Winch wires needed/question

[ghazi223]

Hi, i bought the APG rear winch mount and a Rough Country 9500 Lb winch, the problem im facing and need help with is the power/ground wires provided with the winch are way too short to reach the battery, i went to my local overland shop and they suggested buying the RC 24 ft power cable, BUT its for quick disconnect which i dont like (plus 200 CAD for some wires doesnt sit right with me), my local hardware store said to buy winch wires online but i see too many people talking about different gauges and sizes, ive been on this project wayyy too long i want to get it over with, any help with wiring is greatly appreciated!

(edit):
Also where i am it ranges from 35°C (95°F) in summer to -40°C (-40°f) in winter. so whatever i get needs to be able to handle the weather. and the mud im gonna put it through

Winch mount:
https://automotiveperformancegroup.com/product/bronco-hidden-rear-winch-mounting-plate/

winch:
https://www.roughcountry.com/product/pro-series-electric-winch-pro9500s

quick disconnect wires:
https://www.roughcountry.com/product/quick-disconnect-winch-power-cable-rs108

random wires im hoping work:
https://a.co/d/e49pbBX

i have to revive this thread, i searched everywhere, called/visited every electrical store in my city, no one has 1 gauge wire, the ones i shared previously were only shipping to america, none to canada, im thinking of resorting back to the rough country extension as it is full copper and 2 gauge, which seems to be fine (i think, i have no clue). can i use this without burning down my car? ive been on this rear winch project for like 5 months (saving up/ordering). thank you for all the help!

https://www.roughcountry.com/product/quick-disconnect-winch-power-cable-rs108

Sponsored

 

[CalvinT]

It's odd that Rough Country recommends #2 wire. According to their specifications the 9500# winch has a 5.5 hp motor (4000 watts). That comes to 333 amps at 12 volts. However, many companies give a peak power rating for their motors, not a constant power rating. You'll see that a lot in vacuum cleaner motor ratings.

Anyway, using number 2 wire would give you a 1.25 volt drop at full current. When a battery is under load it's output drops, but we'll go with 12 volts to keep things easy to follow. At full load the voltage at your winch 9500# winch would be 10.75 volts, not 12 volts. Also the cable and connections would be heating up on a long pull.

With 1/0 wire there would be a .79 volt drop so voltage at the winch would be 11.21 volts, almost half a volt more, which means more power (about 9% more). Also there would be less heating of the cable and connections.

Using number 2 cable would be similar thinking to Ford using 1.5mm squared wire for SW1 and rating it for 30 amps. Many on here have an issue with that.

It could be Rough Country is acknowledging that winches are seldom used at full power. Then you can get away with smaller wire. But that means you'll need to monitor the temperature of your connections if doing a heavy pull. Connections will heat up more than the rest of the cable.

edit: I just realized I screwed up. I calculated for 24 feet of cable. But that's only one direction. Since you'd be running a pair, you'll have 48 feet of cable, 24 for hot and 24 for ground. So double the voltage drops I gave.

 

[CalvinT]

A little more information. I understand the insulation of the wire Ford uses for primary wiring has a 125 C rating. Rough Country doesn't say what kind of insulation their cables have, so you don't know what it's temperature rating is. Some wires sold for automotive use only have an 85C rating.

I found the following links interesting.

https://www.iewc.com/resources/technical-guide/automotive-primary-wire

https://www.iewc.com/resources/technical-guide/automotive-battery-cable-specifications

 

[GI_Jo_Nathan]

Yeah I personally would not use 2ga, or honestly anything electrical from RC..
Sucks you're having trouble getting the right wire. So Jeep Cables can't get it to you?

 

[Rydfree]

Hi, i bought the APG rear winch mount and a Rough Country 9500 Lb winch, the problem im facing and need help with is the power/ground wires provided with the winch are way too short to reach the battery, i went to my local overland shop and they suggested buying the RC 24 ft power cable, BUT its for quick disconnect which i dont like (plus 200 CAD for some wires doesnt sit right with me), my local hardware store said to buy winch wires online but i see too many people talking about different gauges and sizes, ive been on this project wayyy too long i want to get it over with, any help with wiring is greatly appreciated!

(edit):
Also where i am it ranges from 35°C (95°F) in summer to -40°C (-40°f) in winter. so whatever i get needs to be able to handle the weather. and the mud im gonna put it through

Winch mount:
https://automotiveperformancegroup.com/product/bronco-hidden-rear-winch-mounting-plate/

winch:
https://www.roughcountry.com/product/pro-series-electric-winch-pro9500s

quick disconnect wires:
https://www.roughcountry.com/product/quick-disconnect-winch-power-cable-rs108

random wires im hoping work:
https://a.co/d/e49pbBX

I got mine from here with the ends already terminated.

Bulk Battery Cable and Wire Sold By the Foot

 

[kevin.gt]

I got mine from here with the ends already terminated.

Bulk Battery Cable and Wire Sold By the Foot

Yeah this site is great. I came here just to mention them (BatteryCablesUSA). Good pricing on nice copper cable, cut and crimped with exactly what you need. Pretty fast shipping too if I recall. I've used them for audio and winch.

 

[ghazi223]

Yeah this site is great. I came here just to mention them (BatteryCablesUSA). Good pricing on nice copper cable, cut and crimped with exactly what you need. Pretty fast shipping too if I recall. I've used them for audio and winch.

seems nice and im pretty sure they ship up here, which exact wire did u guys use?
can u link or send a screenshot.
i plan on running both power and ground to battery like sierra said. (with relay/fuse)

 

[Brian_B]

#1 wire is not common, so not too surprised you are having trouble finding it.

The easy and safe answer is “just go the next size up” - which would be 1/0. That’s getting to be pretty big cable

If you are staying in the front and keep your wire lengths in check, #2 would work. This is what Ford ships with their Performance winch kit, after all. But @GI_Jo_Nathan is right - you can’t just go spinning the winch for minutes at a time, duty cycle has to come into that because of the increased resistance / voltage drop. Even if you don’t melt a connection it’s still possible to burn out the motor if you don’t give things a chance to cool down.

I have the FP kit, I run my winch in about 1 minute pulls, with a few minutes between pulls to cool down, but Warn doesn’t have any official guidance. I remember seeing for the Harbor Freight winch they recommended 45 second pulls with 15 minute (!!) cooldown between pulls.

 

[kevin.gt]

seems nice and im pretty sure they ship up here, which exact wire did u guys use?
can u link or send a screenshot.
i plan on running both power and ground to battery like sierra said. (with relay/fuse)

I have the HF 12k badlands winch and went with 2x 6' of 2 AWG OFC Copper.

If you have a portable air compressor you might want to think through options using anderson connectors. Make it real easy to swap over from winch to compressor for instance. If you contact them, they should set up your cables and connectors however you want.

 

[CalvinT]

I got mine from here with the ends already terminated.

Bulk Battery Cable and Wire Sold By the Foot

That's a great site!

Sponsored