If you own an off-road vehicle and often travel on difficult roads, you will be unfamiliar with a winch. However, many drivers encounter a situation where their cars run out of battery after using a winch to free their cars from stuck areas.
Therefore, winch-draining batteries when not in use is also a problem that many off-road drivers care about in recent times. Let’s learn about the working mechanism and task of the winch for cars. Can a winch drain your battery? What causes this phenomenon? How to fix the situation where the winch drains the car battery? All detailed answers are already in the article below.
What Is A Winch?
Before learning about the mechanism of operation and the task of the winch for cars, we need to understand its definition. The winch is an essential piece of equipment that you can mount to the front or rear of your car. Its purpose is to keep your car from getting stuck in the snow, mud, sand, or road obstacles.
The winch’s construction consists of a cable, a drum that the rope wraps around, a motor to power the drum, and a gear transmission. The gear train will be responsible for converting energy from the engine to power the winch. From there, the winch will have enough power to pull your car away from the obstacles on the road.
Typically, many truck, Jeep, or ATV drivers will install a winch at the front of the vehicle. In particular, Jeeps and trucks have all-wheel drive and are designed to suit adventures such as wading, mud, or snow. However, these powerfully designed and sporty cars can still often get stuck in difficult terrain. Therefore, the winch is an indispensable device for these vehicle owners. Winch duty will help your truck out of mud, water hole, or mountain terrain.
Have you ever wondered where the winch will use its energy? The winch does not use power from the engine or gear train, but it will use power directly from your car battery. Therefore, many drivers are very worried about using the winch to pull the car and then the car runs out of power completely.
However, winches will not damage your car battery if they are theoretically compatible. If you use a winch that is too powerful for the amount of energy the battery can provide, the battery will be overloaded and deplete quickly. Therefore, the connection and compatibility between the winch and your car battery are extremely important. You should carefully read the specifications and detailed instructions from the winch manufacturer to choose the right one for your car battery capacity.
Can A Winch Damage A Truck’s Car Battery?
In theory, winches won’t damage your car’s battery if they’re up to the mark. However, if the current from the winch is too large, it will drain the battery quickly and lead to damage to your car battery.
So how can you choose the right winch for your car battery? First, you need to find out how many amps the winch you are looking to buy has. The amperage draw will depend on the line pull. So you figure out the pull of the line here, from which you will calculate what the pull in amperes is.
In that, the pulling force of the rope will depend on the weight of your truck. Usually, every winch has a chart to show the ampere pull and rope draw. The most common electric winch is the 12-volt winch. If you have a high amp with a large power supply that will also drain the car battery faster. Therefore, you should choose the winch with the highest traction and lowest amp ratio. If the winch is connected to the truck and Jeep, you will need a 12-volt winch with at least 55 amps.
Trucks and Jeeps have all-wheel drive, so these vehicles are often driven in difficult terrain. Therefore, many drivers will often install a winch and battery in the front of the truck to increase the truck’s traction. Since then, car batteries will also have to work at a higher capacity. Winches won’t kill car batteries if you don’t use them. If both your car’s winch and battery are off, your battery won’t be drained.
Many drivers worry that the winch will drain the car battery when not in use. However, if your truck is completely off, and the battery is not in use, then the winch will not be able to drain the car battery. So when you use the winch, make sure you’re running the car. Because when your car is starting, it will continue to charge the battery and power the connected winch.
When you buy winches from manufacturers, they will all have recommendations on the types of batteries that you can and cannot use depending on the capacity. You should never use a battery that the manufacturer recommends because it will damage your car battery quickly.
Why Does A Winch Damage Your Car Battery?
A winch can damage your car’s battery if it uses more power than your car’s battery can provide. It leads to car battery overwork and more power loss. Especially, if your truck gets stuck in muddy areas or deep pits, it will take a lot of energy to pull your truck out of those areas. From there, it will use a huge amount of energy from the car battery. So if the car battery is not charged, it will drain the battery over time.
The main reason that winches kill car batteries is that they are not compatible. Not all winches can work with all car batteries of different manufacturers. The ampere consumption and the amount of energy the car battery can handle must be compatible for the winch and the car battery to work efficiently and for a long time.
However, even if you have purchased the right winch with the right capacity for your car battery, you may still encounter some problems. One tip that can help you limit the situation of a dead battery is that you should have another car battery backup. If your car has two batteries on board then you won’t need to worry about the winch using up the battery. Therefore, you should own two car batteries if you often drive in complicated or muddy conditions.
In addition, external weather factors can also cause the winch to damage your car battery. The contrast between extremely cold outside temperatures and improper use of the winch will easily damage your battery. You need the patience to start and recharge the car’s winch and battery.
What Is The Life Of A Car Battery If I Connect It To A Winch?
How long a car battery and winch can last depends on your compatibility and proper maintenance. Winches and car batteries with compatibility indicators will help them operate efficiently and ensure safe capacity when operating. Also, check how much charge your battery has because a full battery will give the best performance.
In addition, to ensure the life of the car battery, you need to give the battery time to rest and cool down between towing the car from an obstacle for 10 to 15 minutes. Car batteries will work best for 10 minutes. So it also needs to recharge to have enough capacity for a new pull. However, you should not use the winch to pull the truck for 10 minutes continuously. Let the winch stop pulling and rest every 20-30 seconds.
How Much Power Does The Winch Use From The Battery?
The amount of battery the winch uses will depend on both the winch and the battery. Each type has a different size, so the power consumption is different. Each type of winch uses a certain amount of amps, and each type of car battery can handle a certain amount of amps. So, before you buy a winch, research how much energy it consumes to choose the right capacity.
Normally, car batteries do not provide enough power for the winch to use. Therefore, the car battery and the winch must have the same rating for them to work effectively.
How To Use The Winch Effectively?
Using a winch to tow your truck off difficult terrain is not a difficult task. Most people will look to a fixed point such as a tree in front of their truck. Make sure that the tree or fixture is sturdy and can withstand the pull of the winch.
Once you’ve found a fixed point and met the matching criteria, tie the winch around the object. When you’re ready, turn on the winch to pull the rope back up. When the rope is pulled back towards the winch, it will pull your car forward and out of the jam.
How To Install A Winch On Your Car?
After you have researched and considered buying a winch compatible with your car battery, you can proceed with the installation. You should buy 12-volt winches because they can work well with most batteries on the market. In particular, they have the strongest pulling force with the least amount of amps.
Here are some steps for you to install the winch with a car battery:
- First, you should connect the wire of the winch to the car battery.
- Always connect the winch to the spinning battery, no matter how many batteries you have in your car. The reason is that the spinning pin will consume the most amps, so works best with a winch.
- After connecting the wires, you need to attach the winch to the front of your car. You will see four main pins to help attach the winch to the front of the car.
- Most people will install the winch at the front of the car but some will be located underneath the front or at the back of your car.
- You will find a plate on the front or bottom to attach the winch to.
- Once the winch is attached to your car, you can run the wiring if you haven’t already.
- The process will take about an hour and a half, so you need to prepare enough time before going on adventures in complex terrain.
Summary
The winch is responsible for pulling your car out of trapped areas by using the energy that the car battery provides. Therefore, the winch and the car battery want to work efficiently and for a long time, they must be compatible with each other. Winches will not damage car batteries if they have the right capacity. However, your car’s battery can be depleted if the power supplied is not enough with the power the winch needs to perform traction.
In addition, the winch will not damage or drain the battery power if it is in the off state. The winch and the battery will both consume energy when they combine to perform the pulling of the car out of the stuck position. Therefore, to ensure the car battery and winch work effectively, you should choose the appropriate capacity and carefully read the recommendations from the manufacturer. The best type of winch you should choose is 12 volts, so it can be suitable for many different car batteries.