Battery for Winch

I'm looking at fitting a second battery in my Discovery to run the winch and a few other secondary drains off.

The largest "deep cycle" type battery I can find that will fit on the spare battery tray (where the jack normally lives) is a 75A, but the largest DC battery I can find anywhere is a 110A.

Given that my winch (a GEW10000) is specced with a draw of around 360A are any of these going to be adequate?

Would I be better going for a second SLI type battery or is the winch draw a stalled current that should never be met - will a 75A deep cycle battery be enough to run it?

P.

Reply to
Paul S. Brown
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Paul,

What size alternator do you have? Piglet is on his original battery (he's a

1997.....), and he has a police alternator. I've never had an issue where the winch has drained the battery. The ECU compensates for extreme load by keeping the revs at the desired level.... ;-)

Of course if you have a manual diesel then that's no help is it?

Neil

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Reply to
Neil Brownlee

I have an old Ramsey 8000 winch on the front of my 110 which is used for motorsport recovery work, and for 2 years I was plagued with flat batteries any time I used it. This was with two 95Ah batteries in parallel as well, running off their own dedicated 90A alternator. (I've tried various forms of split charge over the years, some work better than others but they are all a compromise in one way or another) I replaced the cables to the winch (with 1 gauge hi-flex welding cable), adding a second cable as an earth all the way to the battery instead of relying on the chassis. I replaced the dead batteries with a single 110Ah and fitted a 130A alternator from a Ford Galaxy disiesel. I have a home-made double alternator set-up on my V8, with a link from the winch master switch to an aircon fast idle solenoid on the EFI system that increases the idle speed (and hence charge current) when winching. The system was tested in anger last September on a rally, hauling a Subaru Legacy (not a light car) out of a 20-odd foot culvert. I had the wheel chocks in place and the landy was still trying to edge forwards under the load of the double line pull, but there was not even as much as a drop in winch speed, the system worked fine. I've a 24 volt ramsey 9000 that I was going to upgrade to, but now I'm not sure if I'll bother!!

Badger.

Reply to
Badger

Umm..... 200TDI with a 5 speed box, what can I say?

I was considering running a hand throttle to the front of the car at some point as well.

I think I'll probably end up sticking a 75A battery in as the secondary and just run the winch off the main electrics and hope I never get in a situation where I need to run the winch with the engine off.

P.

Reply to
Paul S. Brown

My 110 has got a hand throttle and only a single battery. I was thinking of adding a second battery but am still in two minds about it. If the AA were quite happy winching people with only one battery, and they probably used it a lot more than me, then I suppose its OK.

Being in this situation is why I might still fit a second battery. I've never had to use the winch to pull myself out (yet) but sods law says that when I do the engine will be dead if I don't fit the second battery.

Reply to
Simon Barr

How frequently will you be using it and the intended purpose ...winch raid or normal recovery? Your alternator will limit how much is put back in whilst whinching and even a 110Ah will go flat if your std. alternator is supplying only 45A. Even is spec says 90A alternator, look for a continuos rating ...should be nearly half of spec claimed.

Keeps revs up, limit winch sessions to short burst with a snatch block and the 75 Ah should be OK. The 110 Ah would be better but depend son frequency of use.

If you want to winch none stop, get a hydraulic winch such as Milemarker. Slow but very strong .....

Reply to
Aubrey

360 A out of either a 75 Ah or 110 Ah gives you power on the winch for less than a minutes .... unless engine is running, you have little reserve either way.
Reply to
Aubrey

Those minutes could make all the difference though. If it means you can get out of a sticky hole before you sink further in...

A 110Ah battery should be able to supply 330A for around 10 minutes or so if it's in tip top condition shouldn't it?

Reply to
Simon Barr

I'm planning on using it for short bursts - no competetive stuff. The only reason I have a 10,000lb winch is that it was the right price at the right time.

I've fitted the 75A battery now - there was no way I could fit the 110 without impinging on other space. The 75A fits nicely in the spot where the jack used to live and with a LR original parts battery clamp (£12.50 for 2 J-bolts, 2 nuts, 4 washers and a strip of angler iron - ouch!) it is nice and secure.

I'm now planning on replacing the battery clamps on the SLI battery with the nice gold plate audio specials I found at Maplin - they seem to make a hell of a difference over the pig-iron ones I was using having pillaged original battery leads from a scrapyard.

Rather than having the feed wire on the split charge relay running to the main battery I have it running to the output terminal on the alternator which is a much shorter run than to the battery and means I don't have 8AWG cable running in places I'd rather not have high current.

I think I may end up wiring the winch to the SLI battery and put an override switch on the split charge relay to allow the leisure battery to start the car if the SLI one goes stone dead.

I'm trying to figure out what alternator is on this car as it seems not to be original - the backplate on it is at around 90 degrees to the angle it should be and is fitted properly - the wires exit the alternator at the 10 o'clock position whereas the exit cutout for them is at the 2 o'clock position. I suspect this is a replacement, but I want to find out what it's rated for.

Does anybody know of a kit to mount an auxilliary alternator on the aircon compressor mounts?

P.

Reply to
Paul S. Brown

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