Winch Wiring

I am just about to start wiring my winch into my Defender 90.

Do I need to take the earth back to the battery or can I take it to the chassis?

I plan on taking the live from the battery via a cutoff switch out to the solenoid which is going in the top of the nearside wing.

Back to the chassis is good, just make sure you have a good earth between the battery and chassis.

The Goodwinch installation instructions recommend that the main winch cables, live and neutral are connected back to the battery; my winch is direct wired with the isolator switch breaking the LIVE curcuit.
The small black earth from the solenoid can be earthed through the chassis.
You could call David Bowyer at Goodwinch and get a prfessional opinion, just to be sure.

Yeah I agree everything to the bat! Either through an isolator or relay and switch etc if your todo do it do it right

It's seems to be a very mixed view on this looking at the Internet. The instructions that came with the winch just say connect to a good earth. It's for occasional use rather than a winch challenge type application. I have run the live via an isolator but was hoping to just loop the earth from the underside of the winch to the bumper bolts as it would be neat. It's only an M8000 so peak is 155amps at 12v. The earth from battery to chassis is plenty big enough.

I am putting an Albright style contactor on it so guess will need to earth that as well. Plan is to put that on the near side top of the wing behind the headlamp.

Airways said:

I am just about to start wiring my winch into my Defender 90.

Do I need to take the earth back to the battery or can I take it to the chassis?

I plan on taking the live from the battery via a cutoff switch out to the solenoid which is going in the top of the nearside wing.

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I took my live through an isolator to the batt, and a proper winch grade relay. And the earth to a convenient bolt on the chassis going right through to the other side, and it all works fine. (I do have a good earth from the batt to the chassis though) I did that because I was quoted £11 a metre for the thick copper cable needed! and you need quite a length if your batt is located under the seat, as you have to run it along the chassis rails, and it's a bit of a pig of a job if you have to solder that thick cable together, so best to buy the whole length you need. And put some good cable ties on it and the chassis rails to stop the wires floating around.

lanedriver said:

The Goodwinch installation instructions recommend that the main winch cables, live and neutral are connected back to the battery; my winch is direct wired with the isolator switch breaking the LIVE curcuit.
The small black earth from the solenoid can be earthed through the chassis.
You could call David Bowyer at Goodwinch and get a prfessional opinion, just to be sure.

Click to expand...

This IS the proper way to do it! Cable it through an isolator INSIDE the cab as the pikey kids enjoy free spooling the winch cable over the roof and hooking it back to the tow hitch before they hot wire the winch controller socket and cut the car in half like a cheese wire.

The winch may be for occasional use but on the occassions when it is working it will draw the same current as if it was being used all the time. Otherwise winches for occassional use would come with a cigarette lighter plug or croc clips

Any unseen problems with your chassis earth will mean that the winch will attempt to draw the current it needs via other routes such as your handbrake cable and before very long things start to get very hot. Also the winch will be under powered.

You have made an investment in the winch so why not spend another £20 and wire it properly and know it will work efficiently and safely every time you need it?

Seems a no brainer to me.

One of the first tips I was given when fitting my first winch, is to always put the bonnet up. That way, if the cable breaks, the occupants and the windscreen are offered some form of protection, So I always fit the isolator under the bonnet, so that I have to open the bonnet to use the winch. It isn't foolproof, but it seems like a good idea to me.

There is an arguement that says the bonnet isnt particularly secure, but realistically it is as secure as a defender door.

All good advice thanks. Perhaps going against some of it I might run the earth to the chassis for ease of installation. I have followed the other advice and put an isolator on the bulkhead under the passenger seat and run cable direct from the battery. I have a new 40m2 cable that goes to the chassis from the battery and will use the 30m2 cable that came with the winch to bolt to the chassis at the front. I can't see that causing any issues?

By using a single cable I can go in through the grommet on the bulkhead that the current cable that goes to the starter motor comes in through. That will then connect easily to the isolator which then goes to the battery. There is not enough room to put 2 new cables through that hole!

I am then going to put the solenoid where the old intercooler used to be and take the earth for that from the radiator frame.

I have replaced the steel wire with a 10mmx30m Dyneema rope. Replacing the line and fairlead makes a net difference of 15kg.

Any further comments welcome!! Just be kind!!

Airways said:

All good advice thanks. Perhaps going against some of it I might run the earth to the chassis for ease of installation. I have followed the other advice and put an isolator on the bulkhead under the passenger seat and run cable direct from the battery. I have a new 40m2 cable that goes to the chassis from the battery and will use the 30m2 cable that came with the winch to bolt to the chassis at the front. I can't see that causing any issues?

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If you do I'd advise welding a stud to the chassis for the ring terminal to fit over and then use a Nyloc nut to clamp it on with. That way you'll be sure of a solid earth. And 40m2 is a bit big I'd try 40mm2 if I was you

By using a single cable I can go in through the grommet on the bulkhead that the current cable that goes to the starter motor comes in through. That will then connect easily to the isolator which then goes to the battery. There is not enough room to put 2 new cables through that hole!

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Do ya not own a drill ???

I am then going to put the solenoid where the old intercooler used to be and take the earth for that from the radiator frame.

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I don't think you're quite grasping the importance of a good earth. Always earth to Chassis. Regardless of the extra effort involved. 99% of winch wiring problems are caused by bad earths/undersized cables. the earth cable should always be the same size or even larger as the Live feeds.

I have replaced the steel wire with a 10mmx30m Dyneema rope. Replacing the line and fairlead makes a net difference of 15kg.

Any further comments welcome!! Just be kind!![/quote]

I do understand the importance of a good earth. But I am reasoning that as I have installed a new earth from the battery to the chassis and my chassis is a heavy duty military job with no corrosion and I am going to use connect a good cable to the bumper which is all clean and well connected that the chassis is going to be able to handle the load that a cable would. It makes for a much neater installation!!!

I have much bigger cables than the winch was supplied with as well and its not really a massive winch at 8,000lbs so the draw is not huge. The installation instructions just say to connect it to a good earth.

redhand said:

If you do I'd advise welding a stud to the chassis for the ring terminal to fit over and then use a Nyloc nut to clamp it on with. That way you'll be sure of a solid earth. And 40m2 is a bit big I'd try 40mm2 if I was you

Do ya not own a drill ???

I don't think you're quite grasping the importance of a good earth. Always earth to Chassis. Regardless of the extra effort involved. 99% of winch wiring problems are caused by bad earths/undersized cables. the earth cable should always be the same size or even larger as the Live feeds.

I have replaced the steel wire with a 10mmx30m Dyneema rope. Replacing the line and fairlead makes a net difference of 15kg.

Any further comments welcome!! Just be kind!!

Click to expand...

[/quote]

Ditto, as I said i ran my live to the battery via an isolator switch under the passenger seat, and I put the winch relay in the batt box, it's a tight fit with twin batts, but doable. The only thing I didn't do was run my earth cable in there to the batt neg too. The reason for that was space, with that thickness of wire, and all the other electrics I have rigged up in there for other stuff, it was just one cable too much! But I did make sure I put it to the chassis with a darn good earth. I took one of the 4 bolts out that holds the cross member on, and put it on that, it was just the right length to reach after cable tieing it to the chassis rail from the winch.

That bolt goes right through the chassis, and has a nut holding it on the other side, so your sure to get a good earth. Just make sure the face of the bolt head your putting the cable on, and the part of the chassis behind it where it touches, is clean. i.e. doesnt have any waxoil or underseal/paint on it, take it back to bare metal.

Once you have put the bolt and cable on, and it's all tightened up, then waxoil over the top of it again.

Airways said:

I do understand the importance of a good earth. But I am reasoning that as I have installed a new earth from the battery to the chassis and my chassis is a heavy duty military job with no corrosion and I am going to use connect a good cable to the bumper which is all clean and well connected that the chassis is going to be able to handle the load that a cable would. It makes for a much neater installation!!!

I have much bigger cables than the winch was supplied with as well and its not really a massive winch at 8,000lbs so the draw is not huge. The installation instructions just say to connect it to a good earth.

Click to expand...

Someone will correct me I'm sure but an 8000 will draw the same as a 13000 unless you need more than 8000lbs and you rarely will.

I think you will find that will depend on the wattage of the motor.

My motor is a 2.5hp series wound. If my recolection is correct 1hp is around 730w. W/V=A. Normally calculate at 12v and also at 10V to give worse case. Then I have added another hundred Amps to be on the safe side!

So I reckon that at 12v my peak load will be 144amps. The 35m2 cable I have is capable of 275amps and the earth cable I put in is a 40m2 which is good fro 300amps. I think the chassis member is good for a lot more!!

I spoke to David bower years ago and he recommended only every fitting the earth back to the battery. Connecting to a bolt on the chassis etc has the possibility of getting caked in mud, corroding getting unreliable. 90% of winches not operating to there full capacity is poor earth.

I have twin numax batteries, split charge, Aux fuse box fitted under the seat in my defender with a 600amp cut off switch fitted at the front of the seat box. With a bit of thought it does all fit in easily