8274?

pipeline

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2005
Location
Albemarle
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I went to use my winch today and it would power out but not in. I had this problem when I tried to clean out the mud from my wheelin trip a few weeks ago. I found out then that one of the wires going to the bottom left solenoid(sp) was broken. I fixed it and then it worked fine. I removed the cover and all the wires were intack this time. When I try to let it power in both the left solenoids(sp) would click but no movement. Any ideas to what is causing this?
 

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My guess would be bad solenoids. Mine occasionally does the same thing, I've just been too lazy to order the new solenoids.
 
I would take a wire brush to the cable connections. Solenoid may be working, but power path blocked by film of corrosion.
Could also substitute a ford solenoid to see if it will work. They won't last too long but good enough to test. OHM the cables too
 
FYI to test you can also bypass the solenoid all together
 
I replaced all the solenoids and now the winch works. I just don't know which specific solenoid was the problem.

If you understand how a solenoid works, they are pretty easy to test.

If you have a multi meter, thats the easiest way (hell a cheap one is $5 at walmart) you have 3 poles. Power In, Power Out, and Coil.

The Power In and Power Out are normally disconnected (like an on/off light switch) when 12V is induced into the coil, they become connected...simple test. Hook up a multi-meter on the in and out and touch 12v to the coil...the good one will close (ring if you are using a continuity checker with buzzer) the bad one wont...

[Before someone breaks out their E-muscles and goes hyper tech - Ok I have WAAAAY overly simplified and left out a few more technical problems...but this should get him going]
 
just bumping this back to the top. good info. im diagnosing my solenoid pack right now.
 
Throw the solenoids in the junk and get a contactor and never look back (I guess about $100 upgrade when all is said and done). Also a good time to move the contactor under the hood and get rid of the rest of the crappy plastic warn solenoid box. Mount a remote plug in the grill somewhere for a nice clean install and look using a round 4 or 5 prong trailer plug also shit canning the rest of the warn plastic crap that's integral to that wonderful box. Great winches but the control box stuff always seems like it should say harbor freight on it to me.
 
I agree with the above. I replaced both of the solenoid packs on my winches with contactors (about $110 on Summit Racing) and replaced the plugs with military-style screw on connectors. I have no issues with my winches anymore.
 
Part numbers or specs on your contactors?

I got mine from Summit. Here is the link. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/spw-90-14452 $111 now I see. Warn also sells a version of this but it's quite a bit more I believe. Search the part number or '8274 contactor' or 'albright contactor' and you'll find a more info on this mod than you ever wanted to know. Its really simple to do, just fighting with the damn big ass power cables is the only part that is a pain. Just mount it wherever you like (on the winch inside the warn box (it can fit into the original box if you want to go that way), or under the hood (I fabbed a bracket and mounted on my passenger side TJ fender well, resulted in a real clean install and has worked great). I pasted in a typical diagram below I found on the web. Basically the contactor is just a big ass heavy duty relay that pulls in two different circuits depending on whether you want to go in or out. Nothing magical happening and I think a ton more robust than the solenoid rats nest. Then there is a hot from the batt (big cable) and 3 cables out to the 8274 motor (armature A, F1 and F2). Then there are 4 (I think) wires to the controller (a hot, in, out and ground), some have 5 wires but do some reading and it will be clear. I also welded a 5/16" bolt to my motor housing to use as a ground lug and grounded all my grounds directly to that lug then used the big cable back to the negative on the battery. Use welding cable not battery cables for your heavy wiring. probably anything bigger than 2AWG will work but I went with 2/0 and frankly its too big (too hard to maneuver). Probably would used 1/0 or 1AWG if I did this again. Just go to a welding shop to get the cable, the welding cable has a better insulation on it (more resistant to crap) and more importantly will be many more strands that make up the cable vs. batt cable wiring. Get the terminal lugs from http://www.genuinedealz.com/ (thanks to @shawn ) and put on some mil spec battery cable terminals while you are at it. When you get your lugs from genuinedealz, also get some adhesive lined shrink tube for all these connections, good product and makes a nice install. On your controller extension cord, nothing magical about that thing either. Both ends of the original warn controller cable come off with some persuasion and you can figure out what does what on that and put a better end on the plug in terminus and then use whatever type connection you please rather than the cheap ass warn plastic crap. I used a metal trailer plug but I assume you can get something even better than that. If you are doing all this, it's also not too much more trouble to wire it into the cab as well while you're at it. Google this stuff and it's all quite well documented, just make sure it makes sense when you read it as like anything else there is always a few bullshit ideas amongst the good upgraded on the innerwebz. PM me if you have questions, I did this entire mod back in the spring and worked out great. Happy to try and help or take some pics if needed too.


astatic.summitracing.com_global_images_prod_large_spw_90_14452_w.jpg



aforum_ih8mud_com_attachments_albrightwire_jpg_524629__.jpg
 
Here's my set-up using the superwinch contactor under the hood. All the big cables are 2/0 AWG welding cables.


Contactor under the hood. Use some boots on the ends of the big ass cables. The fuse is on the hot wire going to the remote plug. The 3 small wires on the spade terminals are the ground and in/out from the remote plug.

IMG_3765.JPG

Shitty picture, but this is the ground lug welded onto the motor housing.
IMG_3762.JPG

More boots on the cables on the motor. Notice no warn plastic shit box anymore.
IMG_3761.JPG

Contactor, top side. Mounted with a home made bracket to the fender. Picture looks like its close to the alternator but it's deceiving, it's several inches away. I don't have A/C, if you do, you may have to negotiate that a bit.
IMG_3764.JPG


Mil spec batt terminals on shitty battery. When you do this upgrade it's a good time to put new ends on your OEM batt cables.
IMG_3763.JPG


remote plug, mounted in the grill. Fabbed a simple bracket for that and mounted to the side of the radiator on drivers side.
IMG_3767.JPG


Full frontal view
IMG_3768.JPG


Another pic of the ground lug in the back and the F1, F2 and A cables
IMG_3759.JPG
IMG_3760.JPG


To insall the lugs on all of this, I used one of these and my shop press. Makes a really nice crimped connection that I can't see ever coming loose. Like 10 bucks or something for this thing.

awww.bandc.biz_ProductImages_ICT_1.jpg


Last thing. While you are upgrading, it's a good time to shitcan the damn aircraft wire cable for some 3/8" dyneema or amsteel synthetic rope. It's actually about twice the tensil strength as the cable, flexible, light and won't probably kill you if it ever did snap. Also, with some reading, you can splice your own ends onto it at will, very simple to do and a nice upgrade. Do your homework and you can get it for $125 or less for 125 ft (or you can also spend $350 if you don't look around).
 
Somebody on here pointed out to me that the Warn brand contactors have an extra set of contacts to energize the pack. It's an extra possible point of failure, but does add an additional safety margin against the contacts welding together. I'm using the $100 Superwinch contactor on our 8274, but might try the Warn one the next time around.

Also, to anybody close to Raleigh, I have an actual crimp tool that you're welcome to use to terminate cables. I'm ashamed to admit that I bought a bunch of parts from genuinedealz.com with the intention of redoing a bunch of wiring on the trailer and the Jeep, but haven't gotten around to doing any of it.
 
I have purchased the military style battery terminals at NAPA before. It was a special order item, but they had them in a day or three. I think there were two terminals to a box (box of negatives, box of positives):

NAPA military battery terminals
728222
728223

I'm not sure these part numbers are current anymore, but it's a starting point.
 
I cannot take original credit for the connectors one, someone modded my winch before I bought it used, but I converted my rear winch. The connectors are stout and since they screw together will never come loose when you are trying to use them. They are sealed to the elements if you use the screw cover. They are not cheap but nothing good ever is.

I did do the soldenoid however. Here is how my solenoid looks under the stock solenoid cover, same one mentioned in the post above from Summit Racing (Superwinch contactor). Turned sideways it fit pretty well and left room for me to install a terminal block to make wiring the in-cab controls easier:

ai233.photobucket.com_albums_ee179_trustonlyme_Frontier_20Project_0DSC05935.jpg


The connector is a circular MIL-spec Amphenol connector. The pictures are "representative" off of Mouser's website, not the actual connectors.

Male Connector for Remote:

awww.mouser.com_images_amphenol_images_ms3106e.jpg


Mouser Part #:
654-MS3106E18-4P
Manufacturer Part #:
MS3106E18-4P


Description: Circular MIL Spec Connector 4P #16 PIN CONTACTS

Female Connector:

awww.mouser.com_images_amphenol_images_ms3102e.jpg


Mouser #: 654-MS3102E18-4S

Mfr. #: MS3102E18-4S
Desc.: Circular MIL Spec Connector4P #16 SKT CONTACTS

Screw Cover:
awww.mouser.com_images_amphenol_images_MS25043_xx_cap.jpg

Mouser #: 654-APHMS25043-18DA

Mfr. #: MS2504318DA
Desc.: Circular MIL Spec Tools, Hardware & Accessories

Here is what they look like covered up:

ai233.photobucket.com_albums_ee179_trustonlyme_Frontier_20Project_0DSC06289.jpg
 
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just to keep the good info rolling on on whats turning out to be a great tech thread here are a few more helpful links

TPI4x4 carries the contactors, they are next door in Tennesee for those that prefer to "shop local" or "support the little guy". $119.95
http://www.tpi4x4.com/online-store?...ils&product_id=1131&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0


And Mr. Bill Ansel has a great write up on complete tear down of the 8274
http://www.billavista.com/Tech/Articles/Warn_8274_Winch_Rebuild/index.html

Bill Ansel's solenoid how to:
http://www.billavista.com/Tech/Articles/Ask_BillaVista/index.html
 
Somebody on here pointed out to me that the Warn brand contactors have an extra set of contacts to energize the pack. It's an extra possible point of failure, but does add an additional safety margin against the contacts welding together. I'm using the $100 Superwinch contactor on our 8274, but might try the Warn one the next time around.

Also, to anybody close to Raleigh, I have an actual crimp tool that you're welcome to use to terminate cables. I'm ashamed to admit that I bought a bunch of parts from genuinedealz.com with the intention of redoing a bunch of wiring on the trailer and the Jeep, but haven't gotten around to doing any of it.
Napa #st402. Looks like a ford starter solenoid but is continuous duty used as a dual battery isolator. I'm using one inline on my truck, dad's bronco, and a friends truck to kill power to the winch when not in use or if the solenoids stick. If your contactor or solenoid pack doesn't have one its like $40 and you just put it near the battery and power it up with a toggle on the dash. If it welds up or the contacts corrode or whatever you can simply move the winch feed over to the battery post to bypass then unhook it after.
 
Any issues doing the contactor upgrade on a hs9500? Mine needs some solenoids anyway

None. Should be an easy swap for any winch except for maybe Warn's powerplant and CTI models.... but even those may have contactors already.
 
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