That requires 3 things I happen to be in short supply of. 8 balls, meth heads, and patience. Other than that, no problem.
Power upgrades for heavy winching?
- Thread starter PNW_LJ
- Start date
That requires 3 things I happen to be in short supply of. 8 balls, meth heads, and patience. Other than that, no problem.
Ok...so I have sins I need to fix on my dump trailer...both my HF 9500 winch and hydraulic pump are chassis grounded. I'm thinking aluminum bus bars. I looked up that a 1/2" by 1" bar of aluminum will conduct 466 amps. And 18' of of 6061 bar is $60...which is significantly cheaper than copper. I have plenty of short copper scrap pieces I can use to jumper from the bar to winch/pump and battery. The bar can be surface mounted to the steel chassis.
Am I crazy? Stupid question. Does this sound like a realistic solution? Working on replacing both batteries...who knew 7 year old interstates won't hold much of a charge.
-Mac
P.S. Yes I know I'd need no ox grease on the copper/aluminum connectors.
Am I crazy? Stupid question. Does this sound like a realistic solution? Working on replacing both batteries...who knew 7 year old interstates won't hold much of a charge.
-Mac
P.S. Yes I know I'd need no ox grease on the copper/aluminum connectors.
Unless there's a "situation" that I'm not aware of from your pix, the actual chassis will conduct more current than the bus bar - steel isn't as good of a conductor per cross section as aluminum, but there's a lot more of it (I'm assuming). With that said, the real issue with grounding high current loads to the chassis is making a GOOD high current ground - AND - keeping said ground free of corrosion, which can be problematic and its a single point of failure. That's why I have both a chassis ground AND a direct to negative cable on my Jeep winch.
So my gut says if you feel you can make a better connection to the bus bar than the chassis, by all means go with the bus bar - and you won't hurt anything in any event. You'll still have the chassis ground in addition. Either way, make a good ground stackup with star washers, flat washers, and keep it clean and dry.
So my gut says if you feel you can make a better connection to the bus bar than the chassis, by all means go with the bus bar - and you won't hurt anything in any event. You'll still have the chassis ground in addition. Either way, make a good ground stackup with star washers, flat washers, and keep it clean and dry.
I'm not sure what's wrong with using the chassis for grounding, but aluminum conducts well. Better that copper by weight.
Aluminum oxide is a very poor conductor, so getting good connections is key.
Aluminum oxide is a very poor conductor, so getting good connections is key.
There is still a dual battery tray made by I think Rugged Ridge, I think it holds 2 group 34's rotate on their side. I had one, but opted to not fully install it after test fitting the batteries. I didnt like how they were held down and the terminals were too close to steel for my comfort.
Isn't there still out there a method to have idle speed ramped up to 2K via a rocker switch? I thought I recall reading that years ago on the other forum but haven't been able to find it. Alternatively, I have a mean green alternator that still pushes 200a, it wasn't all that expensive 8 years ago though.
Two ways I know to do it ... One, hand throttle... basically a bicycle shifter mounted on the shifter.
Two ... Drop a dime between the throttle linkage and stop. Downside is popping the hood. And not dropping the dime.
-Mac
No I'm recalling a simple toggle switch. I might be thinking of my OBS F350 though ha
Some cars have a high-idle solenoid that can be activated with a simple toggle switch. The TJ's IAC is controlled by the computer. I don't know what it'd take to manually activate it.
A hand-throttle is cheap and easy, and great for crawling.
At one point many years ago, someone offered a idle control run through the cruise control switches. I recall some folks complaining that it was a bit glitchy and not very user friendly. That should be taken very loosely given what I know about how easily folks can mess up an install.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but it's one I've wondered about for a while. Is a hand throttle only intended for manual transmissions?
No. They are intended to smooth out your poor throttle control. And they can be used to idle at a higher rpm where occasions for such a thing is desirable.
I had one for years when the Jeep was a manual. I rarely used it beyond filling up tires with the York. Since the auto swap, I haven't found an urge to reinstall it.
I guess I should followup on this thread.
I picked up a new AGM battery with 850 CCA. That combined with putting more thought into my recovery practices has solved my winching woes. I have no plans for further power upgrades at this moment.
Thank you all for the advice.
I picked up a new AGM battery with 850 CCA. That combined with putting more thought into my recovery practices has solved my winching woes. I have no plans for further power upgrades at this moment.
Thank you all for the advice.
Care to share what brand you went with?
I'm strongly considering dumping my Odyssey.
You do a group 34 or stuff a 65 in there?
-Mac
I did the Odyssey, got it on a pretty decent sale from Napa. Why are you dumping yours?
I got the 34/78 for the extra cable attachment points.
Just considering dumping it.
Pretty convinced the TJ PCM voltage regulator isn't set up to charge a modern deep cycle AGM battery.
After a day of driving the battery voltage was 12.3 - 12.4 volts according to our cheap Amazon F40C4TMP fridge. As soon as the compressor would cycle up the battery voltage (according to the fridge) would drop to 11.7 v and the battery protection mode would kick in and shut off the fridge.
Fridge allegedly draws 4 amps in full tilt bingo mode and 1 kilowatt per day.
So ...I either have a battery problem, a charging problem or a fridge problem or all of the above.
I could get a dual battery tray and double down on Odyssey...maybe a red top for the primary battery with a DC to DC converter/charger to the existing Yellow. Move my USB and power ports to the Yellow. Also considering a small lead acid race battery for the primary.
Thinking the PCM voltage regulator might be programmable... but really lothe to mess with the PCM.
I could ditch the Amazon fridge but spending a grand on an ARB would really hurt the wallet. That and the Amazon fridge size is pretty perfect and even the small ARB is bigger.
Also thinking of something like a Jackery battery box to run the fridge. Would be nice because we could augment power with solar for non driving days.
-Mac
I left my Dometic fridge running from when I left Minnesota to when got back to my driveway a week later on this last Moab trip. I flat towed to and from Moab. Wheeling every day kept the fridge able to freeze water as needed and I never had to jump the Jeep.
Using a Sams club AGM battery. Did some winching in Moab too.
I did precool the fridge full of bottles of water before leaving.