Winch power supply

Most 12volt winches are not rated as hoists. None of them are rated for overhead use either as many don't have proper braking or spools rated for it.

I have a winch I can buy for $200 that is almost brand new. It is a 12v. Vortec 9500 # winch. I can use it for some skidding I need to do onto my trailer, but then, would hang it on an I beam dolly for hoisting. Since it is 12v. what would I use as a power supply that would give me the same as an automotive setup?

Steve

I installed a removeable[1] 12v HF 4,000 lb winch in my 1 ton box van. It's about 1' below the ceiling. The wiring was too short to reach the battery so I just used a 12 v automotive battery charger. Hooked it up direct, on the 6 amp setting. It worked well enough to pull an upright grand piano inside.

Newb

Steve, Be aware that winches do not have adequate brakes for overhead loads. Also be aware that the relays used for forward and backward use are often seriously underrated for their application, especially if they are Chinese. The magnet coils will fire at 3-5V and over current at 12-14V because they are under wound and burn up with prolonged use. Thirdly, to prevent the non-plated relay contacts to survive arcing when stopping the winch, place a large 60-70 uf AC capacitor across the relay output terminals. The larger the cap the better. This will allow the cap to continue to power the motor while the contacts continue to separate. Giving time to create an adequate air dielectric boundary before the back EMF pulse arrives at the contacts from the motor. As far as adequate power, use a large truck battery (100 Amp Hr) and recharge immediately after use. Steve

Vortec 9500 # winch. I can use it for some skidding I

hoisting. Since it is 12v. what would I use as a

What the others said about overhead lifting.

As for the power supply, I'll presume you are look> I have a winch I can buy for $200 that is almost brand new. It is a 12v.

SteveB, manual chain hoists are very cheap and are much safer and more straightforward for lifting, than this winch. I join the rest in suggesting to use the winch for pulling and a chain hoist for lifting.

With my back and shoulders, I like the push button variety. This will be for winching, sure. But for lifting, it will be for very light lifting. Unless, of course, I decide to buy a real hoist, which will probably be the case, since I can just leave it in place.

Steve

Chain hoists are easy to operate, no big efforts are required. With my "2-ton" chain hoist, a child can operate one, specifically a 8 year old.

Theis minus is that though they are easy to run, they are slow. For me personally, it does not matter much, as I use them rarely.

I actually sold a 1/4 ton electric Harrington hoist last week because I never had a need for it.

Steve sez: "Since it is 12v. what would I use as a power supply that would give me the same as an automotive setup?"

The simple answer is: A battery of the same rating as used in an automotive setup.

Bob Swinney

"mike" wrote

Great idea. A runaway 9500# winch can cause problems.

Steve

Not clear Steve - - - again. You could use an AC powered battery charger to maintain "float." If you were to design a power supply for direct operation from residential power, you'd need to pay careful attention to the horsepower required by the hoist. Your OP didn't burden us with that information.

I didn't state that I wanted to use an AC power source, and not have the falderal of maintaining a battery. That is why I asked that question. Please reread and try again.

Steve

I didn't state that I wanted to use an AC power source, and not have the falderal of maintaining a battery. That is why I asked that question. Please reread and try again.

Steve

Nice.

OK, IMHO the proper answer is "ask a better question". There's absolutely no way to know how much current the winch will draw given the information you have supplied.

If I were doing this, and I wouldn't, I'd buy the winch, hook it to a car battery, lift/pull the max load that I'd want it to handle while measuring its current draw. I'd then build/buy a 12 volt power supply with a current capacity of 150 to 200 percent greater than I measured.

The problem is that the power supply will likely be far bigger/more expensive than you'll want.

Thank you for the clear succinct answer. I am impressed by your ability to do so from such a poorly worded question. I think it is because of your "answer the question" rather than "beat them up first, THEN answer the question ad hominem" approach.

Steve ;-)

Buy a cycle service battery, and a charger. How much of each you need depends on the duty cycle.

If this is occasional use, even the $10 HF charger will do. So what if it needs most of a day to recover from your 5 minutes of use, if you use it once a week?

jsw

Those are different from the ones I was thinking about - they sometimes show up at the scrapyard, are usually rated at about 200 amps, but I'm sure they make 'em bigger too.

I have the 175A size on my winch and the 75A one on inverter batteries. They haven't warmed up noticeably in use.

jsw