[UBZ]

Winching uphill In ruts with both diffs draging on the ground and wheels off the ground will load a winch up fully and it will be sucking as much current as it can get .
bogged to your sills is much worse , taking into account suction.

the Redarc units are rated at 400 or 600amps inrush current respectively . Inrush current ratings are generally only for a few seconds.
according to their documentation the unit will go into fault mode after 1 1/2 seconds of over current .
they also recommend a 100 or 200amp fuse to be used , and that only the 200amp model be used when winching.

given this information from the manufacturer , I would not use one of These units with a winch that draws over 200amp . ie a 3500lb winch.

I have seen plenty of underrated solinoids melted in the Marine industry and in 4wds

[Scales]

yep fair enough.
im happy with the protection it provides for now. if i end up finding out it trips all the time, ill upgrade then.

[ms1991]

oops. its all installed now, shall see how i go hey!

UBZNZ, what unit would you recommend then?

[squibby]

I'm running my winch off the auxilliary Battery because it's twice as big and twice as good as my stock Jimny battery. I used one of those blended deep cycle/and starting batteries so it can be run flat and can handle high current.

But generally I think the rule is that you should be running off the Main battery. However auxilliary batteries Tend to be low current Deep Cycle units, and 4x4 starting batteries are usually Large good quality units. - This isn't the case in a lot of our Suzuki setups from what I've seen. A lot of us have weedy little starting batteries and a larger high quality blended battery like a Optima Yellow top or similar. So I reckon either way has it's ups and downs.

[BigMav]

UBZNZ wrote:

Interesting read .
Personally I wouldnt use one of those Radarc battery isolates with a winch.
A 9000lb winch will generally pull 3-400amps continuous when under full load.
The Redarc isolators are only rated at 100 or 200amps continuous dependent on model.

As it is effectively joining the batteries in parallel, the load will be equal on both batteries and full current load will have to pass through the underrated isolator , possibly resulting in a melted isolator or fire.

Agree with what you are saying but the manufacturers definitely say it is possible and recommend the use of their solenoid through winching (check the website) the only thing I can put it down to is that they massively underrate the isolators. The size of the terminals on the redarc alone suggest to me they are capable of much more than 100 amps. It is definitely worth keeping in mind and if it did self destruct there would be a warranty case for sure.