How to test a used electric winch on site?

[e9999]

will hopefully be going to look at some used winches - Warn types.

want to test them on the spot but would rather not burn/damage something...

is it OK to connect jumper cables directly to the motor posts? or should one necessarily go through the solenoid box for protection or control reasons?

things to know?

to do and not to do?

to test or look for?

TIA


(yea, yea, I know, you gotta have a 12K to be a real man etc... )

 

[JuttyShabango]

Look at the housing for abuse, missing bolts or excessive damage.

If it's a detached solenoid..open the box and look at the connections for excessive water corosion.

It should have leads for power off it...hooking directly to a battery or cables for testing will be fine.

Check the Remote and see if the pins are damage on both the connector and the female input.

Check the spool of cable...is it spooled right? You can tell alot about how a winch was treated by the cable.

Check the mounting points to make sure they haven't been damaged or distorted.

See if the owner has any of the original paperwork or owners manuals

What kind of condition is the fairlead in..what kind of fairlead is it.

How was the winch mounted? bootyfabbed or a nice plate on a bumper.

HTH

 

[stanley]

get a jump start battery from walmart for $30-50 bucks. the all in one type, internal battery, short cables, light, and power plug contraptions.

 

[e9999]

mmm... come to think of it, connecting the cables directly to the motor doesn't tell you anything about whether the solenoids are still OK or not...

better go through the solenoid - if still connected to the motor.



but OK, assuming I want to connect directly to the motor: There is probably a couple of Field posts and 1 armature I would think plus the ground. So how does this work again? I connect the ground motor post to the battery - of course, and then the + to one of the Field posts? But doesn't the armature have to be connected also? So I got to jump from the field to the armature post too? And then each one of the 2 Fields is for a different direction? Dang, forgot all about this.... How do I do this again?

 

[e9999]

so? nobody knows about these connections?

 

[brew8]

It's better to connect to the selanoids rather than to the motor so you can test the whole system, but if you want to just test the motor put a jumper between A to f1 apply ground to case for ground and +12 to the f2 pole should go one way connect A to f-2 then put power to F-1 should go the other way, hope that helps, Cheers, Larry

 

[e9999]

It's better to connect to the selanoids rather than to the motor so you can test the whole system, but if you want to just test the motor put a jumper between A to f1 apply ground to case for ground and +12 to the f2 pole should go one way connect A to f-2 then put power to F-1 should go the other way, hope that helps, Cheers, Larry

good to know. the jumper can be a smaller wire, right, since I imagine it's only for the excitation?



added: ooops, I guess not, if the current has to go through the armature as well in series....

 

[Beowulf]

Unless you are planning to buy one without checking the solenoid box then just hook your jump-start battery to the same locations that the battery cables would hook. You will want to test the winch, the clutch mechanism, the solenoid pack, the motor, and the handheld controller.

If all of the above are not working then would you buy the winch? Probably not. The other thing to check is the cable down to the drum. It could have a bad kink or busted wires on the 2nd row and you won't know it until you spool out the cable. If the price is right (~$500 for a M12) and the cable is bad, then you can get synthetic for ~$250.

-B-

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I'm thinking that if you don't know how to check out a winch, you'll be better off with a new one. If it were me, I'd take a battery, hook up the power cables and spool it via the solenoid pack and hand control. If it doesn't work, negotiate down(way down) from there. If it works, and you like the price, buy it.

There is a way to hot wire the battery to the motor, but if I were the seller, I wouldn't let you do that in case you fried a good motor. It only tests wether the motor spins, anyway. If it's a Warn, the newer solenoids are available individually, but the whole solenoid box/mount is pretty expensive. (I think $200, but don't quote me).

The max I would pay for a used winch, unless it's in the box etc, is about half the original cost. Otherwise, I'd rather have one that didn't sit out in the weather.

Give us some details about the winch-what model, how old etc.

 

[e9999]

yes, I'd try to test it via the solenoid box, that's better, but I'd rather know how to connect the power to the motor directly in case the solenoid box is bad or missing. Don't want to try that unless I'm sure I know what I'm doing, though...

 

[MrMoMo]

but OK, assuming I want to connect directly to the motor: There is probably a couple of Field posts and 1 armature I would think plus the ground. So how does this work again?

Well I'm no winch expert, but any that I have seen and most DC motors that I have seen are of the permanent magnet type. (no field) Armature rotates inside a fixed magnetic field. The motors rotation is reversed by reversing the feed through the armature, only 2 posts on the motor. Put positive on the + post and negative on the - post, motor will run one way, reverse the wires and it will run the other way.

IF it was a motor with a field winding, it would have to have seperate posts for the field and the armature in order to reverse it. Most motors that I come across have the field wired in series with the armature, but they are non-reversable. (grinders and such)

There are many many many ways to wire a motor

 

[e9999]

Well I'm no winch expert, but any that I have seen and most DC motors that I have seen are of the permanent magnet type. (no field) Armature rotates inside a fixed magnetic field. The motors rotation is reversed by reversing the feed through the armature, only 2 posts on the motor. Put positive on the + post and negative on the - post, motor will run one way, reverse the wires and it will run the other way.

IF it was a motor with a field winding, it would have to have seperate posts for the field and the armature in order to reverse it. Most motors that I come across have the field wired in series with the armature, but they are non-reversable. (grinders and such)

There are many many many ways to wire a motor

well, the better winch motors do not use permanent magnets and are instead series wound, I think. I believe your typical Warn winch motor has 1 ground, 1 armature, and 2 field posts...
what Brew said above sounds right. I would think that the 2 F posts are the ends of the field winding so you reverse direction by changing the polarity on the field but then the current needs to go through the armature after that if it's in series...

 

[MrMoMo]

Then I was correct, I am not a winch expert. and I guess I am also a cheap ass because my (ATV) winch appears to not be one of the "better" ones