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Probably a dumb winch question

3K views 31 replies 4 participants last post by  CrazyElecE 
#1 ·
Sorry for the rookie question, I’m kinda new to this SxS world… I installed a new 5k lb Badlands and 2 weeks ago used it for the first time and it worked great. On this first use I did not free the spool to pull the line out, I let the line out using the winch (not sure why, yes it was slow), but it winched back in just fine. Today, I needed it again and freed the spool to pull the line out (turned the clutch dial counter-clockwise until it clicked then stopped), then I connected to the tree and rotated the clutch dial clockwise until it stopped and when I tried to winch in I could hear the clicks but the winch didn’t turn. Is there something else I need to do to re-engage the winch after freeing the spool, besides turning the dial back clockwise? Nothing is mentioned in the manual. Since I’ve used it before I’m confident everything is wired right and should work fine. Anyone have a guess on this? I have been thru any water the could have hurt this, only been riding on forest trails. Thanks so much!
 
#2 ·
Sounds like your not fully engaging the dogs in the clutch after you free spool.
I free spool and then engage the lock on the winch and give the rope a tug with my hand to ensure the dogs are fully engaged to winch in.

If you winch a lot and in sometimes the solenoid gets over heated and will quit working momentarily till it cools down- so just an FYI--
Had this happen a few time in Moab doing a lot of retrievals using the winch a lot.
 
#3 ·
Sounds like your not fully engaging the dogs in the clutch after you free spool.
I free spool and then engage the lock on the winch and give the rope a tug with my hand to ensure the dogs are fully engaged to winch in.

If you winch a lot and in sometimes the solenoid gets over heated and will quit working momentarily till it cools down- so just an FYI--
Had this happen a few time in Moab doing a lot of retrievals using the winch a lot.
I’m not sure how to engage the dogs in the clutch other than to rotate the dial fully clockwise,..? Another problem is that now the cable is completely off the winch - someone tried to pull me out using my winch line that I couldn’t winch back in and it yanked my cable completely off my spool. I thought pulling the line out manually using the free spool would have automatically stopped once there was only a few wraps of the line still on the spool, but I guess you have to carefully watch that when free spoiling out, to make sure you a leave a few wraps on there? So now I gotta reattach my cable too, which will be tricky since the winch is so tight up in there. Maybe this is a good time to replace it with a synthetic winch cable?
 
#4 ·
Never let anyone pull you out using your winch as anchor- It’s not made to be used an a anchor point . You could have damaged the engagement and the lock (dogs).
Did you try to hand move the drum and rotate the engagement/free spool knob to get it to lock ?
 
#5 ·
Never let anyone pull you out using your winch as anchor- It’s not made to be used an a anchor point . You could have damaged the engagement and the lock (dogs).
Did you try to hand move the drum and rotate the engagement/free spool knob to get it to lock ?
Yea, I just read that somewhere else (about not letting someone pull on my winch cable). I’m hoping no damage was done because when they pulled, my RZR didn’t even move, the cable pulled off the winch very easily, I must’ve only had a tad bit still connected. I didn’t try that about hand turning the drum and trying to engage the lock at the same time, I’ll try that tomorrow, thanks for that tip!
 
#11 ·
No, I just hear the clicks, maybe that’s the solenoid I hear? The motor doesn’t do anything. I checked all the connections and they all look brand-new. I just installed this a month ago and taped/covered all the connections really good, and they still look like when I did it. So strange…
 
#12 ·
If the solenoid clicks but the winch doesn’t run………Either
A. The motor is no good
B. The solenoid is not sending power to the winch, even though it clicks
C. You have no power going to the solenoid, other than the trigger power.
D. You have some kind of open circuit betweeen solenoid and winch motor.
B and D could be related.
Yoiu need to make sure electric power is getting to all connections and proceed from there.

PS. When one has any kind of automotive electrical glitch……….
CHECK AND MAKE SURE ALL GROUND CONNECTIONS ARE GOOD!
About 99% of electircal issues are related to poor ground connections.
 
#18 ·
Is there a fuse on the main power cable going to the contactor?

1st check the voltage between the red and black wires at the contactor

2nd if that is good check the voltage between yellow and blue while holding the winch control (in or out doesn't matter)

3rd if that is good do the same at the motor

If you can see the voltage at the motor, but it doesn't spin then you need to pull it.
 
#19 ·
Yes, there’s an inline fuse. By “contactor” I assume you mean the bus bar that Polaris provides, for people to get power from, under the hood, true? If that’s true, what’s the difference between your #2 and 3, aren’t you basically having me just test both ends of the same blue/yellow wires? Is that just to confirm the wires themselves are conducting the electricity properly?
 
#23 ·
There are two circuits, the power side (heavy wires) and the control side (smaller wires). The control side can be fine and is usually powered off the bus bar, and it will switch the contactor (hearing the clicking noise), but if there is no power on the power circuit there is nothing there to make the motor work.
 
#26 ·
So you’re saying to check the fuse between the bus bar and the battery, not the in-line fuse For my winch power cable, from what I read before that is pretty hidden and hard to get to. But if I have power on the bus bar I guess that will answer that question, I’ll check this afternoon.
 
#27 ·
Put my multimeter on every hop and I have 12.5 at the battery and 4.5ish at the bus bar, and also have 4.5 on the red/black posts on the solenoid/contactor. Does Polaris somehow reduce the current going to the bus bar? I think this proves that the in-line fuse between the battery and bus bar is not blown, true? To continue, the blue/yellow posts on the solenoid show zero even when I push the button to activate the winch. The black/red on the solenoid go from 4.5 to 0 when I push the winch button - is this working correctly? When I push the winch button should the solenoid transfer the current from the red/black posts (which is getting power from the bus bar) to the blue/yellow posts (which then go to the winch motor of course)? If so, maybe I have a bad solenoid? It worked fine last time I used it though, just a couple weeks ago, so I would wonder how it goes bad all on its own with nothing happening to it.
 
#28 ·
Sounds like fuse is blown and it's picking up some strange stray voltage. Any other accessories connected to the bus on that leg? Voltage and current are different animals. The voltage drops to 0 because the 4.5 volts isn't truely there and once load is applied it disappears. You can test this by using a pair of jumper cables, clip one lead to the battery and the other end to the bus or the contactor (which ever is easier) and see if the winch works.
 
#29 ·
Could I have blown the fuse when I used the winch the last time, even though it seemed to work fine? Nothing else is connected to my bus bar, so I'm not sure how it could get blown. Since we talked, I did confirm that the winch works, I connected to a nearby car battery. I took out the interior/center plastic pieces to get to the wiring and so far have run my wires to connect the winch directly to the battery, but while I have it exposed I may as well get the bus bar working correctly. I can see quite a bit of the wiring but some is still covered with what looks like the frame - do I need to access the rest of the wiring from underneath by removing some skid plates, or have you done that before? If I can find that fuse to cut it out and insert something more easily replaceable, do you know what size I'd use? In other threads I see people suggesting anywhere from 150A to 250/300A...
 
#31 ·
Hi again, just want to run something by you... I believe if I took my RZR to the dealer to get the winch installed they'd tap into the bus bar for power (rather than go direct to the battery). I'm curious how they can do that if the fuse is 150-200A, because I just found in my winch manual (Badlands 5000 lb) that it has a max draw of 296A (to pull 5000lb), and even if it's pulling 3000lb it says it will draw 168A, and 232A at 4000 lbs. I don't imagine the Polaris or other bands of winches can draw much less power. Once I find my fuse hopefully it'll say the amps on it, and hopefully I can tell if it's blown - if it's blown, maybe this explains it, maybe I drew too much power last time I used it, but then again, when I was winching in it didn't suddenly stop, it seemed to work fine. Any ideas on how they can connect to the bus base and this other stuff?
 
#32 ·
It's common because it's convenient, plus I think that's how Polaris used to say to wire theirs up. But mainly it's just easier and faster, and time is money for them.

Usually fuses pop at the switch on or switch off point, that is very common. Without having to go on and on into the physics of electronics and background of why, suffice it to say that at those two moments in time there is a "rush" of current and the Amp load is temporarily higher.
 
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