New winch switch set up

JamesAndTheSahara said:
I'm not so concerned with how its wired, but rather preventing a live heavy gauge wire from starting a fire when the winch isn't in use. Some examples:
  • Poorly routed cable suffers rubbing against a sharp metal when the frame/body twists going up an obstacle (I know this is user error, so I'm going to not do this).
  • Front end collision that pinches/punctures the shielding around the wire causing an arc/fire.
More along the lines of asking blaine since he has seen many recoveries in JV(More than I ever will), if there is a preferred setup over the tradition 10ft(or so) positive/negative cable joining both posts of the battery to both posts of the winch.

Also I did not know you had a dual battery setup :p. I gotta talk to you about that over a PM sometime.
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I've seen several instances of poorly routed cables on top of the frame getting under the fender when the rig is twisted up and then when it untwists, the positive gets pinched and a fire starts. We protect in loom and run them where they can't get pinched and strap them down. We don't run a disconnect but if you could find one rated high enough, it would not be a bad thing to do.
 
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mrblaine said:
No winch manufacturer that I've ever seen a winch from condones that practice. They want the ground direct to the battery.
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I do what I want hehe!

If I have a 1 gauge ground wire grounded to the frame from the battery, and the winch is grounded to the same frame a couple of feet away, and the frame is a bigger gauge than the wire itself. I don't see it as a problem. Less 1 gauge wire I have to route through the grill. I will just have to make sure the connections don't get corroded from time to time, but that is on me.

If it makes you feel better, if I can hide the 1 gauge wire without it rubbing on a jagged piece of grill along with the other positive 1 gauge wire, I will most likely do it your way, but I am not going to worry either way.

Trust me I have two batteries, and I have replaced all of my cables to 2 and 1 gauge respectively. I won't take the grounding lightly.
 
mrblaine said:
I've seen several instances of poorly routed cables on top of the frame getting under the fender when the rig is twisted up and then when it untwists, the positive gets pinched and a fire starts. We protect in loom and run them where they can't get pinched and strap them down. We don't run a disconnect but if you could find one rated high enough, it would not be a bad thing to do.
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I appreciate your input here, really helps :D.
 
ac_ said:
I do what I want hehe!

If I have a 1 gauge ground wire grounded to the frame from the battery, and the winch is grounded to the same frame a couple of feet away, and the frame is a bigger gauge than the wire itself. I don't see it as a problem. Less 1 gauge wire I have to route through the grill. I will just have to make sure the connections don't get corroded from time to time, but that is on me.

If it makes you feel better, if I can hide the 1 gauge wire without it rubbing on a jagged piece of grill along with the other positive 1 gauge wire, I will most likely do it your way, but I am not going to worry either way.

Trust me I have two batteries, and I have replaced all of my cables to 2 and 1 gauge respectively. I won't take the grounding lightly.
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I don't care how you do it. All I said was that no winch manufacturer condones that practice. Since I tend to think they know a bit more than I do about the electrical demands of their product, when I do a rear winch install, I run both wires all the way to the battery.
 
I found it much easier to hook the remote up to the winch, and run the controller end over the hood and thru an open window on my door. I just do that when I go wheeling, or when I need the winch.

Also, my M800 came with a wireless remote, so there’s that :)

I DO like the idea of having a switch inside the cab though.
 
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mrblaine said:
I don't care how you do it. All I said was that no winch manufacturer condones that practice. Since I tend to think they know a bit more than I do about the electrical demands of their product, when I do a rear winch install, I run both wires all the way to the battery.
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Curious what do they recommend for the gauge of wire? Because running two 1 gauge wire front to rear is a lot. Not saying it can't be done, but I probably wouldn't do that either. I would however probably run a solenoid cut off for the power in that case. But I would probably still tend to not run a 1 gauge ground all of the way to the back from the battery. Maybe with a zero gauge but that is me.

Maybe manufactures know more than you, that is debatable, I don't want anybody to take what I say as the right or wrong way to go, and I certainly entertain anybody not agreeing with me and or challenging me. But manufactures have liability and warrantee, so they are going to tell you things that are best for them, and not necessarily what is best for you. For that you will have to use your best judgment. If you don't know what you can get away with by all means, do what the manufactures say it is safe for the most part, But if I can find something that works best for me I will do it my way regardless of the manufacturer.

You will probably be ok running two 1 gauge wires from the front of the Jeep to the back, with no issues, I wouldn't run anything less thick than that in my best opinion.
 
lovemachine said:
I found it much easier to hook the remote up to the winch, and run the controller end over the hood and thru an open window on my door. I just do that when I go wheeling, or when I need the winch.

Also, my M800 came with a wireless remote, so there’s that :)

I DO like the idea of having a switch inside the cab though.
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I used to wheel in WA state, and it rains and is muddy there. If I was winching someone, I wouldn't ever leave the cab, so if someone got stuck they had to wade through the mud. I would have them grab the hook and either spool it or run it out via a switch on the dash and they would have to run the cable back in. That is their penance for getting stuck, if I was stuck, I had to wade. If you wheel in a muddy place you find a switch in the cab is a lot more convenient than digging the remote out and running across the hood and into the cab, and the fact that I basically didn't even have to leave the cab that was nice too.

It isn't an either or, you can have both the switch in the dash and the stock remote. Both ways still work.
 
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ac_ said:
I used to wheel in WA state, and it rains and is muddy there. If I was winching someone, I wouldn't ever leave the cab, so if someone got stuck they had to wade through the mud. I would have them grab the hook and either spool it or run it out via a switch on the dash and they would have to run the cable back in. That is their penance for getting stuck, if I was stuck, I had to wade. If you wheel in a muddy place you find a switch in the cab is a lot more convenient than digging the remote out and running across the hood and into the cab, and the fact that I basically didn't even have to leave the cab that was nice too.

It isn't an either or, you can have both the switch in the dash and the stock remote. Both ways still work.
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Which is why I hook up the remote before I go wheeling. :)
 
lovemachine said:
I found it much easier to hook the remote up to the winch, and run the controller end over the hood and thru an open window on my door. I just do that when I go wheeling, or when I need the winch.
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Number one cause of damaged remotes and cables right there. I've seen them drug and run over when they bounce out the window, seen the remote dropped out the window while winching, and seen the rig toss to the side and cut the cable in half on a rock.
 
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I think I'm going to buy a second controller for my M8000 and run the cable into the cab. I'll cut the controller off and use the wiring to attach to a master switch and an IN/OUT momentary switch. The winch end of the cable will be stowed in the engine bay, and before wheeling I'll just connect the stowed cable to the winch and be good to go. Of course I'll have the other controller in the recovery bag should I need to be outside the cab for recovery.

To make my life somewhat simpler, does anyone know off hand what wires in the controller cable perform what function? @mrblaine? I haven't actually looked at one yet, but why re-invent the wheel if someone already has the information?
 
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CodaMan said:
I think I'm going to buy a second controller for my M8000 and run the cable into the cab. I'll cut the controller off and use the wiring to attach to a master switch and an IN/OUT momentary switch. The winch end of the cable will be stowed in the engine bay, and before wheeling I'll just connect the stowed cable to the winch and be good to go. Of course I'll have the other controller in the recovery bag should I need to be outside the cab for recovery.

To make my life somewhat simpler, does anyone know off hand what wires in the controller cable perform what function? @mrblaine? I haven't actually looked at one yet, but why re-invent the wheel if someone already has the information?
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For simplicity, you could do what you and Blaine suggest and run a 2nd controller in the cab, just give yourself a few feet of cable to work with and cut the cabling and wire in a plug so you can unplug/plug the controller. Just stow the unplugged end in the glove box or something.
 
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CodaMan said:
I think I'm going to buy a second controller for my M8000 and run the cable into the cab. I'll cut the controller off and use the wiring to attach to a master switch and an IN/OUT momentary switch. The winch end of the cable will be stowed in the engine bay, and before wheeling I'll just connect the stowed cable to the winch and be good to go. Of course I'll have the other controller in the recovery bag should I need to be outside the cab for recovery.

To make my life somewhat simpler, does anyone know off hand what wires in the controller cable perform what function? @mrblaine? I haven't actually looked at one yet, but why re-invent the wheel if someone already has the information?
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It depends on the warn winch, I know mine personally has more wires than yours. I can dig it up later today I have it saved somewhere.
 
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bobthetj03 said:
For simplicity, you could do what you and Blaine suggest and run a 2nd controller in the cab, just give yourself a few feet of cable to work with and cut the cabling and wire in a plug so you can unplug/plug the controller. Just stow the unplugged end in the glove box or something.
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If I wanted it to look clean I could use the cut remote cable and wire it to a switch setup similar to this one. I would just need to figure out what wire controls what.

5a3a672e3b4cb95c029338f528fc08ad.jpg
 
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CodaMan said:
If I wanted it to look clean I could use the cut remote cable and wire it to a switch setup similar to this one. I would just need to figure out what wire controls what.

View attachment 26254
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Don’t quote me on this as I haven’t personally fact checked this, this may help. In the event there is an error feel free to correct it:

3ED4668C-9CB4-4DDC-B6A3-3E3C7CE772CC.jpeg
 
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