winch circuit breakers tripping

OldSchoolWhitey

New Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Location
Wallburg
So I bought a brand new badlands 120000 pound winch and installed it exactly as described in the manual. It has 3 50 amp circuit breakers that attach directly to the battery. My battery that I have is an AC Delco with only 580 cold cranking amps. My alternator is the biggest available without modifying to the top mount... which I do not want to do. Tha alt is said to put out 100 amps. All ofthis on a 1990 xj. My problem is no matter if my winch is under a load or not the circuit breaker continuously trips. Even with the jeep idled up slightly. What's the problem? Too small of a battery... should I run dual batteries ... or is there a problem with my circuit breakers? ?? Thanks for ANY suggestions!
 
The winch is gonna pull more than 150 amps. I dont have anything (fuses, circuit breakers) between my battery and winch. Just make sure that the + cable wont rub on anything.
 
What he said. That winch will likely pull 400+ amps at full load. And will likely pull enough load to burn the internal connections to your sidepost lugs. They're not as heavy as the internal wiring for top post.
 
Thanks for the input... I installed a bigger battery this afternoon. The manual recommends at least 650 cca. I was a lot less. So im also gonna remove the circuit breakers if the bigger battery don't help. And the battery is a top post... should be good now?!?!
 
Like they said...a 12k winch--especially a chinkmo one--is going to pull 2-3x what those breakers are rated for...especially if you're pulling with a lot of wire on the drum. Get rid of the circuit breakers.
 
Back
Top