Winch wiring & contactor

[reptillikus]

Some time ago i picked up this thing

Emailed Warn with the p/n & serial #, and its the M12000 Warn that comes on the Dodge Power Wagon. Ran thru some parts lists, and apparently it is actually their 15k winch, with the only real difference being that the cable spools off the top of the drum instead of the bottom. For the contactor they advised me to use p/n 83664. This one. From doing some searching, it seems like its used on all sorts of winches, from 8k to 15k. At that point, i cant help but assume i can use pretty much any contactor to power this thing with minimal issues. Im not above buying the contactor from Warn, but theyre pretty proud of their parts. So i was wondering what everyone else is using? Theres so many knock-off contactors out there, and theyre all in the $40-80 range. Appealing price, esp considering the Warn one is over $200, but its no good if it fails the first time i really need it to run.

 

[Elwenil]

That is a series wound motor, so if you don't want to spend for the contactor, keep in mind that it will take 4 constant duty solenoids to make it work otherwise. My Braden worm drive is powered by 4 solenoids off a Warn Power Wagon winch.

This is a pic of my test wiring to make sure it was done right and that my homemade buss bars would work, but you get the idea of what a pain in the ass it is:

 

[reptillikus]

No i def want to stay with a reversing contactor, its just that Warn sells theirs for $250-275, which seems a bit excessive considering pretty much every other brand out there is under $100. I was leaning towards Albright or Runva since they seem to have good reviews (from my searching im pretty sure Warn uses the Albright DC88 anyway) but was just curious what brands people have used, to see if theres anything i should stay away from. Leaning towards the Runva since its easy to get, and they use it on their own winch line.

 

[Squamch]

I buy mine from canadawinch.com. $89 Canadian. Those are Runvas. Tons of guys around here running them.

 

[Tiha]

I did what you did with 4 relays, seemed like every time I needed the winch one relay had failed.

I bought this.
https://www.grainger.com/product/BUYERS-PRODUCTS-Solenoid-Switch-19A801?findingMethod=orderHistory

They were for motorhomes and campers with slide outs. I thought I would burn through them like crazy so I bought 2. Take up a lot less space, easy to wire.

So far I have not burnt up the first one, I have had some long heavy pulls.

 

[reptillikus]

I ended up buying the Runva contactor, just came in the mail yesterday. Now i just gotta mount it under the hood and run some wires!

 

[reptillikus]

I'm bumping this because either I'm over thinking it, or I'm dumb. Probably dumb. Anyways. I'm ready to wire my contactor to the winch. One pin on the contactor goes to A, the other 2 to F1 & F2. What is this little plug hanging down for?


Also this motor doesn't have a ground stud so I'm guessing I should just ground to a bolt on the motor's end cap? I was going to run 2/0 gauge cable for everything because I already have it, but it seems to me it'll be pretty awkward to get a cable that big onto a motor bolt.

 

[reptillikus]

Confirmed: I'm dumb. It's not a stud, it's a threaded hole. Found it with an inspection mirror. So now I'm trying to shoehorn a bolt into the space between the motor and the winch. But that makes a ton more sense.

I'm still not sure what that little plug is for though, or if I even need to connect anything to it.

 

[AK_F250]

That plug is the thermometric thing on Ti winches, maybe the power wagon M12000 got that option. I don't think warn has it on anything but the 9.5 and 16.5.

 

[reptillikus]

Turns out youre right. Found a thread on Power Wagon Registry that confirmed it. Dodge wanted the Ti, and the LVI (low voltage interrupt) so Warn put both on. Its still a 4.6 HP motor, just with a p/n unique to the PW version of the M12000. So ill just tuck it up out of the way where its safe, and not worry about it.

 

[martyfowler]

I just ordered this one off Amazon. Its supposed to be a genuine Albright. Im gonna use it on an old M8000 thats mounted on a flatbed trailer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07X7...91812054244-20


Update: It came in the other day. Appears to be genuine Albright. I got it wired up and it seems to work great. Hopefully it will be more reliable than the old 4 solenoid setup was.

 

[LowDown]

I just ordered this one off Amazon. Its supposed to be a genuine Albright. Im gonna use it on an old M8000 thats mounted on a flatbed trailer.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07X7...91812054244-20
Update: It came in the other day. Appears to be genuine Albright. I got it wired up and it seems to work great. Hopefully it will be more reliable than the old 4 solenoid setup was.

For what it's worth; I'm using one of these and so far so good. I set it up with a Smittybilt 12k on my trailer along with a cheapie wireless controller.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

For what it's worth; I'm using one of these and so far so good. I set it up with a Smittybilt 12k on my trailer along with a cheapie wireless controller.

What wireless remote did you use? Does that contactor work better than the stock smittybuilt?

 

[LowDown]

I'm using the same contactor/wireless set up on my trailer and two wheeling rigs. The Albright works great. It's no worse than the stock Smitty contactor, definitely sealed better, and with the wireless controller (https://www.amazon.com/Yuangang2pc-Universal-Wireless-Electric-Transmitter/dp/B081YRZ1QG), it's cake to use. Only catch is that there's a delay (a significant fraction of a second) between letting off the remote power-in button and the Albright disengaging. You just have to be aware of that as you're bumping the winch in to take slack.

 

[IowaOffRoad]

I'm using the same contactor/wireless set up on my trailer and two wheeling rigs. The Albright works great. It's no worse than the stock Smitty contactor, definitely sealed better, and with the wireless controller (https://www.amazon.com/Yuangang2pc-Universal-Wireless-Electric-Transmitter/dp/B081YRZ1QG), it's cake to use. Only catch is that there's a delay (a significant fraction of a second) between letting off the remote power-in button and the Albright disengaging. You just have to be aware of that as you're bumping the winch in to take slack.

I don’t think it’s the Albright causing the delay. Every factory or add-on Chinese wireless controller I’ve been around has had that delay, Albright or solenoid.

 

[bgaidan]

I would blame the delay on the wireless control before the solenoid.


Have you confirmed the delay is still there with a hardwired control?

 

[Tiha]

Another vote for the wireless control causing delay.

I changed mine from toggle switch to wireless and the delay showed up.
we put the toggle back on and now have both.

 

[LowDown]

No doubt it's the wireless controller and not the Albright. Just wanted everyone to aware of it and accomodate for while running your winch.