Winch leads

[Gray git]

Been on replacing the leads to my landy winch with some much thicker better quality cables but unfortunately the earth lead is about 30cm too short.

So can anyone tell me if it would matter if this was bolted onto the same place as 1 of the earth straps on the chassis instead of going all the way to the earth terminal on the battery.

[Peter]

It's not ideal, steel is a very poor conductor, when you get into the amperages required by the winch a copper cable back to the battery is a much safer option.

[Stoatally]

The starter motor earths directly to the engine/chassis

[Gray git]

Would joining two together work or would the joint heat up even though it's on the negative side?

[Peter]

You could join with one of these.

 

10.0mm Copper Tube Butt Splice| MeteorElectrical.com

[Peter]

The starter motor earths directly to the engine/chassis

 

Indeed it does, but it's a very short distance back to the battery, and a fairly short duty cycle compared to running a winch for several minutes at a time.

 

It would certainly work, but it's not advisable.

[agrimog]

it wont matter 1 iota whether the cable runs to the battery, or through the chassis, as long as the connections are clean and corrosion free, and secure. there is absolutly no requirement to run the ground cable back to the battery, as long as the chosen ground point is on the same part of the steel stucture as the battery ground point the pd will be the same, problems only occur when there are multiple joints like in a modern monocoque these rely on the simple spot welds to ensure electron flow. and if you want the ultimate winch connections, go to high quality welding cables, the finer the conductors inside the cable, the higher the current carrying ability.

[Gray git]

I've found a spot about 30 cm along the main chassi rail from where the main earth lead bolts to it so should be OK from what agrimog says, after the original leads started to fail from being a bit thin and cheap so the new 1ns are 50% thicker and at least twice the number of strands inside so should be good enough. Also got a big heavy duty 24v capable isolater fitted tonight instead of the nasty plastic red key type that came with it.

[humpo48]

I purchased extended leads from the electric winch shop for my Defender, peace of mind goes a long way! Hope this helps?

[agrimog]

the only change in most winches that I would make is to throw away the solenoid packs and fit the more modern solid state types, 90% of all winch problems I've had to fix was the solenoid packs, either damp and sticking, stuck connectors, or coil packs burned out, only problems I've had with the solid state ones is wires falling off due to bad crimps