Voltage drop (when winching) setting off alarm? Any suggestions?

Pete11 · Feb 16, 2019

Hi,

Just looking to see if anyone is able to offer a suggestion for fixing an issue on my 2012 110 pickup. I have recently fitted a winch (warn XD9000i) and had it wired into the (single) battery with an isolator switch added.

The problem is that when the winch is started, the alarm for the vehicle goes off (whether the engine is running or turned off). Connecting up a voltage meter shows that the alarm is triggered when there is a 2 volt drop. Battery shows 12.4 volts (14.5 when alternator running) so no issue with a dud battery.

Just wondering how best to get round this problem? Do I need to fit a second battery or can I somehow override the alarm to avoid it activating on a voltage drop?

Hope someone is able to offer some thoughts!

Thanks.

mick 1986 · Feb 16, 2019

Pete11 said:
Hi,

Just looking to see if anyone is able to offer a suggestion for fixing an issue on my 2012 110 pickup. I have recently fitted a winch (warn XD9000i) and had it wired into the (single) battery with an isolator switch added.

The problem is that when the winch is started, the alarm for the vehicle goes off (whether the engine is running or turned off). Connecting up a voltage meter shows that the alarm is triggered when there is a 2 volt drop. Battery shows 12.4 volts (14.5 when alternator running) so no issue with a dud battery.

Just wondering how best to get round this problem? Do I need to fit a second battery or can I somehow override the alarm to avoid it activating on a voltage drop?

Hope someone is able to offer some thoughts!

Thanks.

What size cable did you use for the winch power? How have you earthed the winch? Usually a bad connection will cause a higher resistance and therefore larger voltdrop.

Pete11 · Feb 16, 2019

mick 1986 said:
What size cable did you use for the winch power? How have you earthed the winch? Usually a bad connection will cause a higher resistance and therefore larger voltdrop.

Hi Mick. All the connections have been checked and tightened up so I pretty sure that's not the problem. Cables can be seen in the attached photo - these were the cables being used on the previous vehicle which worked ok.

The voltage meter shows it's a 2 volt drop which triggers the alarm.

mick 1986 · Feb 16, 2019

Pete11 said:
View attachment 170044
Hi Mick. All the connections have been checked and tightened up so I pretty sure that's not the problem. Cables can be seen in the attached photo - these were the cables being used on the previous vehicle which worked ok.

The voltage meter shows it's a 2 volt drop which triggers the alarm.

Are all the connections clean? How is the winch earthed?

mick 1986 · Feb 16, 2019

Pete11 said:
View attachment 170044
Hi Mick. All the connections have been checked and tightened up so I pretty sure that's not the problem. Cables can be seen in the attached photo - these were the cables being used on the previous vehicle which worked ok.

The voltage meter shows it's a 2 volt drop which triggers the alarm.

The only other thing that would cause such a large voltdrop, would be too small a cable diameter.

Pete11 · Feb 16, 2019

mick 1986 said:
The only other thing that would cause such a large voltdrop, would be too small a cable diameter.

The winch was installed at the local landrover garage and all the connections look clean. Not sure how it is earthed - I'll take a look. Is 2 volts a much larger drop than you would expect to see when winching? I know nothing literally about auto electrics (!!) but it didn't seem that big a drop?

Cheers

Wimblowdriver · Feb 16, 2019

Pete11 said:
Battery shows 12.4 volts

12.2 volts is fully discharged. 12.2 to 12.4 volts is partially discharged. You should have 12.7 volts in a healthy battery. If its the original battery it is probably getting tired, showing 12.4 volts is ok for starting a diesel and will still have some useful life in it, but adding the winch is too much for it.

Pete11 · Feb 17, 2019

@mick 1986

I looked at the earth and this runs back to the chassis as per attached photo. Worth cleaning off the paint to get a better connection?

I also checked the battery condition again and the voltmeter reads 12.6 so I guess that a tired battery can be ruled out.

Cheers.

mick 1986 · Feb 17, 2019

Pete11 said:
@mick 1986

I looked at the earth and this runs back to the chassis as per attached photo. Worth cleaning off the paint to get a better connection?

I also checked the battery condition again and the voltmeter reads 12.6 so I guess that a tired battery can be ruled out.

Cheers.

If that’s the winch earth, they person who installed it wants a slap, a HUGE slap! That’s not funny!

The winch should have both leads all the way back to the battery, not the chassis like that. Get a decent pair of jump leads, clean that terminal up and run the leads from the battery neg to the newly cleaned terminal. Try winching like that. If it doesn’t drop, that’s your issue. If it does, I would check and clean every connection between your battery and winch, and then replace the battery for a higher rated one.

Scooby22 · Feb 17, 2019

I agree that is not a correct way to earth anything, its just been screwed on the a painted surface, could even be a plastic cover, cant tell by the photo. you need to sort that out.

Voltage drop (when winching) setting off alarm? Any suggestions?

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