First off would like to say hello here to everyone!! My wife bought me an AC 500 auto for christmas which was totally unexpected, then after getting it stuck once while alone, I decided I needed a winch. I found a great deal on an AC 2.5ci kit from an AC dealer for 150.00. No switch though + no warranty, It is brand new though. Instead of ordering the correct switch from the dealer I bought a warn 2.5ci replacement switch for it. This switch only has 3 wires, one for switched power, and the other two to the solenoid. The AC solenoid has a 3 wire plug on it though, the 3rd should be the ground side of the switched power off of the factory plug near the handle bars. The new switch does not have this ground, and I cant find where its really needed either. I wired in the new switch according to warns site for the 2.5ci non AC specific. Green from switch to green on Sol. Black from switch to black on solenoid. Red from switch to orange on AC harness but not using the ground side. With everything hooked up, when I try to use the switch to power in/out, the Ign fuse blows. Any ideas? Ive triple checked everything and cant find a prob. Im thinking it has something to do with my lacking 3rd wire but not sure. Thanks. SB

 

Let me be the first to welcome you to the forum!!!

Either the fuze is not large enough to handle the added amps of the winch (doubtful), or you have inadvertantly wired in a direct short (most probable) with the switch. This is assuming that the rest of the wiring of the winch is wired properly.

On the Warn winch switch there are 3 wires (as you stated). Let's label them as A, B, and C. Wire A is the common wire. When you winch in, wires A and B are connected. When you winch out, wires A and C are connected. On Warn systems, wire A is connected to a 12 volt source. On your AC 2.5ci, I'm wondering if wire A should go to the 3rd ground wire that comes from the AC solonoid, thereby giving a ground signal to the solonoid, instead of 12 volts. You could test this by going to the 3 wire plug at the solonoid, and jumping that 3rd wire to either of the other 2 wires.

If others feel that I am wrong, feel free to correct me.

 

I don't believe there is a ground to the solenoid, unless you only have one direction on your switch. I'm trying to find my wiring diagrams for the winch. The following assumes in and out solenoid. The only ground will be the big ground wire from the battery. The switch should have power to it, the red wire should be to 12 volts accessory. The green should be down and the other wire should be blue and is up. To test, disconnect the wires from the solenoid and make sure you have 12 to each wire when the switch is in the down or up positions. If the fuse blows when testing, it isn't the solenoid. Now jumper 12 volts to each of the solenoid terminals and see if the winch works.

 

That was my original assumption, but that then leads us to the original problem of blowing fuzes. That's why I was trying to think of a different wiring solution for proper operation.

 

I can hand draw you diagram and e-mail it to you. I worked on the electronic crap for a long time and always got drafted to work the electrical things. I would need to know what solenoid you are using and you will have to check the switch by itself to make sure it isn't faulty or different than we think it is. But the rest is easy. I didn't use anything but a winch and mount plate on my 250 and first I wired it for in only and this last fall added three more solenoids and switch so it has both directions now. A blow fuse almost alwas neans something is grounded that shouldn't be or a part has gone bad and shorted to ground. In your cae I suspect that thing are not the way you assumed they are and you need to make sure the solenoids work the way the are suppose to and that the switch is wired the way you think it is. Then all that is left is a wire shorting to ground, which is the time consumer.