Home brew winch controller...

[theslowguy]

I posted this in my 1.9 build thread but thought it might be useful for others to know.

I bought a 3 racing winch and realized when I got it that it didnt come with a control unit. I sat and thought about it for a while and looked at the ones online and thought that the motor in the winch cant be much different from the motors in servos. So I tore down a micro servo from my old MLST and realized the motors are almost the exact same size. I removed the board and wiring, replaced the bulky potentiometer with a small pot switch from an old Hitech agressor I had. Next I soldered a female servo adapter and the small capacitor off the servo motor onto the servo motor wires. I adjusted the pot switch untill the winch steadied and didnt spool in or out. I ca glued the pot switch and shrink tubed it all together and sealed it up.











I tested it all once done and it works perfect too!

[Sharkey]

another way to do it is remove the pot and solder a 2.2k ohm resistor from each outside pin to the middle pin, that aparently will keep the motor from turning.

[theslowguy]

Good to know. I wasnt sure what size resistor it would be. I tried some small ones I had. Im not even sure what ohm they were. But they didnt work. So I just put the pot in. Ill have to go and pick some of those up. Thanks for the info.

[FireWire79]

nice deal. I hate how big the controller is for the 3Racing winch in the first place, and this will allow you to use both an BEC and a "Y" cable to get the good power to it. Nice, now, when I get home, its time to do the same thing on mine so I don't have to cram so much stuff into a waterproof box.

[username]

Originally Posted by theslowguy

Good to know. I wasnt sure what size resistor it would be. I tried some small ones I had. Im not even sure what ohm they were. But they didnt work. So I just put the pot in. Ill have to go and pick some of those up. Thanks for the info.

you can always just play with the trim on your radio anyway. just make sure the glue is solid and you should be fine. i did the same thing when i ordered a winch without a controller. makes ya glad you hold on to those dead servos huh.

[88gmchog]

Originally Posted by Sharkey

another way to do it is remove the pot and solder a 2.2k ohm resistor from each outside pin to the middle pin, that aparently will keep the motor from turning.

on the resistors u say 2.2 but what watt?

[DonsATV]

Originally Posted by 88gmchog

on the resistors u say 2.2 but what watt?

These are the ones I used for mine: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062325