Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
#1
New Winch caused Meltdown
I installed my new winch yesterday, AC/Warn 2500. Stretched the wire rope and all was good. Today while riding after an hour I lost all power, it just died, tried restarting and nothing (wasnt even using the winch). Saw smoke coming from under the seat (uh oh) quickly pulled seat and disconnected battery. The ground wire from the <u>chassis</u> to the battery (not the winch wiring) was severely melted and had burned thru the positive from the chassis. Lucky the battery didnt explode or a fire break out.
I followed AC/Warn instructions to the letter and I am fairly certain its connected correctly but I am going to look at it again tomorrow just to be sure. The only thing I am in question about with the wiring is the two prong plug located in the middle of the switch harness...I found a two prong plug on the chassis wiring that was a perfect fit for the plug on the switch harness but I am not sure if its the right one or not. I didnt see any others to connect it to though.
What I think is strange is that after disconnecting the winch and taping up the insulation on the Cats ground it ran fine all day long. This tells me its something with the winch but <u>why did the ground on the chassis wiring melt and not the ground from the winch if something is wrong with the winch wiring???</u>
What should I look for...I know pinched wires, hot wires, etc but anything else?
Also why didnt a fuse blow?
Thanks for your help.
I followed AC/Warn instructions to the letter and I am fairly certain its connected correctly but I am going to look at it again tomorrow just to be sure. The only thing I am in question about with the wiring is the two prong plug located in the middle of the switch harness...I found a two prong plug on the chassis wiring that was a perfect fit for the plug on the switch harness but I am not sure if its the right one or not. I didnt see any others to connect it to though.
What I think is strange is that after disconnecting the winch and taping up the insulation on the Cats ground it ran fine all day long. This tells me its something with the winch but <u>why did the ground on the chassis wiring melt and not the ground from the winch if something is wrong with the winch wiring???</u>
What should I look for...I know pinched wires, hot wires, etc but anything else?
Also why didnt a fuse blow?
Thanks for your help.
#2
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
Originally posted by: Sumdumgi
I installed my new winch yesterday, AC/Warn 2500. Stretched the wire rope and all was good. Today while riding after an hour I lost all power, it just died, tried restarting and nothing (wasnt even using the winch). Saw smoke coming from under the seat (uh oh) quickly pulled seat and disconnected battery. The ground wire from the <u>chassis</u> to the battery (not the winch wiring) was severely melted and had burned thru the positive from the chassis. Lucky the battery didnt explode or a fire break out.
I followed AC/Warn instructions to the letter and I am fairly certain its connected correctly but I am going to look at it again tomorrow just to be sure. The only thing I am in question about with the wiring is the two prong plug located in the middle of the switch harness...I found a two prong plug on the chassis wiring that was a perfect fit for the plug on the switch harness but I am not sure if its the right one or not. I didnt see any others to connect it to though.
What I think is strange is that after disconnecting the winch and taping up the insulation on the Cats ground it ran fine all day long. This tells me its something with the winch but <u>why did the ground on the chassis wiring melt and not the ground from the winch if something is wrong with the winch wiring???</u>
What should I look for...I know pinched wires, hot wires, etc but anything else?
Also why didnt a fuse blow?
Thanks for your help.
I installed my new winch yesterday, AC/Warn 2500. Stretched the wire rope and all was good. Today while riding after an hour I lost all power, it just died, tried restarting and nothing (wasnt even using the winch). Saw smoke coming from under the seat (uh oh) quickly pulled seat and disconnected battery. The ground wire from the <u>chassis</u> to the battery (not the winch wiring) was severely melted and had burned thru the positive from the chassis. Lucky the battery didnt explode or a fire break out.
I followed AC/Warn instructions to the letter and I am fairly certain its connected correctly but I am going to look at it again tomorrow just to be sure. The only thing I am in question about with the wiring is the two prong plug located in the middle of the switch harness...I found a two prong plug on the chassis wiring that was a perfect fit for the plug on the switch harness but I am not sure if its the right one or not. I didnt see any others to connect it to though.
What I think is strange is that after disconnecting the winch and taping up the insulation on the Cats ground it ran fine all day long. This tells me its something with the winch but <u>why did the ground on the chassis wiring melt and not the ground from the winch if something is wrong with the winch wiring???</u>
What should I look for...I know pinched wires, hot wires, etc but anything else?
Also why didnt a fuse blow?
Thanks for your help.
#3
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
Thanks Bear. I used the winch kit from arctic cat powersports you told me about. It was 297.00 and included everything. Yes I used the battery for ground on the winch and didnt connect it to the frame. The solenoid is color coded and the winch is also. I know thats all ok but will check again tomorrow. The two prong plug that I connected to was buried under the chassis wiring under the voltage regulator. Any ideas?
#4
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
And you have a short in the system most likely. If you did the wiring yourself, it will be hard to figure out what you did wrong. Ask a friend who has some experience to look at the wiring so you get some ideas. This usually works for me.
Good luck,
Chuck
Good luck,
Chuck
#5
#6
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
From what you have said there is a short somewhere and unless you are electricity handy, finding it is gonna be tough. If it was me, I would pull all the winch wiring back out, I know a bummer, and look for the wire that has a hole in the insulation and was rubbing against the frame somewhere. You will probably find another fried wire somewhere.
#7
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
Originally posted by: Bear4570
From what you have said there is a short somewhere and unless you are electricity handy, finding it is gonna be tough. If it was me, I would pull all the winch wiring back out, I know a bummer, and look for the wire that has a hole in the insulation and was rubbing against the frame somewhere. You will probably find another fried wire somewhere.
From what you have said there is a short somewhere and unless you are electricity handy, finding it is gonna be tough. If it was me, I would pull all the winch wiring back out, I know a bummer, and look for the wire that has a hole in the insulation and was rubbing against the frame somewhere. You will probably find another fried wire somewhere.
Thanks
Trending Topics
#8
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
I would re-check all the wiring again. I used the same plug on my 400 with no problems. However, check the wiring on the relay itself. If you have a small control wire connected to the main return, or ground, it'll burn quickly. That winch draws a lot of current when pulling. The small wire might handle it for a little while, but eventually it will burn from excessive current.
#9
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
Originally posted by: Bluethumb
I would re-check all the wiring again. I used the same plug on my 400 with no problems. However, check the wiring on the relay itself. If you have a small control wire connected to the main return, or ground, it'll burn quickly. That winch draws a lot of current when pulling. The small wire might handle it for a little while, but eventually it will burn from excessive current.
I would re-check all the wiring again. I used the same plug on my 400 with no problems. However, check the wiring on the relay itself. If you have a small control wire connected to the main return, or ground, it'll burn quickly. That winch draws a lot of current when pulling. The small wire might handle it for a little while, but eventually it will burn from excessive current.
#10
Electrical Probs: New Winch caused Meltdown
Originally posted by: Sumdumgi
As I said in the first post, I am not having trouble while using the winch, it happened when the winch was not in use.
Originally posted by: Bluethumb
I would re-check all the wiring again. I used the same plug on my 400 with no problems. However, check the wiring on the relay itself. If you have a small control wire connected to the main return, or ground, it'll burn quickly. That winch draws a lot of current when pulling. The small wire might handle it for a little while, but eventually it will burn from excessive current.
I would re-check all the wiring again. I used the same plug on my 400 with no problems. However, check the wiring on the relay itself. If you have a small control wire connected to the main return, or ground, it'll burn quickly. That winch draws a lot of current when pulling. The small wire might handle it for a little while, but eventually it will burn from excessive current.