do that, the joint is cold and sucks anyway.
 
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mrblaine said:
But did you die?
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I don’t care about him it’s me I worry about. Wires are Zip tied good so low movement is possible. It just bothers me when I open the hood, but not enough to do anything about it yet. Rain forecast for this week so I’ll pull in into the shop and work on my list of things I want done on it. At least that’s the plan. What do you use to crimp large gauge connectors?
 
bucky said:
What do you use to crimp large gauge connectors?
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Someone posted up a crimping set with a hydraulic hand pump style that they used for making battery cables. It does a hex crimp all the way down to at least 12 gauge, maybe smaller and up to at least 4/0. It was a bit more expensive than all the copies of good stuff out there but all the crimp sizes have been spot on so far. I'll have see if I can figure out which one it is for you.
 
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