Hi, I have a 650 sra bf with 3500 pound winch and I was stuck in the snow the other night my winch spooled in and out just fine but as soon as it started getting strain headlights go dim and bike stalls but battery still starts bike no trouble and has plenty of charge also it will pull in without stalling the bike if there is no strain on it,, battery is brand new also noticed my buddy has a3500pound Polaris winch and it is twice as fast as mine unspools and stuff

 

could it be voltage regulator or is it more likely something in the winch have used it in the swamp and had no trouble

 

Check voltage back to the battery at an idle. Should be at least 13.5-14.5 volts.If it isn't charging then possible regulator problem causing the battery voltage to be drawn down under a load. Plus wouldn't hurt to load test the battery. I've had batteries doa right out of the box.https://www.batterystuff.com/blog/ho...ry-is-bad.html

 

what the old tech said have your battery load tested... Did you freewheel the winch on unspool it under its own power? If you unspooled it under its own power you could have drawn the battery down just enough to not supply the machine with enough power when the winch was pulling under load.

 

Ok thanks for the input I will test the voltage when I get back home Sunday night,, is there any way to test the regulator or is that it?,, it was one of the battery's you fill yourself then charge it yourself got it from a local garage put a good charge on it 1.2 a @ 5+ hours ,, just seemed strange because the battery I had before was getting weak that when I would start it on a cold morning after turning over a few times it would kill it stone dead but my winch worked perfect with that battery,, I did use the power to unwind it but I had it all the way out with the old battery and back in through 15 feet or more of swamp I'm just puzzled because it seems to just be all of the sudden I can't remember if this is the first time I've used the winch on the new battery but I think it is I've only had it for a week,, also very briefly the other night my button wouldent work next time I came out if worked fine could the 2 be related maybe?

 

Just charge and load test the battery to see if it needs to be replaced or not and check that the regulator is charging at least 14 volts at an idle. If it's not,shows 12 volts battery voltage only,even a new battery can even be sucked down pronto. A battery may show 12 volts+ fully charged but can still be bad..

2) Take a Voltage Reading

The voltage of a battery is a good way to determine the state of charge. Here's a handy table with the breakdown:
State of Charge Voltage
100% 12.7 - 13.2
75% 12.4
50% 12.2
25% 12.0
Discharged 0 - 11.9

If your battery is reading 0 volts, chances are the battery experienced a short circuit. If the battery cannot reach higher than 10.5 volts when being charged, then the battery has a dead cell. If the battery is fully charged (according to the battery charger) but the voltage is 12.4 or less, the battery is sulfated. Sulfation is the natural byproduct when the battery discharges. Naturally, re-charging the battery will reverse the sulfation crystals and turn it back into electrolyte, ready to produce power again. But if a battery sat, uncharged, severely discharged, and/or drained for extended periods of time, the sulfation will increase in size and harden onto the plates. This covers the surface area of the plates, removing the chemicals needed to produce power. Sulfation decreases the potential to reach a full charge, and it self-discharges the battery quicker than normal. Charging a sulfated battery is like trying to wash your hands while wearing gloves. At this point, charging alone will not restore the battery to a healthy condition. The majority of replacement battery purchases occur when the original battery has reached this point.

3) Load Test the Battery

Your local automotive shop is more than able to load test your battery for you. But it's quite easy to do at home. All you need is a digital voltmeter. For any load test to be accurate, the battery must be fully charged. Let's use a motorcycle battery for an example. Remove the seat and expose the battery in your bike so that you have access to the terminals. Do not disconnect the battery because you will attempt to start the bike. Hold the prongs of your voltmeter to the correct terminals on the battery. Now push the starter button and watch what the voltage drops to. It doesn't matter if the bike starts or not, what you're looking for is a voltage reading.

DC VoltageA healthy 12 volt motorcycle battery should maintain a range from 9.5 - 10.5 volts under the load for a good 30 seconds straight. If the battery begins to hold and then steadily drops in voltage, there is a problem. If the voltage instantly drops to 0 volts, that is also a problem. We call this the open cell. On a new battery, this can be a result of manufacturing flaws, but it also may be caused by sulfate crystal buildup. Under the intense heat of the load, one or more of the weld pieces connecting the cells is coming loose and separating. This will cut the current, and voltage will drop. When the battery cools off, the pieces will touch, barely giving a complete connection. This gives you a false voltage reading. Batteries with open cells may read fully charged in idle, but they fail under a load test every time. Once a battery reaches this point, there is no going back. The best thing to do is recycle the thing.

 

Battery voltage is all as it should be 13.0 on a full charge when I turn the bike over the battery voltage holds steady between 10 and 11 volts when bike is running voltage is 13.2 14v when I turn headlights on voltage drops slightly and again slightly when I turn my led light on and then slightly again when I hit my winch switch could that be an indicator of where the problem is

 

I played with the idle screw for and adjusted it up and it is charging at a higher voltage than it was before 14.5v at an idle but when I rev it up with the lights on the voltage drops to 14.0 is that normal? Shouldent it be rising the higher I rev it up?

 

Yes with lights on voltage can drop because of the load.As long as running voltage back to the battery whether lights are on or off stays between 14-14.5 volts that means the regulator is doing its job.You don't want voltage to go past 14.5 volts or a regulator can suck as battery dry from excess voltage and heat.Just because a battery is new doesn't always guarantee it's ok. I've had then bad straight out of the box. Either flat dead or could not hold the charge from the regulator because of a shorted lead plate.Have it load tested to eliminate it as the problem.