Advice request: How to wire aux equipment (winch/lights/GMRS) to GX460 battery

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John McVicker said:
@llm I am by no means an electrical guy, but 2 awg wire is significantly larger in size than 4 awg…& can safely handle a larger load than 4 awg.
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you are correct- 2 awg is a lot larger than 4 awg. it's 50%+ larger in terms of area.

For winch application, technically you are supposed to let the winch rest for 5 minutes after a minute of use to prevent overheating of winch motor. This resting of the motor also allows the wiring to cool and so you won't need as thick of a wire. After a minute of use, you have hopefully pulled the winch in a bit and it will now be operating with less current draw, so a smaller wire would be required and you can use it longer without overheating.

Here's a wire sizing chart I found online to help you find the right wire you need for your load. I'm not a professional electrical engineer so I tend to oversize and over engineer things. The only downsides I can see in oversizing your wiring is that it's a lot harder to install and it's more expensive. It's not only the wire, but you will also need more expensive connectors and tools like crimpers.

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Roody said:
So just a sanity check here, the winch controller and winch itself have separate wires correct? So they both either need to go directly to the battery, or the controller wiring can go through a bus bar?
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One lead will goto the winch one to the controller than there is a lead from the controller to the winch..
 
Just for an FYI here is how I wired my winch disconnect to my Blue Top battery. Right or wrong I prefer a manual disconnect vs a simple electric disconnect.

Used an Anderson Power Pole from the battery positive to the positive to the winch. I keep it disconnected until ready to put the winch into working mode. Which type of disconnect you choose is up to you…but be sure to use one.

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Just make sure to cap those ends otherwise dirt and crud could cause corrosion that leads to a failure to operate.
 
llm said:
you are correct- 2 awg is a lot larger than 4 awg. it's 50%+ larger in terms of area.

For winch application, technically you are supposed to let the winch rest for 5 minutes after a minute of use to prevent overheating of winch motor. This resting of the motor also allows the wiring to cool and so you won't need as thick of a wire. After a minute of use, you have hopefully pulled the winch in a bit and it will now be operating with less current draw, so a smaller wire would be required and you can use it longer without overheating.

Here's a wire sizing chart I found online to help you find the right wire you need for your load. I'm not a professional electrical engineer so I tend to oversize and over engineer things. The only downsides I can see in oversizing your wiring is that it's a lot harder to install and it's more expensive. It's not only the wire, but you will also need more expensive connectors and tools like crimpers.

View attachment 4104450
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Just remember this is based off of continuous use for 2 + hours.

Save the money and get a quality pre-termed cable terminated with a hydraulic compression tool.

Quality hydraulic compression fitting tools can be rented if you are determined to fully DIY.

I used them a lot for ground cables, when I was still in the trades.
 
This is my battery setup. Yeah, not the cleanest, but it makes it a lot easier to remove the terminal posts when needed.
Before, I had a bunch of wires stacked on the terminal nut. This much cleaner. Albeit, I need to get some caps for the exposed "+" and "-" posts.
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Lol yeah, once I add everything i will probably need bus-bars. 😅
Planning on adding Mobile Ham, GMRS and weboost. Not sure how I cam going to handle that yet.
 
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r2m said:
So far, these have worked out quite good in keeping all my cables organized and they weren't too expensive: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMZRD1P5?tag=ihco-20
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See I've been wondering about going that route instead of the bus bar and have gotten mixed feedback

Aren't they effectively different ways of doing the exact same thing? Or is there a benefit to the Kaas that I'm missing
 
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Roody said:
After a ton of research and analyzing current/future needs, I think I settled on a solution. With cost and ease of install being front of mind, here's what I'm planning.


This (very primitive) bus bar -- 300A should be more than enough since the winch will be wired directly to the battery. Will likely mount to the top of the fuse box and do some kind of sealant around every hold I drill.
View attachment 4104031
Amazon.com: 300A 12V Bus Bar with 6 x 3/8" (M10) Studs & Cover, Power Distribution Block for Marine Boat Solar RV, 12 Volt Bus Bar Terminal Block Kit with 4 AWG 1/0 & 8 AWG 2/0 Copper Lugs : Electronics - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0G7Y6VH6G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AURES3XE1VYF1&th=1



and this to prevent any potential parasitic drain
View attachment 4104032
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00445KFZ2?tag=ihco-20


I was considering something like this instead of the junction blocks, but everything I'll be hooking up (lights x2, GMRS) already has a fuse in-line so I'd be doing extra wiring that I really don't want to do. So seems unnecessary?
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...sea&qid=1773674090&sprefix=blu,aps,913&sr=8-7


Thoughts?
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Maybe I’m not understanding your setup, but what you describe doesn’t seem like the best way of doing things. If your goal is cleaning up the wiring, you haven’t changed anything from your current setup, but you’ve added even more wiring to it. From a safety perspective it’s not great because now you have even more unprotected runs of large gauge wires running around the engine compartment which is a hazard.

I would run the winch off the battery isolator to disconnect it when not in use. Then add a circuit breaker as close to the battery as possible running to an aux fuse/relay box and run all your wiring to there (and get rid of the inline fuses). That keeps all your electrical components in one area making it easier to diagnose issues. With the type of aux fuse box I linked above, you can choose which circuits are always on vs switched power (on with ignition) by modifying the wiring.
 
I was semi-joking about the busbar.

One thing I would recommend is getting the cable wrap from HF and putting that around your cabling.ziptied about every 12-18" and it just looks better and gives an extra layer of protection to the electrical cabling.
 
ducktapeguy said:
Maybe I’m not understanding your setup, but what you describe doesn’t seem like the best way of doing things. If your goal is cleaning up the wiring, you haven’t changed anything from your current setup, but you’ve added even more wiring to it. From a safety perspective it’s not great because now you have even more unprotected runs of large gauge wires running around the engine compartment which is a hazard.

I would run the winch off the battery isolator to disconnect it when not in use. Then add a circuit breaker as close to the battery as possible running to an aux fuse/relay box and run all your wiring to there (and get rid of the inline fuses). That keeps all your electrical components in one area making it easier to diagnose issues. With the type of aux fuse box I linked above, you can choose which circuits are always on vs switched power (on with ignition) by modifying the wiring.
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The goals are to clean up the wiring and make it so there aren't as many things connected directly to the terminal. Right now in addition to the battery it has the winch controller, fog lights, Lightforce lights, and GMRS all tied into each terminal. I'd like the minimum amount of stuff attached to the source, so wouldn't my plan at least get the lights and GMRS off the terminals?
 
Roody said:
The goals are to clean up the wiring and make it so there aren't as many things connected directly to the terminal. Right now in addition to the battery it has the winch controller, fog lights, Lightforce lights, and GMRS all tied into each terminal. I'd like the minimum amount of stuff attached to the source, so wouldn't my plan at least get the lights and GMRS off the terminals?
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Radios should go directly to the battery to minimize noise. If thats not practical. Run a negative back to the grounding point for the battery so at least it has a clean path to ground.
 
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Yea, I am tempted to get an 8 way power controller for things like lights. And then keep rhe big stuff and the radios on the battery terminals.
 
ducktapeguy said:
Maybe I’m not understanding your setup, but what you describe doesn’t seem like the best way of doing things. If your goal is cleaning up the wiring, you haven’t changed anything from your current setup, but you’ve added even more wiring to it. From a safety perspective it’s not great because now you have even more unprotected runs of large gauge wires running around the engine compartment which is a hazard.

I would run the winch off the battery isolator to disconnect it when not in use. Then add a circuit breaker as close to the battery as possible running to an aux fuse/relay box and run all your wiring to there (and get rid of the inline fuses). That keeps all your electrical components in one area making it easier to diagnose issues. With the type of aux fuse box I linked above, you can choose which circuits are always on vs switched power (on with ignition) by modifying the wiring.
Click to expand...

Hiluxforever said:
Yea, I am tempted to get an 8 way power controller for things like lights. And then keep rhe big stuff and the radios on the battery terminals.
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Something like an Auxbeam?

I have switches in the OEM places where there were blanks to toggle the fogs and Lightforces. Don't really want to clutter up the interior any more with a controller of any sort...
 
Roody said:
Something like an Auxbeam?

I have switches in the OEM places where there were blanks to toggle the fogs and Lightforces. Don't really want to clutter up the interior any more with a controller of any sort...
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I just want to pull one cable from the cab through the firewall. So I am driven by laziness.
 
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