Thread: winch help

Did you bench test it before installing it

Solenoid maybe, winch controller, bad earth, these were the 3 things I have repaired on our old X9 when it stopped working.

Baz.

unfortunatly did not bench test before fitting, was told it works so assumed it worked.
the solinoid is clicking away and putting 12v to the f1 f2 leads and armature.
i can get no voltage off the negative which goes from winch to battery. however the lead has continuity.
if i disconnect the positive on the battery i can get 12v on the motor side which to me says that there is a circuit though the motor.
going to try a new soilinoid pack tomorrow. just to eliminate that. then think it will be time to take the winch off and try it with out the solinoid pack, any one know how to do that.

Get a pair of jumper leads and connect battery -ve to the earth terminal on the winch motor (or anywhere on the body of the winch motor) then connect battery +ve to either of the F terminals on the winch motor- just touch the jumper lead to the terminal- and the motor should turn. If not you likely have stuffed brushes (very common for the brushes to corrode due to incorrect drain-hole setup), I had this trouble recently and had a thread in the tech section. If the motor turns when you use the jumper leads, your problem lies in the solenoids or wiring. It sounds like your problem is almost certainly corrosion in the motor brushes, but it's worth checking as above before stripping it down.
It's quite okay for a winch to be dunked a few times, or to live outside. They are made for that. There is a drain hole that is supposed to be positioned correctly when the winch is installed, depending on whether the winch is mounted with the mounting bolts facing down, like most U.S. installations, or forward, like most ARB type bars. Warn winches come from the factory with the drain-hole oriented to the U.S. type mount. Most installers just take them out of the box and whack them in, so if the winch goes in an ARB type bar, the drain hole is at the 3 o'clock position and the motor fills halfway up with water at the first creek crossing- and stops working not long after.

The Solenoid pack works by connecting +12v to either F1 or F2 AND the other of those field terminals to A. You'll need to make the armature connection to get movement.

Originally Posted by 2stroke

The Solenoid pack works by connecting +12v to either F1 or F2 AND the other of those field terminals to A. You'll need to make the armature connection to get movement.

So are you saying that we dont need both connected F1 and F2?

as long as one of them is connected and the armature???

We have read your post and read it again but we don't quite understand what your saying

I'm guessing they reverse the polarity Lou, so only one needs to be connected at a time.

In one direction 12v+ is connected to F1 and F2 is connected to A.
In the other direction 12+ is connected to F2 and F1 is connected to A.
The motor is a series wound motor, though the field winding is totally isolated, it begins and ends at F1 and F2. The armature winding runs from the A terminal through 2 brushes via the commutator through the armature windings then through the other 2 brushes to the winch body (earth).
The direction change is acheived by reversing the direction of the field winding with respect to the armature winding.
Sorry, I'm not too good at explaining things, worse though at drawing with a mouse.
Edit; What I'm trying to say is all 3 of the terminals are connected, either one of the F terminals to 12v+, the other one to A, via the solenoids. The armature does not connect to 12v+, though it does connect... to the field.