So I got a killer deal on what I thought was going to be a great new winch upgrade from my old and well used warn xd9000i. It was a new winch from the shop display. Remote and winch line etc all still in the box. Body had just been bolted on a stand for a year. Turns out I can’t stand this dang thing. Wish I had gotten a standard zeon and not the platinum series. This problem is the that the wireless remote never stays charged. I’ve replaced the battery pack in it from Warn twice in a little over a year and a half hoping that would cure it. But if I charge it fully today. Make sure the remote control and winch are both turned off and then place the remote it in the glovebox it is dead within a mail of 48 hours. It’s basically gotta stay plugged in so that when you go to use it you can unplug it and use it wirelessly. Now they have Bluetooth modules to use your smartphone on the non platinum versions of the winches but unfortunately they are not compatible with the platinum version. I just don’t get why these stupid remotes can’t seem to hold a charge. My friends does the same thing. Anyone else experienced this problem with the platinum series remote control.
Warn Zeon 10-S platinum remote is a royal pain
- Thread starter Rescue6
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Looks like this guy found a good solution. Just ordered the switches on Amazon. Hopefully this fixes it for good. It’s a great winch otherwise but damn WARN should have come up with a fix by now.
Can it not accept a normal plug-in remote like the rest of Warn's winches use? If it can I'd just use a plug-in remote.
Unfortunately no. It is the one big gripe I had when Warn released the Platinum. Ironic considering the VR Evo series has built in wireless with wired backup standard. The Evo wireless is not without its issues as well but at least you can still use the winch if the wireless malfunctions.
I'd add the wiring and a jack, it wouldn't be hard. It still uses the same solenoids the wired and wireless remotes control.
Well if you ask Warn they will tell you it cannot be done. My guess is that you may have to add some diodes in there to prevent backfeed of a corded remote to the wireless brain box.
I doubt very strongly that it could not be done, I'd be willing to say it wouldn't/couldn't be too hard at all. I understand that part of Warn winches well and wouldn't hesitate to do it if I had one.
Unfortunately you have to use the winch remote even to lock and freespool it. I do know that it isn’t the same style of contacts or solinoids as a typical winch set up. And the control assembly is all a solid state board and not wired like most other winches. I’m excited to get the remote modded and see how that does for me.
Absolutely yeah that would work. I was just explaining that these winches require the remote in order to do anything other than work as a boat anchor.
The remote works while plugged in to power, no battery needed. I can just plug into the USB in my dash.
I’ve never noticed battery life issues on mine. I usually top it off before a trip. But due to my location I don’t get to wheel every week.
Just to reiterate, no need to plug into the winch as long as you can plug into a 12v power source the remote will work.
Yeah it works fine while plugged in. But the point of the wireless remote was not to have it connected. I got in the habit of plugging it in on the way to a trail or in the truck while it was on a trailer. But I’ve had to do some emergency use recovery’s with it and had to wait for it to charge up enough to turn on in the past. It’s just always bothered me. So I’m excited to fix the thing.
It's probably a contactor and not solenoids on a newer winch. The motor is probably quite standard and you could probably bypass all that modern fuckery and just do it old school by replacing whatever control crap they installed if you wanted. Warn didn't re-invent the motor for this winch, that is a certainty. It's the same number of screw terminals on the motor as the next winch out there.
After the mod I'd pickup a cheap pistol holster and embed the magnet into it, place remote in holster and place in glove box.
I called warn to get a replacement battery for mine but the real issue seems to be a small transient power draw that drains the battery in a few weeks. Warn may be able to be fix with a firmware update.
Repairing a Platinum that was broke in half by the owner not paying attention to what they were doing. So it gives me a chance to look inside and see what makes it tick.
The Platinum does use a contactor and a series wound motor but it is the electric clutch for freespool that makes things a challenge to bypass the wireless unit. In a way Warn did reinvent the series wound motor by integrating the brush holder into the winch frame and using an aluminum drum. This was something they started with on their ATV winches several years ago and it basically turns the winch itself into a heat sink for the motor.