Boat winch question
Hey guys,
I was just after some ideas or options. My boat trailer has a winch that is a modifyed starter motor and flywheel. When I want to use it, I have a battery that is mounted on the trailer and just plug the terminals on (same size as a car battery leads). The annoying thing is having to recharge it every few trips because it obviously has no alternator connected to it.
Now the thing is, I have my dual battery set up in my patrol with an allrounder battery. Would I be able to modify the starter motor positive to a plug so I can plug it in to my fridge plug? The wiring for the plug is the ARB kit so it is bigger than the factory wiring. Would this work?
The other option is running a postive battery lead from the front to the back with a switch, but that would cost a bit.
cheers
shaun
davidbland50
Posts: 392
Date Joined: 24/07/11
If you have the know how
It is easy enough to run a new connection to the winch battery. However, if you aren't experienced, get it done by an electrician. Mobile ones aren't that expensive and in the long run, cheaper if you did it and stuffed it up that it blew fuses or god forbid, melted wiring. I can strongly recommend Nationwide electrical, Mike has been around a long time and knows his stuff. If you're nor, try Autospark Joondalup or West Coast Auto and Marine in Wangara.
Happy hunting
Wherever you go, there you are
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
use an Anderson plug
mount it near the towbar and wire it straight back to the battery but use a heavy wire guage because of volts drop and then a plug in lead to the winch
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
Yeah I can do it myself have
Yeah I can do it myself have done heaps of wiring, so I can't use my fridge plug?
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
not realy
you winch will draw a lot of current and your frige skt will probbably melt if not the cable i run 10 or 12mm cable but make sure your ends are soldered on correctly if you work out your cable length and take the ring terminals and anderson plug ends to an auto sparky they should solder them on for you unless you have the gear to do it yourself
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
Yeah got all the gear to do
Yeah got all the gear to do it. Was just trying to avoid the $$ on a few meters of battery cable
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
how many amps should the
how many amps should the anderson plug be?
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
not sure
I think there are 2 or 3 sizes mine is about 70mm long and 60mm wide so medium size and the cable dosent cost that muchyour only talking 6m mtrs of each red and black
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
use an anderson plug and save your vehicle
i use a starter motor and fly wheel and anderson plug the wire to the plug needs to be the heavy battery terminal type and that is going to cost a bit the anderson plugs are about $35 from memory cable is about 28 bucks a metre don't be cheap on the cable and plug cars catching on fire are no joke. I recover my 6m quinnie in 17 seconds from time of hooking up to putting safety chains on.
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
not 28 bucks a metre for the cable
or anything like it but the plugs are about 35 the cable is about 12 or 14 bucks depending where you get it and what size you use unless you mean for both cables!
just dhu it
Posts: 1081
Date Joined: 14/05/09
anderson
i had the same setup with an anderson plug and 80 amp fuse . you only need to run a positive cable from your battery down to the plug , the negative joins onto the chassis , to prevent having rust etc i put the plug insid ethe tailgate and had a flexible lead come out through the tailgate when using the winch
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
Yeah I was going to say not
Yeah I was going to say not really sure why I would have to run a earth all that way down when I can just earth on the chassis. I think I will just mount it outside the car still and wash it, and inox after use.
The anderson plug mount kit is pretty expensive for what they are. $35 for the plugs then $50 for the mount kit.
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
Mount kit?
they have two holes to screw through to whatever your mounting it on!
the reason I run a black to the battery was to ensure a good earth if it fails due to corrosion or crap build up you may have a hard time getting the boat on the trailer
flexn
Posts: 232
Date Joined: 19/03/12
Can't I just earth the winch
Can't I just earth the winch to the trailer? instead of running it from the winch, to the anderson, then to the car chassis?
Rob H
Posts: 5806
Date Joined: 18/01/12
no
because it will try and earth thru the trailer light wiring, which is tiny. It wont get a good earth thru the tow ball unless you have never greased it and its bare metal grinding on metal.
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