Topic: winch problems.

[arkypyro]

I have a magnum(warn)9K winch on my 97 TJ.  I have a stock alternator and a duralast 750CCA yellow battery.  When I use my winch I get about 15 seconds of good hard pull then the winch starts to bog and it pulls the amp meter way down.  If I keep going it will stall the jeep.  I can stop pulling, rev the motor for a few minutes and then get another short full power pull.  The battery is new in hope of fixing this but it still does it.  Do I need a bigger alt or do I maybe have it hooked up wrong.  I hooked both the hot and ground directly to the batter as per the instructions that came with the winch.  I don't see much sense in going to a 2 battery setup as I would probably only get a slightly longer pullbefore it pulls down.  Any advice would be appreciated.

[Jeffy]

What's the reserve on the battery?  I'd look at upgrading the alternator to a later OEM unit.  There is a list in the FAQ I believe.

Also, are you reeling out all of the cable or just the first couple wraps?  If it's just the first few wraps, you need to unspool a lot more cable.  Double line it if you have to.  With each additional wral the winch looses strength.  So, you could be stressing the winch unecessarily.

[Spelo]

You might also check the battery connections.  When the winch draws 200+ amps any weak point will get hot and internal resistance will increase.  I know that Optima warns not to connect a winch to the side terminals because they are not rated for that much draw.

Try your experiment with the engine off to see if it's a charging issue or if it just needs time to cool down.