How to do basic troubleshooting with your ATV/UTV winch and contactor. Para Español: • Resolviendo Problemas ... Check out VIPER winches by MotoAlliance: www.motoallian...
Thanks, exactly what I needed. I ran over some brush and later noticed it wasn't working. Wanted to see how a wench worked with supplying power to check it. Thanks so much
Winch was only going in one direction and I found it was a bad limit switch where my snowblower attaches to the tractor. Video helped explain the wiring and troubleshooting method so I could find and fix the problem, thank you.
Thanks for the video I'm a heavy equipment mechanic and my boss likes to ride around on a polaris ranger checking on the illegal help he has hired here but his winch was screwed up and you're video helped alot
I bought the Viper winch, but the manuals don't show how to connect the remote control or how to connect the winch not to drain the battery As a company, why do not make videos of your complete manuals
My winch moves up and down just fine. The problem I’m having is when I raise the plow as I’m driving it will slowly go back to the ground. Why won’t it stay up until I put the plow down?
I still cannot get anything to happen even with a brand new winch, new battery, new solenoid and new rocker switch. I do know that the winch and battery are fine as they test ok separate so I guess the new solenoid or new rocker switch is bad? Also what are you connecting the red wire from the rocker switch up to - do you test it with connecting it directly to the positive battery terminal?
I have a Viper elite widespool 5k and it stops winching when there's a load on it. It just clicks. I had a Viper max prior and it did the same thing. This is on my Can Am Maverick. I've done all your testing as I did diagnosing the first winch. More than enough power at idle w/14.4 volts. Also my 6 month old Elite winch does not freespool...
Hi I just hooked up a new warn 25 and it only goes in and not out with the switch. I switched the cables at the winch blue and yellow to opposite and then I have only out and not in. Hooked it back correctly at the winch and only in no out still. Any idea what it could be ? Tia
Hi there I have a Canadian tire atv/utv 3,500winch and the free spool knob broke off the the side and I'm looking for a replacement and I can't find one and any information on how to get one would be much appreciated
I need to know the same thing. What I did was disconnect the switch at the selonoid. put the black lead of a multi meter to ground. Put the meter on the diode setting. Then put the red lead to one of the wires coming from the switch. With the switch in the off position, the meter will read an open, and be silent. Depress the switch both ways, to in and out. The switch will read a short and beep in only one of the on positions. Move the red lead to the other wire coming from the switch. Activate the switch in both positions, the results should be be the same but opposite. In other words, on one position should beep, but it should be the opposite position as the wire.
My hand hit the winch switch and it locked in the on position. I was able to straighten the on/off switch but now my winch is super tight and I cannot get it to go in reverse. If I turn it on it makes as noise but still will not budge. I even hooked my winch from another atv to try and pull it out. Is there a way to get it out manually without taking the whole winch out. It is a polaris sportsman integrated winch kit. Thanks Troy
Hi from Oamaru New Zealand.please tell me if the breakers/fuses/ contactors (silver cases with 1 copper and 1steel terminal)...are they terminal sensitive, like terminals to be fitted 1 way or the other?.cheers carl
Hey, I was plowing with my ATV using my winch for my plow. During the middle of the snowstorm my cable snapped. I brought it back home took off the winch assembly from the quad and disconnected the positive and negative going to the winch. Once I fix the cable, I reconnected the two wires and went to hit the button for the winch and it's making a clicking noise now. Any tips or suggestions? I already checked the fuse and it's not blown
If the contactor is clicking then the problem is probably in the winch motor. If the winch itself is clicking then there may be a physical jam stopping the winch from turning. In that case you should take all of your cable off the winch to make sure the cable isn't jammed and to check the spool for any breaks.
I am experiencing the same issue. My relay is clicking and nothing is happening passed that. So, I am guessing it is mechanical resistance??? Plow season is here and I have this, great!
I'm putting a wireless remote and handle bar rocker switch on my winch. My question is if by any chance the rocker switch is pushed in and the wireless remote is pushed out at the same time what would happen and would it damage or short anything out? I would never do this myself but just wondering.
If you have everything wired up correctly, nothing should happen. You'd be putting 12V to both sides which would mean you'd have no change in voltage between the sides. The contactor will only run the winch if one of the solenoids is fired, if both or neither are energized nothing will happen.
Not 100% of the time will these be the problem. My winch would reverse but not pull, solenoid relay was fine. Turned out to be the brake spring; one end of the spring was broke off. So when torque came on the brake wasn’t releasing. Solenoid relay, all wiring and motor were all fine.
Hey Mike, most winches on the market do not come with a fuse nor do they need one to operate safely. The only fuse that I have seen included in a kit is a Short Stop 100A fuse. Interestingly enough, the winch kit doesn't even come with wiring to connect the fuse to the winch power circuit. I'm not sure what the thought process was behind that. All that to say, we sell nearly 10,000 winches annually without fuses and have no problems. IF...you wanted to implement some sort of fuse I would recommend a top notch Bussman fuse. The Hi-Amp thermal fuses that Bussman produces are waterproof, they can be reset in the field, and are thermally activated which means the in rush current that takes place when you begin a heavy pull will not trip the fuse. You can find them on Ebay pretty easily. I wouldn't recommend much more than a 100 or 150A fuse of this style in your case. Hope that helps. Scott MotoAlliance Engineering
SCOTT MASTEN If the winch works one way but not the other that means that either the switch or the contactor isn't working properly. If you watch the video above you'll see how to troubleshoot them and isolate which piece is the problem.
bob wilson You should be seeing less than 1 Ohm resistance. It is difficult for most multimeter's to accurately read resistance that low, so your readings may be off slightly. The 8 ohm reading you see does seem high, how old is the contactor? Not knowing anything about the contactor, it’s possible that one of the contact points is slightly tilted at an angle resulting in a non-flat contact surface and thus higher resistance. Also, if your contactor has been used a good deal oxidation and arc pitting can cause damage to the contact points and increase the resistance of the system.
MotoAllianceTech It's a Warn 62135, 4 post, not sure of the age, but I know I likely peaked the amperage through it yesterday trying to remove a stump! I had it apart a few times, checked for arcs, cleaned the contacts, the ceramic isolators and check the resistance through both coils at 4.0 ohms. This morning I put the voltmeter on the winch terminals and tried the switch. It showed very low voltage, but rising slowly as I held it. I held the switch on for approx. 2 mins and ithe winch started to work. I suspect it was the contacts, but I'm not sure why the cleanings didn't work right away. For interest I did recheck the resistance and got 8.2 ohms, so I suspect the 8.2 is correct? Anyway, I hauled a few logs out of woods with it today and it's working great now, no issues. Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!
Hi....just wondering if its possible I can order the rocker switch handle. Everything inside the handle is ok, its just that I broke the handle by accident and just need the handle. Thks, Bryan
I bought a viper winch and have had nothing but problems with it since the day I had the dealer I bought the bike from install it. It wouldn't free spool then it would only go in not out then it stopped working all together . I have a brand new plow sitting in the barn never used it once.
+greg hambly Hey Greg, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with your winch. Have you gone through our trouble shooting video? Did the winch work when you ran direct power to it? If you go through the video and give our customer service team a call (1-866-527-7637) we'll get this taken care of for you.
what gauge wire must i use for the ignition wire (red) off the rocker switch? in order to hook my winch into the igniton i have to get some small gauge cable to run to the accessory power plug under my headlight. its a 3500 lb winch on a sportsman 570...is 18 AWG good for this?
At 2:12 I do show the connection from the switch to the contactor. Is there something specific you would like to see? We'll be making more videos soon so all feedback is appreciated.
Perfect, thanks!! So much clearer than the dozens of other videos on RUclips.
Very good video. One thing - connect the negative last and remove it first. That way it will NOT arc.
Thanks, exactly what I needed. I ran over some brush and later noticed it wasn't working. Wanted to see how a wench worked with supplying power to check it. Thanks so much
Winch was only going in one direction and I found it was a bad limit switch where my snowblower attaches to the tractor. Video helped explain the wiring and troubleshooting method so I could find and fix the problem, thank you.
Thanks for the video I'm a heavy equipment mechanic and my boss likes to ride around on a polaris ranger checking on the illegal help he has hired here but his winch was screwed up and you're video helped alot
I was trying too find a video too explain the right issues I needed to find and this was bang on cheers
Fantastic, now I know where to start
Dude, well done. Helped me out tremendously.
Great explanation for safety glasses without safety gloves? Trust me I am not trying to be that guy. I do it that way myself.
I bought the Viper winch, but the manuals don't show how to connect the remote control or how to connect the winch not to drain the battery
As a company, why do not make videos of your complete manuals
You literally said if you hook all the wires up correctly and you should be fine. Lmao 🤣 Thank you for the pro tip.
My winch moves up and down just fine. The problem I’m having is when I raise the plow as I’m driving it will slowly go back to the ground. Why won’t it stay up until I put the plow down?
Do not arc arc the stud terminals you will burn the threads
My atv dies when I hit winch out but works fine when I hit winch in what could that be
My winch pulsates on up on wireles remote only.wired switch works fine what can i do to fix ir
Great Video!!!
Thanks a lot from France. Great explanations +++++++++++
I have power on both sides of my switches going to the wench when I push the rocker easier exercise got both power on both sides
How did you connect the switch to the winch when it's hooked to the alternate power source. That part was not clear in your video!!!
Great video man, thank you!
I put a winch on my 2015 Polaris Sportsman now it don't have power to my key or lights
I placed my jumper cables to the winch terminals, like in the video. Winch turns slow and contacts got red hot, even flames plastic wire coating.
I still cannot get anything to happen even with a brand new winch, new battery, new solenoid and new rocker switch. I do know that the winch and battery are fine as they test ok separate so I guess the new solenoid or new rocker switch is bad?
Also what are you connecting the red wire from the rocker switch up to - do you test it with connecting it directly to the positive battery terminal?
Thanks for sharing. What if you only got one switch?
I have a Viper elite widespool 5k and it stops winching when there's a load on it. It just clicks. I had a Viper max prior and it did the same thing. This is on my Can Am Maverick. I've done all your testing as I did diagnosing the first winch. More than enough power at idle w/14.4 volts. Also my 6 month old Elite winch does not freespool...
What trouble shoot ?…
Hi I just hooked up a new warn 25 and it only goes in and not out with the switch. I switched the cables at the winch blue and yellow to opposite and then I have only out and not in. Hooked it back correctly at the winch and only in no out still. Any idea what it could be ? Tia
I did mine like that and the winch stays running all the time would it be my rocker switch is no good
Hi there I have a Canadian tire atv/utv 3,500winch and the free spool knob broke off the the side and I'm looking for a replacement and I can't find one and any information on how to get one would be much appreciated
Excellent video thanks
Great vid.
Anyone else notice that someone had to write down and do the math on the work bench for 10x12. Lol.
Even worse. It was 11x12 and the answer is wrong
dude howndoni test the remote if only have one?
I need to know the same thing. What I did was disconnect the switch at the selonoid. put the black lead of a multi meter to ground. Put the meter on the diode setting. Then put the red lead to one of the wires coming from the switch. With the switch in the off position, the meter will read an open, and be silent. Depress the switch both ways, to in and out. The switch will read a short and beep in only one of the on positions. Move the red lead to the other wire coming from the switch. Activate the switch in both positions, the results should be be the same but opposite. In other words, on one position should beep, but it should be the opposite position as the wire.
My hand hit the winch switch and it locked in the on position. I was able to straighten the on/off switch but now my winch is super tight and I cannot get it to go in reverse. If I turn it on it makes as noise but still will not budge. I even hooked my winch from another atv to try and pull it out. Is there a way to get it out manually without taking the whole winch out. It is a polaris sportsman integrated winch kit. Thanks Troy
Hi from Oamaru New Zealand.please tell me if the breakers/fuses/ contactors (silver cases with 1 copper and 1steel terminal)...are they terminal sensitive, like terminals to be fitted 1 way or the other?.cheers carl
My 5000pd winch turn but slipping
Hey, I was plowing with my ATV using my winch for my plow. During the middle of the snowstorm my cable snapped. I brought it back home took off the winch assembly from the quad and disconnected the positive and negative going to the winch. Once I fix the cable, I reconnected the two wires and went to hit the button for the winch and it's making a clicking noise now. Any tips or suggestions? I already checked the fuse and it's not blown
If the contactor is clicking then the problem is probably in the winch motor. If the winch itself is clicking then there may be a physical jam stopping the winch from turning. In that case you should take all of your cable off the winch to make sure the cable isn't jammed and to check the spool for any breaks.
I am experiencing the same issue. My relay is clicking and nothing is happening passed that. So, I am guessing it is mechanical resistance??? Plow season is here and I have this, great!
I'm putting a wireless remote and handle bar rocker switch on my winch. My question is if by any chance the rocker switch is pushed in and the wireless remote is pushed out at the same time what would happen and would it damage or short anything out? I would never do this myself but just wondering.
If you have everything wired up correctly, nothing should happen. You'd be putting 12V to both sides which would mean you'd have no change in voltage between the sides. The contactor will only run the winch if one of the solenoids is fired, if both or neither are energized nothing will happen.
My issue is on my Viper Midnight, out is going in and in is going out, what causes that ? thanks Charlie
You have the wires installed opposite than the way they should be.
Not 100% of the time will these be the problem. My winch would reverse but not pull, solenoid relay was fine. Turned out to be the brake spring; one end of the spring was broke off. So when torque came on the brake wasn’t releasing. Solenoid relay, all wiring and motor were all fine.
Question, I bought a 3500 and I see there is no fuse going to the battery do I need to put a fuse inline with the battery?
Thanks Mike
Hey Mike, most winches on the market do not come with a fuse nor do they need one to operate safely. The only fuse that I have seen included in a kit is a Short Stop 100A fuse. Interestingly enough, the winch kit doesn't even come with wiring to connect the fuse to the winch power circuit. I'm not sure what the thought process was behind that.
All that to say, we sell nearly 10,000 winches annually without fuses and have no problems. IF...you wanted to implement some sort of fuse I would recommend a top notch Bussman fuse. The Hi-Amp thermal fuses that Bussman produces are waterproof, they can be reset in the field, and are thermally activated which means the in rush current that takes place when you begin a heavy pull will not trip the fuse. You can find them on Ebay pretty easily. I wouldn't recommend much more than a 100 or 150A fuse of this style in your case.
Hope that helps.
Scott
MotoAlliance Engineering
my winch will go out but it wont go in if I swap the two wires on the winch it will go in but not out do you have any suggestions ? thanks scott
SCOTT MASTEN If the winch works one way but not the other that means that either the switch or the contactor isn't working properly. If you watch the video above you'll see how to troubleshoot them and isolate which piece is the problem.
Happy!
Do you know what the resistance value should read through the contactor? The one I tested reads 8 ohms.
bob wilson
You should be seeing less than 1 Ohm resistance. It is difficult for most multimeter's to accurately read resistance that low, so your readings may be off slightly. The 8 ohm reading you see does seem high, how old is the contactor? Not knowing anything about the contactor, it’s possible that one of the contact points is slightly tilted at an angle resulting in a non-flat contact surface and thus higher resistance. Also, if your contactor has been used a good deal
oxidation and arc pitting can cause damage to the contact points and increase
the resistance of the system.
MotoAllianceTech It's a Warn 62135, 4 post, not sure of the age, but I know I likely peaked the amperage through it yesterday trying to remove a stump! I had it apart a few times, checked for arcs, cleaned the contacts, the ceramic isolators and check the resistance through both coils at 4.0 ohms. This morning I put the voltmeter on the winch terminals and tried the switch. It showed very low voltage, but rising slowly as I held it. I held the switch on for approx. 2 mins and ithe winch started to work. I suspect it was the contacts, but I'm not sure why the cleanings didn't work right away. For interest I did recheck the resistance and got 8.2 ohms, so I suspect the 8.2 is correct? Anyway, I hauled a few logs out of woods with it today and it's working great now, no issues. Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!
Hi....just wondering if its possible I can order the rocker switch handle. Everything inside the handle is ok, its just that I broke the handle by accident and just need the handle. Thks, Bryan
bryan read I
The switches are built as a complete unit, but if you call in to our customer service line (1-866-527-7637 #1) they should be able to help you.
I bought a viper winch and have had nothing but problems with it since the day I had the dealer I bought the bike from install it. It wouldn't free spool then it would only go in not out then it stopped working all together . I have a brand new plow sitting in the barn never used it once.
i just changed the contactor and nothing changed
+greg hambly Hey Greg, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with your winch. Have you gone through our trouble shooting video? Did the winch work when you ran direct power to it?
If you go through the video and give our customer service team a call (1-866-527-7637) we'll get this taken care of for you.
I just hooked my winch up an my solenoid just clicks when I hit the button
Ya got the same problem, did you find the issue?
@@mapleridgefarm1026 I did..polaris doesn't hook the ground cable up for the winch from factory just the positive
@@allendorf82 really. Ok thanks for the info.
my winch worked yesterday and my cig plug worked today now nether work
Check your fuse.
what gauge wire must i use for the ignition wire (red) off the rocker switch? in order to hook my winch into the igniton i have to get some small gauge cable to run to the accessory power plug under my headlight. its a 3500 lb winch on a sportsman 570...is 18 AWG good for this?
+Eric M We use 16 gage wire for the switches. As long as you match that you shouldn't have any problems.
Pretty good but should have shown the switch wire connection to the contactor.
At 2:12 I do show the connection from the switch to the contactor. Is there something specific you would like to see? We'll be making more videos soon so all feedback is appreciated.
Hodor!
Horrible troubleshooting video.. saying replace this part, if it works after, is not troubleshooting.