I just hooked up a T1500 winch on my Trailboss. The switch broke the first time out but now that I've replaced it the winch has no power. I'm not sure that it ever did. If I hook up to a tree on a level surface it will hardly pull me, if I hit the brakes it dies. Does this sound like a bad winch, or wiring problems ???

Thanks

 

Maybe your battery doesn't have any power to run it...never hook the winch around a tree...it will bend the cable, always use tow straps to tie around a tree and then hook the winch to the rope.
(My friend had to do this today with his Big Bear...he has a Warn A2000 we tied a rope around a tree and hooked the winch to that...it pulled the bear right out withought the rope coming undone)

 

could it be that your alternator isnt making enough current to make the winch have a lot of power? try giving the trailboss a little gas when u are winching, the alternator will make more current to supply to the winch.

later
jon

 

DaBoss, the current production model T1500 winches stall under test at 2400 # pull; if you're getting less than that, your have either/or wiring (most likely), battery/alternator, equipment problems.

Some good comments appear on this topic already; since the T1500 draws around 100 amps at full pull, all cables MUST be large enough to handle this current flow (I think 8 gauge); the maximum clean surface area must be employed in all electrical connections, including crimped connecting terminals on wire ends; and all connections must be super-tight, from the battery terminals (+ and -) to the switch to the winch motor.

If your battery doesn't have the amp-hour storage capacity, you'll discharge it very quickly; there's no way a quad alternator can keep up with you, even if it's putting out the maximum design charge.

With solid clean connections, large-diameter, low-resistance wire, and a hot battery, if you still don't feel the pull, looks like a job for Superwinch customer service on your winch motor and/or your winch itself. Good luck!

Tree Farmer

 

It will help to rev the engine a bit, but for the most part the Superwinches are trash. I have never seen such a huge difference in performance between two like products (Superwinch, Warn) as I have seen with the two 2500 pound winches. Warn generally costs more but it is easily worth it. Throw that Superwinch in the garbage and go buy a real winch. Superwinch = Supersh*t

 

im with Treefarmer..... check your connections, the ground in particulat bad grounds can cause all sorts of electrical mysteries

 

I have a T 1500 superwinch never had a problem ,parked my atv perpindicular(sp????) to my friends K car , hooked up the winch to his trailer hitch (this is on blacktop) it moved the @$$ of the car all the way around I couldn't believe it the quad never moved . More than enough pull for me!

 

Yeh, look at the cables and the battery. As for the switch, the warn unit come with the same switch if you get the rocker style. Just lube it with some electrical contact lube to keep it clean and it will work better.
I have the T1500 and have had no problems with it. I would like to have a more powerfull model, but this one has pulled my 600lb quad out of the muck when I had it in over the fenders w/o a ****** block. I stahled it twice, but I also pulled a small tree out of the soft muck when trying to pulling my quad out, so it does have good power.
If you are doing heavy pulling, buy a ****** block and you will double the pulling power.
Good luck.
Ingoldx1
95' Sportsman
99' Trail Boss