Winch power

[SteveC]

Does connecting two batteries help with winching?
What are the benefits and/or pifalls of doing so?
How would this work?

[reyzor]

depends how you hook em up.... im sure hunty would be able to explain better.... i was always under the impression that so long as you battery has a high cca you should be fine... i could be wrong though......Hunty..?

[Steve F]

As long as the engine is running and the winching is done in bursts you'll have no issue with one battery. Remember Wolfe up at Jenolan State Forest ;)

Connecting two batteries will give higher CCA and faster winching and is especially useful if the engine is dead or cant be run, regardless though a winch draws a lot of amps and will kill the battery/batteries pretty quickly without the engine running.

Cheers
Steve

[Hunty]

Hi Guys
This is a huge question;
Most people install a second battery for the purpose of running fridges and other camp side devices - computers, radio's TV's and lights.

The Battery of choice for this task is a "Deep Cycle" rated battery - Deep cycle batteries are designed to be flattened and recharged repeatedly unlike the battery installed in your jeep by Chrysler!

Starting batteries are designed to give a huge burst of energy ergo starting your car and are not very good at being flattened and recharged repeatedly as you would do by running your fridge all weekend long.

Most people have a "Start Battery" and an "Auxilary Battery" this allows them to run all the accessories they want whilst camping without the worry that their engine will not start when its time to go home.

There are many different electronic controllers and duall battery monitors on the market - essentially they do the same thing and that is;

1. Isolate the AUX battery when the engine is off (and you are camping etc running your fridge) from the start battery so you can only flatten the Aux Battery when the engine is not running.
2. connect the Aux battery to the engine Alternator so it can be recharged whilst driving
3. Expensive dual batt controllers will allow the "Paralleling" or "combining" of both batteries in case of emergency and you need to crank for an extended period of time - eg trying to restart an engine after flooding it in a water crossing etc or your main start battery is dying.

Now to your original question "Is it better to have 2 batteries for winching or just 1"
1. More batteries are always better for winching but in my opinion you could use the same argument re spare tyres and bolt on .....2,3 or 4 extra wheels to your Jeep! LoL

2. One Battery will get you out of trouble if you get bogged and your engine is still running - and alternator is charging your battery - you will be able to winch as long as you have fuel in your tank and your winch doesnt overheat, having said that you will need to winch intermittently allowing the alternator time to top up the battery.

3. if your engine is not running 2 batteries will only allow you to which a few minutes more than 1 Battery and in my opinion if your engine is dead you have bigger problems to deal with??? and a few extra winching minutes in my opinion is not worth the weight or expense! of an extra dedicated winch battery.

In my opinion you install a second battery for the purpose of running Camping stuff - fridges TV's and lights etc NOT for winching!

I would suggest a good quality dual battery controller such as red arc

I would also recommend your second battery be a good quality deep cycle such as Odyssey and it needs to be sealed not vented if you are going to place it inside the occupant section of your Jeep (or you risk gassing your self to death and risk of explosion)

I am in the middle of doing this to my heap and would be happy to show anyone at our next club meeting just how easy it is to do, and to explain in more detail to those who have questions.

I trust that makes it as clear as mud :)
cheers Hunty

[sbadman]

Just to add to what Hunty said, two batteries will last twice as long, but it will also take twice as long for the alternator to recharge them. So instead of winching in 30sec on/2min off blocks, you end up winching in 1min/4min blocks. Under some conditions trying to utilise the extra 30 seconds may be enough to cook the winch!

[SteveC]

Thanks guys
I'm asking as I already have 2 odyssey batteries under the hood (yellow top, which are starter and deep cycle at the same time) connected via a Project 150amp automatic isolator. this works very well although they do have one drawback that I recently experienced.
The other day I left the key in the ignition and this flattened the starter battery to zero....not a hint of life, so I thought I'd just pressed the link button on the projecta and it should start from the other. BUT NO, it did not . I was confused until I found, through their web site, that the starter battery must have a minimum 6V to link them together. I was able to start from the second after I physically connected the positive terminals, Then bingo - it started. It shows how easy it can be to flatten the main battery and now I carry a 175amp cable as a spare.
Which brings me to my original question.
I'm hoping to get a winch to help me to be more self sufficient and wanted to know what is the best way of connecting winch/batteries to ensure power and time is maximised safely. Also how do you really know if the batteries are fully charged anyway??

[Steve F]

I'd leave the batteries setup as you have them and connct the winch directly to the starting battery, in fact this is how I have mine and how most are setup. Just make sure the earth cable for the winch goes directly to the battery, if it goes to the frame then the earth strap becomes part of the winch wiring and it will not be able to cope with the amps the winch will try and pull and will melt, Steve T had this problem (previous owner install) quite a while ago now and it wouldn't surprise me if there are others setup like this as well. As an aside if the starter battery was below 10v its probably stuffed, 6V is amazingly dead and I'd be surprised if it recovers reliably enugh to keep using, I guess if it's a deep cycle/starter it has a better chance though.

Cheers
Steve