Winch - it’s not working

Halfway through unspooling the wire rope on my winch to clean mud of wire. Stops operating and getting a clicking noise from the unit when I operate the switch to either spool in or out. Fitted brand new in September and wired in by an auto electrical garage. To be fair, it’s the first time I have operated it since, is non use a reason? Any ideas before I’m booking it in somewhere. Winch is a Britpart 12000i. Already had an answer from one ‘helpful’ soul about “shouldn’t have got Britpart” which was as helpful as saying my car was the wrong colour!. I’m not a mechanic/sparkle of any note, just need something to say if I need to get it fixed

Was your engine running?

Cheers

Change the crap solenoid, unless as neilly’s thinking without engine running you’ve flattened the battery. Oh and you shouldn’t of bought a Britpart

@MaccFF

TBH , with the cable size and the ability to melt stuff, if you are not confident to know you are working safe, then I would suggest getting someone else to look at it. You could get very hot metal and sparks very quickly if you get it wrong.

If you are confident, then after making sure you have a fully charged battery and a running engine, if thhe fault persists then check all earths, and connections when disconnected from the battery feed.

Have you been wading ? was the winch drenched in water ? the solenoid as @johnlad says could be knackered , but you would hope even if it is a BP part then it should last longer than 6 Months.

Cheers

Getting the message about Britpart, if I get rid, who’s winch would you recommend?

not been wading, in fact the winch was fitted brand new by me in Sept 2019, got a an auto spark to wire it in and it worked initially. today I decided that since it was looking a bit muddy ( I have been off road, but not wading as such, obviously some deep puddles!) and it spooled out under power for about 5 metres and then packed up! somebody on Facebook recommends the Goodwinch TDS Goldfish types for winching!

MaccFF said:

not been wading, in fact the winch was fitted brand new by me in Sept 2019, got a an auto spark to wire it in and it worked initially. today I decided that since it was looking a bit muddy ( I have been off road, but not wading as such, obviously some deep puddles!) and it spooled out under power for about 5 metres and then packed up! somebody on Facebook recommends the Goodwinch TDS Goldfish types for winching!

Click to expand...

Yeah the goodwinch goldfosh are great, but not cheap. I tis down to you to decide how oftern you use it against maintenance and use.

Personally I have a generic winch, I am happy with it. I would say if you take the connections off , clean them up and make sure they are OK, then the issue is with your solenoid. Have you checked your isolator is working OK? I found once that mine was full of crap and was affecting the way it worked.

Cheers

I’ve a warn 9.5ti available if your interested

With the cheaper winches you need to run them once a month. You could have any problems from a stuck solenoid to rusted brushes. Buy a cover for your winch for when you're not using it. If you look on YouTube you'll find lots of winch videos. They're very straightforward.

My father bought 2 cheap Chinese winches 11 years ago. He gave me one for christmass and kept one for his self. He uses his alot apart from putting the solenoids into a waterproof enclosure he's had no problems. I used to use mine alot. Was ill and didn't use it for 3 years. Its rusted up and needs a good service. Brushes have seized solid. It's been in the shed for the last 5 years waiting for me to sort it out.

Cheap winches can be great. You just need to use them regularly. Obviously they arnt any good for winch challenges but great for work and when you occasionally get stuck.

Hope you get it sorted. There's alot of great information out there.

Cheers Steve

johnlad said:

I’ve a warn 9.5ti available if your interested

Click to expand...

You still got that?

Cheers

thanks for the input Gents, think my non use has probably added to the issue! once it is fixed then I'll definitely work it more often before upgrading

Yeah I’ve mentioned it on here a few times but never advertised it, still keep thinking of putting it on the rear of the 90 but I’ve a brand new m800 that could go on there

An Update. Britpart Winch to quote the mechanic "its completely buggered, wont run". Long Story short - still got the receipt and they are going to replace winch (result). I am avoiding Britpart and have looked at a list of possible companies

• Goodwinch (specifically the Goldfish)
• Warn
• Rhino
• Draper, and
• Open Road

also I had a 12000 lbs pull on the ****part winch!

Question - is 12000 lbs too much and if so what rating do you use and of the winch list any in particular. I'm looking to spend £500 - £800

90 sized vehicle a 9500 is strong enough
110 sized is better with 12500
Although pull can be increased using snatch blocks

If speed is not a requirement get a husky winch. They are worm drive so do not overheat when braking unlike one with drum brake, unbelievable reliable with grease filled gearboxes, and should last for ever. They regularly come up second hand but make sure you get a 12V version, there are lots of 24v versions removed from recovery trucks. I got mine second hand and mine is one of the very original fairy versions before superwinch bought them out. It only gets occasional use, is fitted with an albrite solenoid and has never let me down despite long periods of inactivity.

clicking is either lack of juice (flat battery / poor cable / connections) and not enough to trigger the solenoid or the solenoid is sticking / bad. on some winch models there are more than one solenoid (winch in / winch out) etc so you may find others are ok.