Trailer Winch Wiring

[Brewsky88]

The 17' car hauler that I recently bought has a receiver welded on and braced very nicely for a removable winch along with a battery tray. I am buying a mount for the Warn that I pulled off of my old Jeep but it won't only get used on the trailer. Here is my thought, run cables to a quick disconnect on the truck hitch for use only on the truck, make a cable that is configured so that it can connect the truck either directly to the winch or to the battery to charge while driving, then mount a battery on the trailer with 2 sets of cables (1 to power the winch on its own and the second to connect to the truck for charging). The connectors will be configured so that it is impossible to mistakenly reverse the polarity I don't want to rely solely on the battery mounted on the trailer because I know I will forget to plug it in to the tender and it won't be any good when I need it. Has anyone wired up in this manner? Are there any reasons to absolutely not do it this way? I have attached a basic diagram of the plan I am thinking.

Note: The positive lead coming from the truck will have a solenoid wired into it with a rocker switch in the cab, that will only be powered when the ignition is on, to energize it so that the battery or winch (whichever is plugged in) will not run the truck battery dead.

 

[SteveH-CO]

Your diagram seems sound, but unless I'm way off, I think you're over-complicating this.

I would skip the expense and hassle of wiring the truck, and keep a dedicated winch battery in your garage, on a tender, and simply plop the battery on your trailer when you need it. I presume you won't be winching cars onto your trailer every day? Will you be winching so many cars in one day that your trailer battery will go dead before you can return home and charge it? If these last two questions are true, then you might need the truck battery option.

If you wire the truck to the rear bumper with thick cables, you will need to do so with great care so that they cannot short out and start a fire.

 

[readhead]

Seems complicated but will certainly work. My brother has a small solar panel on the trailer to keep the battery topped off. Winch works every time.

 

[Brewsky88]

I'll look into the solar charger. The only time that the extra power would really be needed is once a year when I volunteer to help take some of the cars from the demolition derby at the county fair to the scrap yard, in which case it would be 4-5 pulls a day for a couple days. For the time being I can keep a spare battery in the truck bed until I decide to wire in the cables on the truck.

 

[trackwelder]

Not sure what your tow vehicle is but I believe most trucks built in the last 10 years with a tow package have a hot wire in the trailer plug to help charge trailer batteries. Not sure if it would be sufficient enough for a heavy drain item like a winch. Just curious because a newer car trailer with a winch is on the top of my want list this year.

 

[kerrynzl]

The 17' car hauler that I recently bought has a receiver welded on and braced very nicely for a removable winch along with a battery tray. I am buying a mount for the Warn that I pulled off of my old Jeep but it won't only get used on the trailer. Here is my thought, run cables to a quick disconnect on the truck hitch for use only on the truck, make a cable that is configured so that it can connect the truck either directly to the winch or to the battery to charge while driving, then mount a battery on the trailer with 2 sets of cables (1 to power the winch on its own and the second to connect to the truck for charging). The connectors will be configured so that it is impossible to mistakenly reverse the polarity I don't want to rely solely on the battery mounted on the trailer because I know I will forget to plug it in to the tender and it won't be any good when I need it. Has anyone wired up in this manner? Are there any reasons to absolutely not do it this way? I have attached a basic diagram of the plan I am thinking.

Note: The positive lead coming from the truck will have a solenoid wired into it with a rocker switch in the cab, that will only be powered when the ignition is on, to energize it so that the battery or winch (whichever is plugged in) will not run the truck battery dead.

The plugs you need are called "Anderson Plugs". [these prevent reverse polarity]

Hard wire the winch directly to the battery but for safety add a Battery Isolator switch [ I once hauled a car onto a trailer and the winch remote jammed on, so the isolator saved the day ]
If the winch is removable use an Anderson plug[with a handle] as per your drawing and you wont need the isolator

Use the Anderson Plugs [at each end of the cable] to connect to your truck for charging the battery or to boost it if more power is needed.

To prevent the trailer battery draining the truck battery, use a high amp relay inline.[ between the 2 batteries ]
1: If this relay is mounted on the trailer, wire it up so the relay is activated by the taillights.
Drive with the lights on, and the battery is charging
Or
2: If this relay is mounted on the truck, wire it up so the relay is activated when there is oil pressure [ reverse post relay via the oil light ]
When the engine is running, and the battery is charging

This will prevent accidental discharge of the truck battery

You cannot use a diode between them because the flow of electricity needs to go from truck to trailer to charge [and discharge]

 

[csp]

Not sure if it would be sufficient enough for a heavy drain item like a winch.

It would not. Very little amperage is fed through that charge wire.

 

[mrolds88]

Not sure what your tow vehicle is but I believe most trucks built in the last 10 years with a tow package have a hot wire in the trailer plug to help charge trailer batteries. Not sure if it would be sufficient enough for a heavy drain item like a winch. Just curious because a newer car trailer with a winch is on the top of my want list this year.

Track is right. However you can use it to your advantage. You can wire it into your battery on the trailer so you can charge while on the trip. But you either need a switch inline or unplug the trailer connector when winching.

 

[R.Anderson]

I'll look into the solar charger. The only time that the extra power would really be needed is once a year when I volunteer to help take some of the cars from the demolition derby at the county fair to the scrap yard, in which case it would be 4-5 pulls a day for a couple days. For the time being I can keep a spare battery in the truck bed until I decide to wire in the cables on the truck.

Only thing I would add is a self resetting fuse on the positive feed from the truck battery. Other than that I would wire it as laid out. I second the "Anderson plug" no reversing those unless wired backwards.

I have a generator, lights, and a winch in a trailer that share a battery tended by two 5W solar panels and a charge controller. On top of that I ran a feed from my truck battery with a resetting fuse, had no problems.

 

[BKO 5]

I have this on my truck,

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Superwinch/SW2008.html

not complicated at all just have to get under your truck to run the wire. I know some prefer a battery but in my opinion there heavy, hazardous, and take up to much space in my tongue box. Its already packed with gear.

 

[gte718p]

I have Anderson connectors on the back of my F350 for a trailer winch. One of the best modifications I've made. Unfortunately you need large gauge wire to do a run that long with the current to run a winch. It is not cheap.

Anderson connectors also come in handy for jumping cars off from the back bumper and running 12 volt tools, lights, etc. I have a bunch of things with Anderson connectors on them that I can plug in.

 

[owenst7]

It would not. Very little amperage is fed through that charge wire.

But it could easily be used to top off the battery from the truck power while the truck is plugged in and running. Probably want to make sure there is something on there to limit current once the trailer battery has discharged otherwise it would just pop the fuse.

 

[APEowner]

There's no need to re-invent the wheel here. If the trailer has electric brakes and it and the truck are wired correctly then there's already a battery for the breakaway switch and it already has a charger powered by the 7 pin connector on the truck. Just replace the battery with a large deep cycle marine unit and add wires to an Anderson connector for the winch.

The truck can't power the winch directly but it will recharge the battery just fine.

 

[csp]

But it could easily be used to top off the battery from the truck power while the truck is plugged in and running.

Of course the "easily" part depends on how deeply the battery is discharged and how long truck is running with the trailer plugged into it. The wire size and distance from the alternator effectively makes it a trickle charger.

 

[owenst7]

Of course the "easily" part depends on how deeply the battery is discharged and how long truck is running with the trailer plugged into it. The wire size and distance from the alternator effectively makes it a trickle charger.

"Top off" / "trickle charge".

Tomato tomahto

 

[ibedayank]

Go to your local trailer repair and ask them what they recomend.
They will have the right parts for you to do it right and safely

 

[evildky]

I also have the anderson connectors, my main power feed goes from my truck battery to a starter solenoid wired to a toggle switch on the dash so I unless I switch it on the 20 foot of 2 gauge wire run from one end of my truck to the other is not live.

 

[Pooch897]

this is what I have for my tilt trailer with 10,000lb warn winch. Pulled hundreds of scrap cars on it with no issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JHunter]

Brew - what you described is exactly what I did minus the switch. I have an additional plug at the tow vehicle battery so the lines running to the hitch can be dead for safety, then plugged in to charge the trailer battery or directly run the winch.

 

[csp]

"Top off" / "trickle charge".

Tomato tomahto

Yet easily top off, as you described it, doesn't exactly make one think it could take a long time to actually top off the battery. That was my point.

 

[owenst7]

Yet easily top off, as you described it, doesn't exactly make one think it could take a long time to actually top off the battery. That was my point.

Why else would one specify that it's for "topping off" only, if not to point out that it's a low-current connection?

If a guy needs a crash course in Ohms Law, he probably shouldn't be doing this himself anyway.

If you just want the last word, that's fine. I'm not going to explain myself further here.

 

[APEowner]

I've never done the math or measured the charge current but unless it's sat for a long time the battery on my trailer has always had sufficient charge for the winch. If it has sat I charge it just like I would have to do with a smaller break away battery.

 

[csp]

Why else would one specify that it's for "topping off" only, if not to point out that it's a low-current connection?

Really? I can top off a low battery on the bench with 10 amps, 2 amps, or milli-amps. Which one is the trickle charge (rhetorical question)?

Just because you think "topping off" automatically implies a trickle charge doesn't mean the next guy does, especially if they don't know the difference.

Not sure why you have a problem with clarification of that.