Winch Solenoid mounting location? / idea

I've got a Warn Zeon 12-s Platinum and this Warn power interrupter Solenoid:
https://www.amazon.com/WARN-63001-Replacement-Solenoid/dp/B000OV4NT4

Since it won't be fused, I'd like to mount this as closely to the positive terminal as possible.

So I was thinking about getting one of those thick, wide aluminum battery brackets and then just mount the solenoid in the middle of the battery on that bracket. How could a solenoid get any closer to the positive than that?

Can anyone shoot any holes in this idea or otherwise tell me how it's not a good one?

Also - where are people mounting their solenoid power interrupter for the winches?

 

Following up here's what I ended up with. Just shaped down a piece of metal i had laying around, welded it to the the battery bracket to bolt the solenoid to so I could have the shortest hot coming out of the battery as possible to try to be as safe as possible.

 

Obviously your solution shows superior intellect. I did something similar.

Mine mounts on the strap using the j bolt that holds the battery down.

 

Hey I like your solution thank you for sharing! and your bracket shows a lot more craftsmanship than mine

 

That is a clean looking setup - I like it.

 

I like both those options but unfortunately I'm not a welder. I do feel the need to finally get my blue sea systems battery switch mounted though - it's been in the garage a couple of years. Was thinking about this:
https://c4fabrication.com/products/4runner-engine-bay-accessory-tray-driver-side-2010

Was also weirded out that the winch cables (smittybilt x20 gen2) are some strange gauge wire that i don't think I can get. I assume I can go thicker but shouldn't go thinner for my jumper between switch and battery?

 

No need to weld. I just overcomplicate things. It’s mostly channeling your inner 1st grade self in art class. Only with aluminum or steel sheets instead of construction paper.

@Thacrow did it a bit more straightforward. A file, a jigsaw (or hacksaw) and a drill is all you really need. And time to noodle out a good way to make things fit. Otherwise, nothing wrong with the c4 plate.

Yes, I would use a lead the same size or larger. Found mine at a Boating supply store. They had piles of pre made leads for trolling motors.

 

Since you bring up the fuse box, here's what @munit85 and I did for a relay box.
https://www.4runners.com/threads/relay-box-instead-of-fuse-block.27365/

If you happen to be in the bay area I'd be happy to help you weld a plate to your battery bracket to mount a switch. And I have plenty of wire and ends laying around for that jumper / lead from battery to switch.

Edit: per @McSpazatron you could totally just bolt a plate to the battery bracket. use a couple lock washers for sure. No need to weld as he said.

 

Appreciate the offer but I'm on the other side of the country. Didn't think about bolting to the battery bracket - lots of good ideas. There are two metal fabricators nearby that I can probably grab some scrap pieces of sheet to make something for free. Gotta wait for a dry weekend though, this one's shot with rain

 

i just used the back of a large metal electrical plug outlet i had laying around. could walk around home depot and see if there's a cheap piece of metal

 

yeah, most hardware stores have a bin where they sell lengths of all sorts of angle, channel, sheet, tubes etc. If you only need a small piece, its the cheapest way.

 

Love your setup. Which switch are you using?

 

Here’s my setup with c4 panel and blue sea switch.

 

Nice setup! I see you have your diff breather mod attached there as well - that's something else I'd like to do once I catch up with all the stuff I already have waiting to install

 

Looks like that has a continuous rating of 300 amps.

For these winches, only the 6k version winch is under 300 amps.

https://www.warn.com/zeon-12s-platinum-winch-95960

 

Yeah I noticed that too. For my winch (Warn Evo 10S) the max amp is 358A. I think this switch will be fine. 350A Continuous Rating.
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...ies+on+off+battery+switch,aps,129&sr=8-3&th=1

 

Yeah, I bought this one because it was the closest thing I could find and trust at the time. I figure, my vr1000s is not going to be pulling max all the time on a pull. And it gets to max it probably wont exceed the 750 aml 10 second rating.

I couldnt find specs on the solenoid warn sells. Anybody know the max amp rating?

 

I emailed and called warn and couldn't find anyone who worked there who knew. Looked a lot online and couldn't find anything. They only sell one so I figured it's probably built to work with anything they sell. I don't think it has a rating.

I pulled the rear end of this Ram sideways out of ruts. Tires were burred to the frame. So we were pulling sideways right into walls of the ruts until it slide out. Winch was going pretty darn slow. probably had near max amperage going. Warn solenoid has been holding up just fine (though I do carry a spare and have enough slack to directly wire the winch), and as I've been saying my winch pulls 446 amps max.

 

Thanks for sharing that info and your winching experience. I’m not sure how a switch or a solenoid would fail if overtaxed. Does it melt the leads to the posts, or is it the switching mechanism that welds itself down in the on position? My guess is that the failure would be closed (meaning you couldnt switch the battery connection off). Maybe it could act like a fuse of sorts though…just interesting to ponder.

Either way, I think it’s good to always use the winch carefully, and with an eye to reduce the potential for loads as much as possible. Not only for the health of the electrical system, but to manage the amount of energy in stored up in the line/shackles should something break.

The mechanical simplicity of disconnecting the lead from the battery has it’s advantages. Nothing to break. But I like the idea of a switch, since I dont have mess with making an electrical connection while potentially muddy, tired, with poor footing, etc.

Hold on a minute… @MeefZah … kinda joking but not joking, would we have to worry about the amp rating of a wingnut?

 

The way electricity works it doesn't go through the wing nut so it's resistance wouldn't heat it up because there would not be any.

I think the solenoid would fail the same as starter solenoids fail. They just stop working.