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View Full Version : Fuse between your battery and winch? Yay or Nay?



JeepinHank
07-29-2004, 10:55 AM
What say ye?

Last night, I was planning out a lot of re-wiring work for this weekend (fixing what I should have done right the FIRST time). Anyway, while I was looking under the hood, I recalled a conversation I had with a friend when I first installed my winch. Basically we argued wether or not you should have some sort of fuse link on the power feed for a winch. The reasoning was, should a short occur, such a large cable would probably blow the battery or start a fire before it would actually burn itself in half. There's not a big selection of such high amperage fuses, but you can find a 150 amp MIDI type fusible link at most auto parts stores. I think that's enough to handle most winches I've seen.

I'm different from a lot of ya'll because I put my solenoid pack in the cab of the vehicle instead of out by the winch. For me, there's a lot of amps travelling a pretty long distance, and a short could get really ugly.

Generally, what's your opinion, and why?

Trancezj
07-29-2004, 10:58 AM
I'm too lazy for something like that. I'd be more likely to make sure my fire exstinguisher(sp?) was good. But then again the only thing that's gunna get melted on mine is my grill.

Cody
07-29-2004, 02:11 PM
Of course fuse it. Fuse anything that goes to your battery or else you risk damaging your winch, your vehicle, and possibly starting a fire.

You can get inline fuse holders for up to '0' gauge at any car audio shop. You can run AGU or ANL fuses--although AGU would be easier (i.e. 2 minutes to install). If you need something bigger than 80 amps, ANL fuses go big--I run 250 amp ANL fuses for my stereo in my Dodge.

Just yesterday I watched a kid try attaching a 8 agu amp wire to his battery without a fuse and hte wire was cut and touching ground under his seat. When he finally figured it out (sparks everywhere) you should have seen the black marks on the underside of his seat cushion from the half-seconds he had touched the wire to 12 volts.

Anyways, the moral is it's better to spend 20 bucks on a fuse than it is to spend 150 on a new battery, 10k on a new jeep, or 800 on a new winch.

Cody

Trancezj
07-29-2004, 03:45 PM
cody you asshole, like I don't have enough to do without something like this. DAMNIT! Now I'm going to stress about that shit.

J/k, I didn't really think about it that way.

Alaska ZJ
07-29-2004, 11:01 PM
Don't fuse it. Cody is a pussy.

Millions of winches are used daily without a fuse......Cody do you really have a fuse on your winch?

JpRngr
07-30-2004, 12:49 AM
Don't fuse it. Cody is a pussy.

Millions of winches are used daily without a fuse......Cody do you really have a fuse on your winch?

Since when did Cody get a winch? :lol:

As to the question, do they even make fuses capable of the draw that winches take? If I remember right, 4-500 amps is not out of line on winch draw.

BTW, I don't ever recall seeing a winch that was fused.



Corey

Raacerx
07-30-2004, 02:50 AM
my winch isnt fused and when it was on its previous vehicle it was not either. Like others said, ive never seen a winch with a fuse.

nate
07-30-2004, 06:48 AM
Isn't the winch at full pull running something like 450amps or so? I don't have the manual with me, but I remember it was something high like that.

Alaska ZJ
07-30-2004, 09:29 AM
Yah it is insane amperage at times.

Corey your right....when did Cody even get a winch...lol. That Rascal.

JeepinHank
07-30-2004, 11:45 AM
Just looked it up - a Warn 9.5i (I think that's which one it was) draws 480 Amps at full load (9500 lbs)

A classic M8000 draws 435 at the full 8000 lbs. :shock:

Never thought the amps got up THAT high. I was figuring 250 tops.

Do they even make a fuse that can handle that kind of load?

Edit: Oh yeah - Cody - What kind of system are you running that needs a 250 Amp fuse on it???

Cody
07-30-2004, 02:01 PM
You can get ANL fuse holders fuse holders to hold dual 250's, that will give you enough fuse to pass 450 amps current and still blow if something shorts out. Seriously, it's a bad idea not to fuse it IMO. Just because lots of people run them without fuses, doesn't mean it's the best way to go.

I can see it now, you have nasty roll, somehow a branch or something sever's the power wire for the winch, the bare wire arcs all over the place igniting the fuel spilling from your upside down junk. I only think of crap like that because I'm accident prone and that would happen to me.

I know it's not a long length of wire, but deal with redneck installs all day (I install car audio) and I wouldn't hook something up that can potentially draw that much current without a fuse. Actually, I wouldn't hook anything up without a fuse but maybe I'm overly cautious.


As far as me and the winch situation. If you don't get stuck, you don't need a winch--like for GSW for instance, I figure if I ever need a winch for something (like if I'm upside down), someone will owe it to me for strapping their junk over the rest of the trail. :D


I do need a winch, but I need a d60 more than a winch. I rarely wheel alone, and when I'm in big groups, we seldom use the winch--straps work nicely.

The reason I have 250 amp fuse in my didge--I run JBL GTI compnents up front off of a 1200 (600x2) amp that can draw up to 90 amps, and 1 sub off an amp that can draw up to 120 amps. Needless to say, it's a lot of sound for 1 set of components and 1 sub :D

I actually run 250 amp at the battery, and 2 anl fused distribution blocks fused at 150 and 100 (respectively for the amps) for the '0' gauge (1 for ground, 1 for 12 volts).

Cody

OverkillZJ
07-31-2004, 10:08 PM
No need. Just be cautious of cable routing.

Fuse in this case complicates things too much. Winch = serious freakin draw.

Truth be told, if it were to short to a ground, it'll cook that piece of metal off so fast, or score the wire beyond conduction faster than you know what happened. Won't desroy the battery.

phillyzj
08-01-2004, 12:06 PM
I've seen a shorted battery cable kill a battery. it was a cheap crappy battery, but it just melted the negative terminal off of the battery :shock:

rubicondave33
08-07-2004, 08:39 PM
You would need to size the fuse at 125% of the motors full load current draw, as well as make sure the fuse is a slow blow type to handle the inrush current drawn when starting a motor. The fuse size would need to be somewhere around 600A/slow blow. Answer: don't fuse it.

JayDee
08-08-2004, 01:01 AM
Is there any sort of AFFORDABLE breaker that would be useable? It would obviously be quite large. A 450 amp breaker is also going to be something around the price range of "expensive." Just might be worth it, though. Think about it.

Kraqa
08-08-2004, 01:32 AM
why not try a time delay relay with a 125% fuse? if it go's over the amount of amps (100% the motor rating) the time delay relay will allow it to run at 120% for a approximat time with out tripping. if it does run over 120% then the replay will kick out if it fucks up for some reason the fuse will protect it.

That is what they use in some situations for cranes upon start up when a VFD cannot be used. Just a though. it would be kind of xpensive tho.

gsh
08-08-2004, 08:23 AM
Ever see a fuse on a starter? I always see a good beefy cable straight from the battery to the selenoid which should be integral with the starter on ZJ's unless they redesigned that from my last 318. Fords have another beefy cable from the selenoid straight to the starter. No fuses or fusible links.

OK,starters don't operate as long as winch motors, but that doesn't matter. A short can happen just as fast. I've had a selenoid stick on a shorted starter. A quick cable cut averted possible meltdown.

I have also never seen fuses in plow lift motors. I don't know why for sure, but I thinks it has something to do with cost. Fuses or breakers are usually found all the way up to the power source in most other electrical systems, anymore.

Here's my suggestion. Carefully route the cables to avoid chaffing. Consider armoring cabling with rubber hose, or plastic, or something if edges cannot be avoided. You might consider a battery quick disconnect