Winch connection question

[JEEPdriver]

A short question about the electric connection at my winch. Now I have the negative cable from the winch direct at the negative pole in the battery. Thick like a thump.
My question is now could I took a much shorter cable with the negative direct on the frame or body? I have too much fat cables near the battery.

 

[derekmac]

You want both winch wires connected directly to the battery.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

You want both winch wires connected directly to the battery.

And the battery doesn't care how fat any wires are.

Just stay away from any wires that are too skinny. They are always a problem no matter where they are.

 

[Steel City 06]

Theoretically, you could. But you would absolutely need to upgrade your battery ground strap, otherwise you could be sending 500+ amps through a tiny (relatively speaking) wire. You would also need to evaluate every part of the ground path in order to add cables where necessary. The result is you will end up with more cable than you started with. You will also lose winch performance from the increase in resistance.

If it’s not done properly, the ground path could become high resistance. Often, this simply means the winch doesn’t work as normal. But it can also make random components get extremely hot and even start a fire. There are several cases of people starting fires because their brake lines or something else became a ground path when the standard path failed.

So no, you really don’t want to. You could, but I definitely recommend against it. Unless you’re going for this cool mod:

 

[Steel City 06]

Here is an example of a brake line fire:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...e-lines-turn-red-hot-and-starting-fire.31304/

 

[Goatman]

No such thing as a cable to fat for any high load system. Starter, Winch, the stereo those youngsters install. And same goes to ground cables. I prefer the ground straps personally. They seem to have far less corrosion problems meaning less ground problems.
Find room to attach directly to the battery. There are many different clamp styles that allow multiple attachments.

 

[CodaMan]

Get a setup like this ... no limits.

 

[Steel City 06]

Some batteries also come with multiple terminals.

A common one you’ll see is the Group 34/78, which has terminals in the top and on the side.

I prefer the Group 24, which has higher capacity and can be bought with additional marine terminals:

 

[JEEPdriver]

Theoretically, you could. But you would absolutely need to upgrade your battery ground strap, otherwise you could be sending 500+ amps through a tiny (relatively speaking) wire. You would also need to evaluate every part of the ground path in order to add cables where necessary. The result is you will end up with more cable than you started with. You will also lose winch performance from the increase in resistance.

If it’s not done properly, the ground path could become high resistance. Often, this simply means the winch doesn’t work as normal. But it can also make random components get extremely hot and even start a fire. There are several cases of people starting fires because their brake lines or something else became a ground path when the standard path failed.

So no, you really don’t want to. You could, but I definitely recommend against it. Unless you’re going for this cool mod:

View attachment 150176

Thanks for your teaching in electrical. Awesome! Now I can understand something really better.

 

[JEEPdriver]

Some batteries also come with multiple terminals.

A common one you’ll see is the Group 34/78, which has terminals in the top and on the side.
View attachment 150203

I prefer the Group 24, which has higher capacity and can be bought with additional marine terminals:
View attachment 150204

View attachment 150205

Looks good! But in Germany not available
I think I must have new terminals or longer screws at the terminals to fix the winch wiring.

 

[JEEPdriver]

No such thing as a cable to fat for any high load system. Starter, Winch, the stereo those youngsters install. And same goes to ground cables. I prefer the ground straps personally. They seem to have far less corrosion problems meaning less ground problems.
Find room to attach directly to the battery. There are many different clamp styles that allow multiple attachments.

Ahh, did. you think I also should change the original ground straps which are on the engine the body and the frame to bigger cables? The biggest power consumption on my TJ is the 13500 lbs winch and the LED bar. O.k. the starter also. My head lights are also LED now.
Change the straps or not?

 

[Steel City 06]

Ahh, did. you think I also should change the original ground straps which are on the engine the body and the frame to bigger cables? The biggest power consumption on my TJ is the 13500 lbs winch and the LED bar. O.k. the starter also. My head lights are also LED now.
Change the straps or not?

If you wire the winch to the body or frame, you will need to upgrade the ground strap, with at least the same current carrying capacity as the wire used to connect the winch.
I used a ~10 inch piece of 2 AWG from the battery negative post to the back of one of the radiator supports, as seen in this photo: (yellow wire)

As for your other electronics, I don’t think you need to yet, but it would be a good idea. An LED light bar usually draws 30 amps or less. A starter around 150-200 amps. A winch near its stall speed can draw in excess of 500 amps. So if you choose to ground the winch to the frame, you will absolutely need to upgrade the grounds to the body and the frame. Otherwise you should be fine for now.