2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission 24 Volt Winch ?

[vette75406]

can a 24 volt winch be used on our trucks and be isolated fron the 12 volt system that the truck runs on ? Im thinking of getting a new winch and a 24 volt system looks good on paper . can any body help with a wireing diagram ?

 

[Un-Hemi]

What advantage does the 24-volt winch have?



Although anything can be done, I suspect that it is impractical. The two batteries in the 2nd gen trucks are wired in parallel. It may be possible to cobble up a switching system to give you 24 volts, but it will be at the expense of isolating the charging system, and will add more cable ($) and high-current relay$ or $witche$. Why not stick with a 12-volt winch? The cable runs (at least on the front) are very short, and the voltage loss in the cables will be minimal.



Just my opinion, but you're welcome to it.



Tom

 

[vette75406]

i'm sure your right about the added expense , the 24 volt winch draws less amperage from the batterys which to me means a longer run time before a needed cool down .

 

[rfcom]

The winch takes a certain amount of power, regardless of voltage. If you double the voltage, you half the current, but since the power loss in the cables is proportional to the square of the current, you can use smaller cables with the 24V system for a given power loss. For a given power draw from the winch, the difference in how long the batteries last while wired for 12V or 24V is negligable. You could use 2 additional batteries in series, seperate from the truck batteries, but how would you charge them? Like mentioned above, using the truck batteries would require a complicated switching system and you would have to leave one of them connected to the truck electrical system when using the winch. Seems to me it would be far better to use a 12V winch and sufficiently large cables. JMO



Jim