Elec Problem with Albright and 8274

[lrowe_csp]

I am mounting an 8274 that I bought used over the winter. I purchased an Albright from Summit, and picked up a used 4+plus front bumper from Cahill (thanks), got everything mounted and started to attach the red from battery to the Albright without the controller plugged in. Lots of sparking and the winch starting winding (without having the 5 wire controller plugged in). Started disconnecting wires, and this winch continues to operate even when the ground is disconnected and all wires from the controller to the 3 small gauge connection points on the Albright are disconnected. It seems that the winch motor is grounded somehow directly to the truck, but I am not savvy enough to figure out what could be causing this. Any help out there? Photos already posted on the Winch Forum
Thanks

 

[lrowe_csp]

No electrical guru's out there tonight?

 

[1911]

... got everything mounted and started to attach the red from battery to the Albright without the controller plugged in. Lots of sparking and the winch starting winding (without having the 5 wire controller plugged in). Started disconnecting wires, and this winch continues to operate even when the ground is disconnected and all wires from the controller to the 3 small gauge connection points on the Albright are disconnected. It seems that the winch motor is grounded somehow directly to the truck ...

The winch is bolted to the bumper which is bolted to the frame, so yes there is a direct ground path there before you hook up the heavy ground cable from the motor case to the battery.

Beyond that, we need more info to be able to help you - where did you attach the "red" from the battery to the contactor? Are you following the schematics for this posted in the Winch sub-forum? https://forum.ih8mud.com/winching-recovery/485518-wiring-8274-albright.html

 

[lrowe_csp]

1911- thanks , started to reply yesterday morning, but they called me in for surgery. i am now typing one handedly while my arm heals. yes, followed schematic you refer to. Wiring appears to correct, attached ground and winch operated without controller- winch immediately began operating. photos posted in the mud winch forum.

 

[1911]

1911- thanks , started to reply yesterday morning, but they called me in for surgery. i am now typing one handedly while my arm heals. yes, followed schematic you refer to. Wiring appears to correct, attached ground and winch operated without controller- winch immediately began operating. photos posted in the mud winch forum.

Sounds like a bad contactor to me; I don't see any other way the motor could be getting juice if you've wired it correctly. Never seen a bad one, but there's bound to be one sooner or later. Can you exchange it for a different one where you bought it? Many vendors won't take electrical parts back.

 

[lrowe_csp]

Update:
Contactor was defective (shorted). Superwinch replaced the contactor, no questions asked- splendid customer service even though I bought the superwinch contactor from Summit (and disclosed that) and after I got that wired in, I found that the control box harness green wire was broken. New wiring harness fixed that and winch is working as designed. Thanks for the help.