amp draw from winch

[swynx]

so I just ordered the badlands 12k winch for 299$, I have been reading articles about it, but then I found this article.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/1112or-badlands-12000-pound-winch-best-deal-in-winching/?r=19104_4398154&#ixzz1bFbjF8Qa

in that article it states the amp draw while pulling 12k lbs is 320 amps.

i have upgraded to the 130 amp alternator, and i have a new walmart battery with 850 cca.

but what does that mean for my alternator? what should i do?

im new to this and not sure if this will be a problem.

 

[Destroyer000]

iam running a dual battery set up with a 200amp alt. i run a 12k smittybilt winch and if your pulling hard it draws the juice! with your set up you should be alright for short periods. i wouldnt do a heavy pull for 5 plus min with it.

 

[FritzTKatt]

Not sure what the draw on a Warn m8k is, but I don't have problems with it. Also I keep the throttle at 1-1.2k while winching.

 

[alaskan155]

so I just ordered the badlands 12k winch for 299$, I have been reading articles about it, but then I found this article.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/1112or-badlands-12000-pound-winch-best-deal-in-winching/?r=19104_4398154&#ixzz1bFbjF8Qa

in that article it states the amp draw while pulling 12k lbs is 320 amps.

i have upgraded to the 130 amp alternator, and i have a new walmart battery with 850 cca.

but what does that mean for my alternator? what should i do?

im new to this and not sure if this will be a problem.

the 800 cca battery will be fine, i have the same winch and battery on my 88 bronco and factory alt.

my only recommendation with that winch is throw the breakers with it into the garbage, they are under rated for the winch and will trip out to easy. i have mine wired directly to the battery.

 

[Andy D]

the 800 cca battery will be fine, i have the same winch and battery on my 88 bronco and factory alt.

my only recommendation with that winch is throw the breakers with it into the garbage, they are under rated for the winch and will trip out to easy. i have mine wired directly to the battery.

Just curious, do you have a fire extinguisher within reach ? I'm not saying that I wouldn't do the same , but you're playing with fire eliminating the PITA protectors. Wabbout a 40 amp fuse.?

 

[RonD]

Car batteries are made for a quick high amp discharge then a fast recharge, they are made with thin plates so they can do this.
They will last 5 to 7 years with that type of use.

A winch will need to draw steady high amps, this will shorten the life of a car battery, they are not made to provide long term power, they do not recover fully when discharged past a certain point.
Normal vehicle operation is, engine starts, battery is out of the circuit, alternator is powering everything, so the battery really isn't used that much, it only has 12.6 volts and vehicle runs at 13.6volts, so battery isn't used, this is why you can disconnect a battery after engine is running, although with the new electronics it isn't a good idea to test that any more, lol.

When you add a winch you should really add a second "deep cycle" battery, deep cycle batterys are made with thicker plates, they can't discharge full amps all at once because of this, but can discharge more than enough to run a winch, and they are made to be drained, that's the "deep cycle" part, drain and recharge, drain and recharge, drain and recharge.

Hybrid batteries(car/deep cycle) are not any good, they combine the worse aspects of both types, pass on them.

Any alternator will work if you have a second battery, but no alternator will work to power a winch AND the vehicle, so winch will drain the battery it is hooked to no matter what alternator you have.
Question is do you want it to shorten the life of your car battery or run a dual battery setup.
A second battery is just not used that much and if car battery is not being drain then after startup and recharge most of the alternators amps will go to the second battery and recharge it pretty fast.
So alternator size isn't all that important, unless you are running lots of light and other non-stock electrics, lol.
Second battery is good for that too, party all night with sound system blasting and lights blazing, no worries in the morning about starting engine.

Also, picture winching yourself out of a tight spot and almost at the top where you will be free.............engine stalls, guess what, it probably won't restart, the reason it stalled was because voltage dropped too low and electrics glitched, won't be enough amps left to turn engine over.

Winches heat up pretty fast and draw even more amps, best to run them for 30seconds to 1 minute then rest a few minutes this will give the alternator a chance to recharge battery as well.
If winch draws 400amps, then alternator would take about 8 to 10minutes to recharge battery, if winch was run for 1 minute.

 

[swynx]

I have a buddy that says hell buy the winch for 300$ when it arrives.

I know that a 8/9k winch is enough for these truck, but will the extra 3k lbs work that much butter? I have 60 foot of strap and getting another 30, plus I have a snatch block so I can always double the pulling power.

I want something that will work with out too much fuss, id like to try and avoid buying a 2nd battery as im also trying to afford gears right now. eventually ill buy a 2nd deep cycle, but my current battery is still under warranty for 2 more years so im not afraid of killing it.

as ron said, id like to avoid that situation.

quadratec has a 9k winch for 300$ claims to have the lowest amp usage in its class, any one have any experience with them? they also have a limited lifetime warranty on mechanical parts and a 1 year warranty on electrical.

ive also considered the smittybuilt xrc8, as everyone recommends it, but while reading the manual I noticed that it draws 400 amps at full pull (9k) while the harbor freight pulls slightly less at 9k.

the other thing I was worried about was the duty cycle. the badlands winch only has 5%, which is like 45 seconds at 12k. im not sure that that is enough.

 

[swynx]

http://www.quadratec.com/products/92122_2000_07.htm

im kind of leaning on the quadratec, but idk any one that uses one.

quadratec also has an 11k winch, I read a bit about it on the jeep forums, and the guy that runs quadratec seems like a nice guy, there were very few problems with it, all the problems that people had were having frayed wire when the spooled it out. mr quadratec just sent them out a new spool for free.

the 11k costs a bit more (70$) but I think it would be a wiser investment as my truck probably weighs with gear and people close to 5500 lbs.

opinions on an 8k, 9k, 11k, 12k winch?

 

[RonD]

9k would be fine for 5,500lbs, general rule is 1.5 x vehicle weight, so that would be 8,250lbs

And winch pound rating is for the DRUM, that first layer of cable has the most pulling power, because it has the best ratio, second layer is less and 3rd layer even less.
Which is why you don't want a long cable on the winch.
You carry extra cable, you don't spool it.

 

[swynx]

In that case I would use all of my straps and extra cable before spooling the winch out. I have 100 foot of strap. So I could nearly reach 200 foot away. I think I'm gonna go with the quadratec q11000. That way I can give a review on both the harbor freight and the quadratec brand.