I just installed a new Venom winch. Everything worked fine after I wired everything up.

I tied up all of the wire and buttoned everything up and went for a shourt ride -10 to 15 minutes max. Put it back in the barn and thought I would try the winch one last time before calling it a night. I hit the 'Out' button and the cable powered out like I expected. Then I hit the 'In' button and NOTHING!

I checked all of the connections and don't see any loose or cut wires. The winch came with both a thumb switch and a wired remote. Both will work going 'Out' but neither will work coming 'In'. I doubt that it is a wire issue, and suspect it is the contactor. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!!

 

Does anyone have a phone number for Venom? I can't seem to find one.

 

ill agree with it being a bad contractor.

 

I had an issue with a contactor. I took it apart played with it and it has worked since....

 

Does the Venom winch have a contactor assembly or does it have a 'relay' box? If it is the relay box, my bet would be that the 'in' relay took a dump on you. Those relays aren't your common automotive relays--they're like 80A relays--kind of hard to find! Good luck on it!

 

Umm, I don't know how to tell the difference between a contactor and a relay box. The instructions and web site call it a contactor...

So, if it's a contactor, you think I may be able to take it apart and fix it myself?

Will any properly sized contactor work? The winch is a 2500# unit. Is there a good after market unit available?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

This is a contactor assembly. Two wires go from the contactor to the winch motor, 2 wires go to the battery. The switch is connected to the smaller gauge wires. The relay box is usually just that--a box with two relays inside it. If the contactor is bad, you should be able to find one on ebay for 30 bucks or so. I'm pretty sure they are for the most part interchangeable. (don't quote me on it though!) I'd probably replace the relay box with the contactor anyway (if of course, you have a relay box!).

 

Looks like I do have a contactor box then.

I just got an email from Venom that they are sending one immediately. Their warranty states that the charge for shipping, but no mention of that in the email.

I have found from searching around that a lot of people have this problem with Venom contactors and that this is their typical response.

I am going to take the one I have and see if I can fix it. If so, I'll keep the new one around as a spare for when it goes bad again.

Thanks Matstang!

 

Good luck. Post back and let us know how the new contactor works out for you. Kind of a pain with a new winch...!

 

I purchased a Gorilla 2500lb winch. Used it once and all worked great. Second time I went to use I had the same thing. Only worked in one direction. I called the company I purchased it from, they sent me a new contactor right away. I have never had a problem since.