[Guest]

Warn HS9500....

Anyone running their solenoid in the engine compartment? Where is a generic source for longer battery cables... about 4' each. I know I can order some for Wrangler NorthWest bbut would rather pick some up locally. The skinny ground wire that goes from the solenoid to the motor... any tips on lengthening it?

LarryM
85 CJ7, 350TBI ,T19 4spd
'00 TJ Sport, NV3550 5spd, D44, Teraflex system

 

[Guest]

Hey Larry. I had this same question a while back and I just moved my solenoid under the hood to the front fender sort of behind the headlight. I run the winch cable out the front corner under the hood. I got double terminal end 1G battery cables from NAPA. The stock solenoid cables are 4G for the 3 to the winch, and 2G for the battery connections. If you are going with 4ft. cables, I'd recommend going with at least 2G to cut back on the resistance (I got 1G because in the 2ft. lengths NAPA did not have 2G). Some others (CJDave and Taz) helped me out with this one and suggested going to a welder supply shop if your parts store did not have any. Good luck.

 

[CJDave]

/wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif Larry, this is the time to really be diligent about the cables, the cable size, and the connections. Use nothing but welding cable with the pressed lugs. Make sure you bump up the sizes CONSIDERABLY when you stretch it out from the factory configuration. be sure that the holes in the lugs aren't too big such that they might rob you of "footprint" at the terminal. Remember, you not only have to touch, but you need AREA for the current to flow through....that means a good contact area, or "footprint". The ground should be full size, forget that poopy little wire, otherwise you run the risk of grounding through the winch line and wrecking the bearings. Do it once....do it right....you'll winch a lot better./wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

CJDave

 

[Guest]

Might be worth the few day wait to use Wrangler. I ordered 6 or 7 pieces of cable for various applications and got EXACTLY what I ordered, terminal type, size, length etc. The only problem is that I added 3/8 of an inch in length to two cables because they would have been useless if they were even a little short. I shouldn't have, the cables Wrangler sent were exact in length. Now I have two cables 3/8 too long. Oh well. (fairly rapid delivery too.)

 

[Guest]

Larry -
Let me add my $.02 worth. FIRST: Use braided welding cable. Period. It will cost you less than NAPA or similar auto parts cable. They are used to selling tens if not hundreds of feet of cable at a welding supply store and they may just GIVE you what you need. They did me. I used single 0 size since it was what they had. I've not regretted it either. The flexibility compared with auto cable is amazing. I'll never buy battery cable again. SECOND: Use copper solder lugs. I can't rember where I got mine but it was a hassle. The welding supply shop didn't have any in stock. Cut back the insulation on the cable a couple of inches, slide on TWO 3M shrink tubes and put the solder terminal in your vise receptical facing up. Fire up the propane torch and fill the 'cup' about half full of molten rosin core solder and at the same time heat the end of the cable sufficiently so that you don't get a cold joint. When all is hot, plunge the cable into the hot solder and hold motionless long enough for the solder to solidify. Apply the two layers of shrink tube (3/4" diameter) and viola - you will have an electron tight, bombproof, foolproof joint that will be totally free of voltatge drop and will handle anything your batteries can dish out or your winch can use. I've done this to more than my own rig and these cables and joints are all completely off of the list of worries and have been for years. The price is right and the function is flawless and that is the best of all possible worlds.
sln

 

[Guest]

Slnewcomb...
You've certainly caught my attention. I'll check into local welding supply shops.

Thanks everyone for the informative replies. There is a core group here that is big-time knowledgable and I value that resource.

Regards,

LarryM
85 CJ7, 350TBI ,T19 4spd
'00 TJ Sport, NV3550 5spd, D44, Teraflex system

 

[Guest]

Larry -
An add to my earlier post: something I read on the net and have not tried but will in the foreseeable future is homemade lugs. Go get some refrigeration copper tubing; it is not tempered; 12 or 14 inches will do for several projects like this; you can probably talk the service tech into a feeeby if you wanted to; cut it to short lengths; like 2-1/2" or so and flatten one half of each piece in the vise or under a hammer on the anvil. Round off the corners on the flattened part and drill an appropriately sized hole in the near end of the flattened part and invert and solder up the other end as per the previous post and again viola - you have your own price is right electron leakprooof lug.
sln

 

[Guest]

the ground wire on the conrol pack is very sensitive, do not add any wire to it, make sure you ground it and the metal frame of the control pack. the new warn winches uses a ground loop circuit that adds a lot of resistance to the remote. adding to the control pack wire will only compound the situation.

as far as the motor wires, the bigger the better. less resistance means less voltage drop. hence more energy to run the winch, as well as less heat buildup.

dan

/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.giflet it snow/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

 

[Guest]

Hmmm...when I talked to Warn about the ground wire, they said to just lengthen it--I'll try to dig up the e-mail from them. All I did was splice in some slightly heavier gauge wire using a crimp connector. It works just fine.