winch help xrc-12

[2drxploder]

smittybilt xrc12, about 8-9 years old,lightly used before, has been sitting outside mounted to truck bumper. i removed, installed on my trailer, when i hooked power to it, the control box (not left outside) made a faint buzzing sound and thats it i used an old optima yellow-top, charged it first, i assume its good. any suggestions?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Can you roll it over by hand?

I don't have much experience with these... but if it's been sitting outside untouched for years... I would make sure it isn't seized.

 

[4x4junkie]

Buzzing sounds like the relays are not staying engaged (chattering) because of insufficient voltage. My suspicion would be that "old" battery you mentioned (lead-acid batteries (including AGM types like Optima) do go bad if they are left sitting around not fully charged).

I'd suggest try it with a known-good battery and see what happens (maybe try hooking it to the battery that is under your hood).

 

[2drxploder]

can roll it by hand, ill try a fresh battery tomorrow, thx

 

[2drxploder]

Tried fresh battery no good, had a friend triple check wiring and stuff, we concluded the weather got the best of the winch.

 

[4x4junkie]

Well that's certainly a bummer. Winches aren't very complicated devices though... You might look into disassembling it to see if you can find what is wrong and if it can be fixed (I'd bet it is as long as it wasn't actually submerged in water or has a past history of the motor being overheated).

Relays can be replaced, motors (the brushes & commutator) can be cleaned, gears & bearings cleaned & re-greased.

(I know this can be done with Warn winches anyway, I would assume a Smittybilt to be about the same).

 

[Shran]

I would disassemble the solenoid pack and see what it looks like... the old Smittybilt winches were notorious for bad seals on the control box. They would fill up with water and do weird stuff like this. You may be able to clean it up and make it work for just a small investment of time...or worst case replace whatever failed, parts are not super expensive and surely a lot cheaper than a new 12k winch. I would almost bet money that it's an easy and cheap fix.

 

[2drxploder]

The box definitely had some issues, used a friend's box that is known to be in working order. However the winch motor let out a large cloud of smoke rather quickly. We cracked it open and found alot of corrosion, similar to battery terminal corrosion, filled the engine cavity. Whiteish powder. It went to scrap pile. Ill order smaller winch for the car trailer, and the full-size bronco hasn't moved in 10 years, so when I get it running again ill be in the market for a 12k.

 

[Shran]

Bummer.

I would not have even suggested this a few years ago... but the new Badlands winches at Harbor Freight are not bad. I scored a 10k brand new at a pawn shop for $160 and put it on my car trailer. It's way better than the old Badlands winches, which were total pieces of shit, and it's a big upgrade from the Smittybilt XRC8 I had on it previously. Pulls a lot harder.

The controllers still suck donkey balls but that's easily overcome.

 

[holyford86]

....The controllers still suck donkey balls but that's easily overcome.

The Apex wired/wireless controllers are a big upgrade and are pretty reasonable too.