Topic: Wireless Winch Remote (Read 6558 times)

cheese_aholic · « **on:** October 22, 2015, 05:10:59 PM »

Hey peeps.
After a bit of tech advice...
I have a Tabor 12k winch on my truck, with the standard wander lead (5 pin jobby)
I'd like to replace it with a wireless remote, and have seen a few that look up for the job.
Thing is, they all seem to have simple 12v trigger wire setup (for forward and reverse) but I can't see how that would work to replace the 5 pin setup on mine.
From what I can see, the switch on my current setup doesn't just send a 12v trigger to the solenoid; it seems to do a bit more...
As always any help be much appreciated...

JamesH · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2015, 06:28:14 PM »

Don't.

Wire in an in-cab switch if you don't already have one, three wires is usually enough.

Last thing you want when recovering your self or anyone else or hanging off a tree trying to get a punch is the wireless controller cutting in and out.

Just my opinion based on enough brown trouser moments with a wired connection not to want to add to the situation.

wildwood · « **Reply #2 on:** October 22, 2015, 06:54:44 PM »

Agree.....

In cab switches with on off is the way to go...... And fit a brown trouser kill switch .....saved my butt twice already

Keep the wander lead for respooling after winching so you can see what you're doing ( in case winch bitch goes on strike)

Delk · « **Reply #3 on:** October 22, 2015, 07:05:09 PM »

I have a second switch on the front of my jeep for spooling the winch. Its in a safe place and never been hit. I still carry the wander cable but dont remeber when it was used last.

JamesH · « **Reply #4 on:** October 22, 2015, 07:06:45 PM »

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #5 on:** October 22, 2015, 08:09:29 PM »

Thanks all...
How easy is it to wire an in-cab switch (or buttons?) for 'winch in' and 'winch out'?
I think i have a momentary switch that would do the job just fine somewhere in the man cave...!

Delk · « **Reply #6 on:** October 22, 2015, 08:37:03 PM »

The other year i attacked my jeep and removed years of bad wiring i installed.

The easiest is to take a fused supply and feed this to an on off switch. That way you can shut off the controls at a minimum. This then feeds a three way self centering switch used to control the winch. The two wires output wires would then go to the control side of the winch solenoid. One for in and the other for out.

You should be able to open up your remote to get an idea what does what.

I have a big isolation solenoid after my second battery. This feeds the the winch, controls and all my extras. The isolation switch cuts this killing all power to the winch. Even if the winch solenoid sticks i can stop it.

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #7 on:** October 22, 2015, 11:35:49 PM »

Thanks Delk,
It's this bit that I get a bit lost on:
"two wires output wires would then go to the control side of the winch solenoid. One for in and the other for out"
My winch control (wander lead) socket has 5 pins, kinda like the attached photo.
I get that black and green are winch out and winch in respectively, but it seems the wander lead switch also connects brown and red together, at the same time as either winch out or winch in.
Simply connecting a trigger 12v to only black or green doesn't start the winch motor...

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #8 on:** October 22, 2015, 11:36:27 PM »

Oops; forgot attachment...

Delk · « **Reply #9 on:** October 23, 2015, 08:05:12 AM »

I have no clue why they wired a ground and everything else into the controller. Do you have an emergency stop on your controller?

The only two items you concerned with is the in and out at the solenoid. I piggy backed some connectors on at this point so the hand set wiring and everything else is original.

If you supply 12v to the yellow contactor at the solenoid the winch goes out. If you supply 12v to the blue contactor the winch goes in.

How you do this is up to personal taste and what you have at hand. I am guessing the red blob in the upper right is a manual cut off switch. You can see they are taking the power for the hand controller from this. If you are running anything into the cab it should be fused. You can either take the power from this point and run it into the cab or take an existing 12v supply that is already fused and use this. You then run the two wires to the yellow and blue contacts on the solenoid. It is also nice to have switch to turn the power on and off in the cab. This way the system is dead until you need it preventing accidental movement.

To see how it works you can use a jumper wire and go direct from the positive terminal A on the solenoid and touch either the yellow or blue contacts.

So you are back to three wires.
Power wire in the cab. Fuse required, switched is good
One wire to solenoid for in
Second wire to solenoid for out

To make it even better run a second power wire forward (mine is controlled by the same power switch in the cab) and put a second switch up forward for spooling the cable in and out. The two wires from this switch would go to the same place on the solenoid as the ones from the cab so you end up with several connections onto the blue and yellow terminals.

http://www.goodwinch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/solenoid_wiring.pdf

Delk · « **Reply #10 on:** October 23, 2015, 08:26:30 AM »

Take this for what it is. Two minutes with paint.

A fused on/off and in/out switch in cab.
Master cut out switch either manual or electric powered by the on/off switch

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #11 on:** October 23, 2015, 09:21:24 AM »

Thanks Delk,
The problem I have is that although my controller is the same as the one on the little diagram I found, my solenoid arrangement is the standard Tabor setup (the one on the diagram is using a Superwinch solenoid with a simple winch in / winch out trigger)
My setup looks a little like the attached and it seems that using a jumper wire to either the 'in' or 'out' solenoid won't actually activate the motor.
It needs an additional contact between the brown and red leads.
I'm sure there's some way to bypass this, but it's not proving as easy as I first thought!
I did try permanently connecting the brown and red together, and although I could then start the winch by applying a 12v trigger to either solenoid, the only way it would stop was by removing the temporary jumper between red and brown!

wildwood · « **Reply #12 on:** October 23, 2015, 09:56:21 AM »

Sounds like a simple on off switch in the cab for the brown and red sitting next to the momentary up down switch for your 'trigger' switch.

This is what I use Incab to start and operate my Allbright solenoids for the 8274

I use carling switches.

Delk · « **Reply #13 on:** October 23, 2015, 10:10:02 AM »

That's the same set up as the old Warn winch I had. The little round solenoids are not man enough and I used to burn them out now and again. And they always failed and the wrong time.

The control wiring is the same but the connections differ because the solenoids. See the attached and it should help. There are a million drawings on google if you use Warn winches in the search.

Personally I would change the solenoids before doing anything else. I would trust a knockoff Albright over the round ones.

http://www.goodwinch.com/electrical/

Delk · « **Reply #14 on:** October 23, 2015, 11:21:28 AM »

Here is a reasonable drawing of your solenoids. Replace them and make your life simpler.

Not sure but for some reason they use an intermittent ground. They probably considered it safer since you had to make both the power and ground contact.

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #15 on:** October 23, 2015, 11:32:23 AM »

Quote from: wildwood on October 23, 2015, 09:56:21 AM

Sounds like a simple on off switch in the cab for the brown and red sitting next to the momentary up down switch for your 'trigger' switch.

This is what I use Incab to start and operate my Allbright solenoids for the 8274

I use carling switches.

Thanks Wildwood,
I did consider that, but it seems that to stop the motor, one has to break both contacts, so once it's running I'd need to not only release the momentary switch but also flick the on/off switch as well. Another thing to remember in the heat of the moment; my memory's bad at the best of times!

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #16 on:** October 23, 2015, 11:34:50 AM »

I'm inclined to agree that replacing the solenoids is a good bet. They are a little temperamental any ways, so that'll be my next job.
Plus it'll make it easier to wire in-cab switch, and possibly external one too at some point.
Thanks for everyone's advice...

JamesH · « **Reply #17 on:** October 23, 2015, 11:58:55 AM »

The superwinch / goodwinch version of Allbright is good and easy to wire up and is what I would recommend too.

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #18 on:** October 23, 2015, 12:06:06 PM »

Something like this...?

http://www.electricwinchshop.co.uk/superwinch-90-32459.html

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #19 on:** October 23, 2015, 02:47:57 PM »

Or do I need to go THAT heavy duty...?
500amps...??

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #20 on:** October 23, 2015, 03:02:40 PM »

Quote from: Delk on October 22, 2015, 08:37:03 PM

I have a big isolation solenoid after my second battery. This feeds the the winch, controls and all my extras. The isolation switch cuts this killing all power to the winch. Even if the winch solenoid sticks i can stop it.

What isolation solenoid are you using Delk?

Delk · « **Reply #21 on:** October 23, 2015, 03:49:14 PM »

http://www.devon4x4.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=37640&category_id=83&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=14

Above is a big Albright one and I think its what I have.

As mentioned after years of sticking things on I ripped everything out and started over.

I have a single alternator feeding a big Mastervolt split charger.
Two odyssey batteries stuffed on top of each other in the stockish location. They are tight and may limit my plans to highline the fenders next. One battery is for the Jeep and one for everything else.
Manual Isolation switch for the Jeep battery but other then that everything else is close to stock.
The other battery feeds into a big Albright isolation solenoid. You can get these all over, Goodwinch, Devon etc.
The isolator then feeds a small fuse panel before going to the extras such as my compressor, horns and so on plus a direct feed to the winch. I work in the marine industry so I had some electricians that could loan me the crimp tools and items to make all my battery and winch cables.

The isolator is controlled by a switch in the cab so I can kill the extras in a panic but keep the jeep running. The Jeep can be stopped by the manual isolation if need be.

The in cab switches are where the ash tray used to be.
Top row has the kill switch, air compressor, front ARB
Bottom row has a winch on/off switch, red light showing you its active then an in/out switch
Below this I have a voltage gauge for the aux system.

The attached picture shows what I have stuffed in the front of the Jeep. I don't have a picture of the stuff installed but it did come out well. The split charger is inside the cab where the passenger air bag used to be so you cant see it. I have full harness, cage and drive like an idiot so air bags were no longer an option.

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #22 on:** October 23, 2015, 04:23:03 PM »

Sounds like a great setup mate...!
Is a 250a isolator OK as my winch draws 540a (allegedly!)?
Will I also need a heavy duty (500a) solenoid setup for my winch as well, or is that just overkill...?

Delk · « **Reply #23 on:** October 23, 2015, 04:49:48 PM »

Best to give the winch guys a call

cheese_aholic · « **Reply #24 on:** October 25, 2015, 05:39:41 PM »

Waiting for WARN to get back to me...
While waiting, had a close look at the existing solenoids. They appear to be rated at 100A, so one must assume are OK for a winch that's rated at 540A.
Seems odd to me, but I'm no expert.
I've ordered a new winch control solenoid and am thinking of simply using one of the old (but working) WARN solenoids as an isolator...
I shall also wire up in cab controls for the winch, and also wire in the socket for my existing wander lead so keeping all options open!
Simples!!

Author Topic: Wireless Winch Remote (Read 6558 times)

cheese_aholic

Delk

cheese_aholic

Delk

cheese_aholic

cheese_aholic

Delk

Delk

cheese_aholic

Delk

Delk

cheese_aholic

cheese_aholic

cheese_aholic

cheese_aholic

cheese_aholic

Delk

cheese_aholic

Delk

cheese_aholic