Winch Install Gone Bad - Lost All Power

[swooshdave]

On a good note, it reminded me I needed to buy a Stinger relay as I am getting ready to finally install my winch. I got two of my higher amp up fitters that I wont be using for any roof lights so gonna utilize one of them.

Did the winch not come with a relay or you just want to upgrade?

You shouldn't need a higher amp upfitter for a relay, isn't the load on the switch side of the relay pretty low? The Stinger site is devoid of actual specs.

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[vrtical]

Did the winch not come with a relay or you just want to upgrade?

You shouldn't need a higher amp upfitter for a relay, isn't the load on the switch side of the relay pretty low? The Stinger site is devoid of actual specs.

Given its a Warn, not putting on one of those junk Ford ones on. yes the relay is pretty low, I just stated I am using one of my high amperage switches well because all the other ones are being used

 

[halfBaked]

I don’t know if this helps, but I burned up the battery in my 2020 Tundra after installing and using a winch like twice. I heard there was a rash of bad batteries at the time. Replaced it with a cheapo battery and had zero problems over the last three years.

Problem on mine was, it wasn’t completely shorted - it died over the course of a 2 hour drive with a trailer. Sailing along at 75, then all power would cut out and come back on. Very stressful!

I hope your battery replacement solution moving forward works out as well as mine did. Those Optima batteries are great and seem only equalled/bested by Northstar/Odyssey depending on who you talk to.

 

[swooshdave]

I don’t know if this helps, but I burned up the battery in my 2020 Tundra after installing and using a winch like twice. I heard there was a rash of bad batteries at the time. Replaced it with a cheapo battery and had zero problems over the last three years.

Problem on mine was, it wasn’t completely shorted - it died over the course of a 2 hour drive with a trailer. Sailing along at 75, then all power would cut out and come back on. Very stressful!

I hope your battery replacement solution moving forward works out as well as mine did. Those Optima batteries are great and seem only equalled/bested by Northstar/Odyssey depending on who you talk to.

Don't you lose the extra power posts with the aftermarket batteries?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Interesting comment, only because I had my battery replaced on warranty last year. My Bronco was a 12/21 delivery.

Did you wax it?
LMAO!!!

That is interesting though. They picked a pretty damn powerful AGM battery for these things, which kind of bucks industry trends towards shaving weight.

 

[POKEY the TURBO BRONCO]

Sometimes even the Expert Figure on the right of the photo makes a blunder. And all of us who are somewhere on this simple Left and Right scale still bow down to Learn from what went wrong. No sham in that. That darn battery sticker on the switch is misleading as someone else correctly posted. Thanks for honestly posting your mishap. Hopefully others will learn from your misfortune. Cheers Gary

 

[halfBaked]

Reading through this thread some more and, great find, @Brian_B and gang! Tangent here, but I don’t know if my Smittybilt winch is weird, but I don’t have a remote power cutoff switch like that…
I have a switch on the solenoid body that has on, off and freewheel. I mounted the controller cable plug on the positive cable run in the engine compartment (so my hood has to be open for winch operation) for security.

 

[Brian_B]

Tangent here, but I don’t know if my Smittybilt winch is weird, but I don’t have a remote power cutoff switch like that…

A winch doesn't necessarily need a cutoff switch. It's more a piece of mind thing - you have a live cable going up to the front of your bumper that's semi-exposed. I'll let folks use their imaginations, or tell tales of what they have seen happen when you just have that cable hanging out there. Since it's connected straight to the battery, it'll be hot all the time, even when you aren't running the winch and even if the truck isn't running. Some newer winches have "smart" controls that may be powered all the time, like Bluetooth receivers, that could slowly drain your battery.

A switch (or relay/solenoid), so long as it's located in the engine compartment and near the battery, reduces the amount of live cable - only the short run up to the switch is always live, and the part past that is only live when you have the switch on.

 

[Broncobadlands2023]

It's not that confusing. It's a drawing of a battery not a schematic on the switch.

It's an expensive test to see if you should be working with electricity or not...

The drawing of the battery makes zero sense and doesn’t indicate anything about the wiring or what it does. I find it odd.

As an electrician, that switch should have a simple line diagram indicating it’s breaking power and show the positive so it’s obvious what it’s doing.

 

[BrentC]

Did you wax it?
LMAO!!!

That is interesting though. They picked a pretty damn powerful AGM battery for these things, which kind of bucks industry trends towards shaving weight.

I just had issues with my ACM and during the diagnostics the tech said the battery needed replacing so I wasn’t going to say no to a new battery when I was a few months from going out of warranty. No battery abuse AFAIK.

 

[dgorsett]

Was wondering the same, if the charge did take, the life span of the battery has been dramatically shortened.
Although, these AGM's are pretty damn stout... the one thing Ford did get right was the battery.

My experience with AGM is they're great when they work but can't be nursed back to health when depleted like a regular lead acid.
I also noticed my friends Badlands has a bigger battery than my Big Bend. When I replace it I'll go with the bigger one.

 

[swooshdave]

My experience with AGM is they're great when they work but can't be nursed back to health when depleted like a regular lead acid.
I also noticed my friends Badlands has a bigger battery than my Big Bend. When I replace it I'll go with the bigger one.

Don't quote me but I suspect that models with the inverter may also have a bigger alternator in addition to the bigger battery.

 

[Brian_B]

My experience with AGM is they're great when they work but can't be nursed back to health when depleted like a regular lead acid.
I also noticed my friends Badlands has a bigger battery than my Big Bend. When I replace it I'll go with the bigger one.

Think the tow package came with a slightly bigger battery?

 

[Freebird32]

On a good note, it reminded me I needed to buy a Stinger relay as I am getting ready to finally install my winch. I got two of my higher amp up fitters that I wont be using for any roof lights so gonna utilize one of them.

I used a Stinger with my winch. I used an aux lead that is above grill on that side. I spliced the other end to Aux3 switch lead (both are near hood hinge on driver side).

 

[swooshdave]

Think the tow package came with a slightly bigger battery?

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...nents-for-2021-ford-bronco.17141/post-2314938

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